Eric Champnella

Eric Champnella was born and raised in suburban Detroit.

During his senior year at the University of Michigan, he started doing stand-up comedy at the student-run comedy showcase, Laughtrack. By the time Champnella graduated, he was a paid comic working the area comedy clubs. A few months later, he was named one of the hosts of the Detroit-based, PBS teen info-tainment show Club Connect and went on to write and produce for the Emmy Award winning program.

After moving to Los Angeles, he became a regular at the famed Improvisation comedy club in Hollywood and has appeared on MTV and A&E's An Evening at the Improv as well as in a number of sit-coms and films.

Behind the camera, Champnella wrote and directed Mail to the Chief starring Randy Quaid and Holland Taylor (click on photo at left) for ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney. He also co-wrote the Whoopi Goldberg Disney comedy, Eddie.

In 2004, Touchstone Pictures will release his next movie, MR. 3,000, a baseball comedy starring Bernie Mac and Angela Bassett.