​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jeffrey Roger Kanew (born December 16, 1944) is an American film director, writer and editor who early in his career made trailers for many films of the '70s and is probably best known for directing the film Revenge of the Nerds (1984). Kanew directed Tough Guys (1986), the final film pairing actors Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. He also directed Douglas in 1983's Eddie Macon's... see more