Gordon Smith is an American television screenwriter, best known for his work on ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'' and ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

''. Smith has been nominated for three individual

Primetime Emmys The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama in 2018 for the episode "

Chicanery Chicanery is a form of deception involving trickery or subterfuge. Chicanery may also refer to: Film and TV *''Chicanery'', 2015 film by Charles Dennis * "Chicanery" (''Better Call Saul''), 2017 television episode Music * Chicanery (band), Ame ...

", and has received several other nominations.

Career

Smith started as an office

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

for

season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

of ''Breaking Bad'', then became

Vince Gilligan George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC's ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2 ...

's assistant in

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

, and the writers' assistant in

season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

. Smith co-wrote the ''Breaking Bad'' mini-featurette titled ''Chicks 'N' Guns'' which was released on the fifth season

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

. Smith was then hired as a

staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...

for the ''Breaking Bad'' spinoff ''Better Call Saul''. His first television script, for the episode " Five-O" (from

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguat ...

) earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. He also wrote episode 8 from the first season, titled "

RICO The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

". For the second season of ''Better Call Saul'', Smith was promoted to

story editor Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". In live action television, a story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits scripts, pitches stories, and reports ...

and wrote two episodes, "

Gloves Off "Gloves Off" is the fourth episode of the Better Call Saul (season 2), second season of the AMC (TV channel), AMC television series ''Better Call Saul''. The episode aired on March 7, 2016, on AMC in the United States. Outside of the United States ...

" and "

Inflatable An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflata ...

". In the third season, he was promoted to a producer, and wrote another two episodes, "

" and "

Fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

". The episode "Chicanery" earned Smith his second Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. In April 2017, Smith signed with

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...

, where he served as a consulting producer for the

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...

television series ''

Outsiders Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * Outsider (1997 film), ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * Outsider (2012 film), ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * Outsiders (1980 film), ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a ...

'' and was confirmed to return to ''Better Call Saul'' for its fourth season. For season 4, Smith was promoted to supervising producer and wrote two episodes, "

Something Beautiful "Something Beautiful" is a song co-written by English musicians Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams. Originally offered to Welsh singer Tom Jones, it was released as the third single from Williams' fifth studio album, '' Escapology'' (2002). The ...

" and "

Coushatta The Coushatta ( cku, Koasati, Kowassaati or Kowassa:ti) are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When first encountered by Europeans, they lived in the territor ...

". For the fifth season, Smith was promoted co-executive producer and wrote two episodes, "

Namaste ''Namaste'' (, Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called ''namaskar'' and ''namaskaram'', is a customary Hindu non-contact manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is found on the In ...

" and "

Bagman The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries. One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808. In Australian usage, ...

". Smith also made his directorial debut with the episode "Namaste". For the sixth and final season, Smith continued as a co-executive producer and wrote the third ("

Rock and Hard Place "Rock and Hard Place" is the third episode of the sixth season of ''Better Call Saul'', the spin-off television series of '' Breaking Bad''. It was written and directed by Gordon Smith. The episode aired on April 25, 2022, on AMC and AMC+. In ...

") and eighth ("Point and Shoot") episodes while also directing the former episode.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gordon Living people American screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people)