Grady Cooper III, known professionally as Grady Cooper, is an American director, producer and

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominated film editor.

Background

Cooper is from

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

and graduated from Broughton High School. In high school, "Grady convinced his teachers to let him make short films…instead of writing papers." He attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

and graduated with a degree in English in 1987. While in college, Cooper worked on comedy shows for UNC Student Television along with Bill Martin and

Peyton Reed Peyton Tucker Reed (born July 3, 1964) is an American television and film director. He directed the comedy films ''Bring It On'', ''Down with Love'', ''The Break-Up'', and '' Yes Man'', as well as the superhero film ''Ant-Man'' and its sequels. ...

. He also produced a music video for the

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

band

The Connells ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and was a production assistant for the feature film ''

Bull Durham ''Bull Durham'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy sports film. It is partly based upon the minor-league baseball experiences of writer/director Ron Shelton and depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls, a minor-league baseball team in ...

'' which was shot in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

''.'' In the 1990s, Cooper also produced music videos for

bands

Archers of Loaf Archers of Loaf is an American indie rock band originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991. The group toured extensively and released four studio albums, one compilation, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was release ...

and

Squirrel Nut Zippers Squirrel Nut Zippers is an American swing and jazz band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by Jimbo Mathus, James "Jimbo" Mathus (vocals and guitar), Tom Maxwell (singer), Tom Maxwell (vocals and guitar), ...

. After college, he took a position with West, Pausback & Vaughn as a traffic manager. However, he soon moved to Los Angeles to work in film.

Film

Once in Los Angeles, Cooper worked as a post-production assistant for

Andrew Solt Andrew Solt (born 13 December 1947) is a British-born American producer, director, and writer of documentary films. Solt has had a long career in television. A frequent focus of his documentaries is rock and roll music, its history and star pe ...

who produced documentaries. This allowed him to learn about editing and step up to bigger projects. He edited

D. L. Hughley Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...

's ''Going Home'' special in 1988,

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

special '' Bigger and Blacker'' in 1999'','' and the television show ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'' in 2000-2001''.'' After one season of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', Cooper decided to start his own editorial company. This led to directing commercials, including one for

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

. In 2003, Cooper and improv comic

Lance Krall Lance Krall (born December 9, 1970) is an American producer, screenwriter, and actor of half Vietnamese descent. He became well known after his portrayal as "Kip" in the role in faux-reality show ''The Joe Schmo Show''. He went on to create ...

made ''Party Animals'', a short film which premiered at the Los Angeles International Film Festival and was an official selection in the

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

. From 2004 to 2005, Cooper directed and produced the unscripted comedy sketch show, ''

The Lance Krall Show ''The Lance Krall Show'' is a 30-minute comedy television show featuring sketches and on-the-street interaction starring Lance Krall, who gained recognition through his character Kip on ''The Joe Schmo Show''. The Lance Krall Show aired on Spike ...

,'' which aired on Spike (now

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

) for one season''.''Cooper was the editor for many television shows through the 2000s and 2010s, including ''

Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...

'', ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

'', ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'', '' Lopez,

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

,'' '' Survivor,

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

,'' and '' The Voice.'' In 2019, Cooper created the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

sitcom '' The Unicorn'' which is based on his own experiences as a widower and single parent, as well as his return to dating. The concept for the show emerged when Cooper shared his experiences with college friends Bill Martin, now a television writer known for ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

'', and

, now a director and producer known for ''Ant-Man''. He asked them, "Do you think this could be a comedy?" The trio began collaborating on ''The Unicorn'', which aired for two seasons.

Awards

Cooper has received two

nominations: * Outstanding Picture Editing For A Structured Or Competition Reality Program - 2018, for his work on ''The Voice'' * Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special - 2000, for his work on '' Bigger and Blacker''

Personal

Cooper lives in

Studio City, Los Angeles, California Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

. In 1995, he married Jane DeVries and the couple had two daughters—Audrey and Ellen. In 2015 when Jane was 49, she died of brain cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Grady Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Raleigh, North Carolina American television directors University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American television writers American television producers American television editors People from North Carolina