Rhys Thomas (born 18 September 1979) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

director and producer best known for his work on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

and the series ''

Documentary Now! ''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series, created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas, that premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC. Armisen and Hader star in many episodes, and Thomas and Alex Buono ...

'' for IFC.

Career

Rhys Thomas became the ''

'' Film Unit producer in 2005 and in 2010 began directing shorts, music videos and commercial parodies for the show. He also directed and produced the ''SNL'' opening credit sequence in 2012–2018 and the opening credits for the ''

Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special "''Saturday Night Live'' 40th Anniversary Special" (also billed as "SNL40") is a three-and-a-half-hour prime-time special that aired on February 15, 2015, on NBC, celebrating ''Saturday Night Live''s 40th year on the air, having premiered on Oc ...

,'' which he also produced and won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) is a category at the Primetime Emmy Awards. It is awarded annually to the singularly best pre-recorded varietal, musical or comedic special of the year. It was previously pres ...

in 2015. In 2015 he made his feature film debut with the film ''

Staten Island Summer ''Staten Island Summer'' is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Rhys Thomas, written by Colin Jost and starring Graham Phillips, Zack Pearlman, John DeLuca, Bobby Moynihan, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, Cecily Strong, Owen Benjamin and Ashley Gr ...

'' written by

Colin Jost Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has been a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) since 2005 and ''Weekend Update'' co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head write ...

. That year he also directed

John Mulaney John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first rose to prominence for his work as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous ...

’s Emmy nominated stand up special ''The Comeback Kid'' for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. Thomas is also a co-creator and director of the Emmy nominated IFC series, ''

''. In 2016, he also produced the ''

Adele Live in New York City ''Adele: Live in New York City'' was Adele's one-night-only show at Radio City Music Hall, which took place on November 17, 2015. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller and broadcast on NBC on December 14, 2015. Jimmy Fallon served as the ...

'' concert special for NBC, for which he earned his fourth Prime Time Emmy nomination. He also produced and directed the opening credits for the talk show ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknights a ...

''. In 2017, he produced and directed all six episodes of the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

show ''

Comrade Detective ''Comrade Detective'' is an American buddy cop series created by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. The show follows the premise of popular US action/cop-buddy films and television shows from the 1980s and presents the episodes as a fictional ...

'' starring

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film ''Step Up (film), Step Up''. He gained wider attention for ...

and

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

. He teamed with

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (2018 ...

again in 2018 for Pringles' first ever Super Bowl commercial. In 2021, Thomas served as an Executive Producer and directed episodes 1, 2 and 6 of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' Hawkeye''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Rhys Living people Welsh television producers Welsh television directors Welsh television writers Primetime Emmy Award winners Welsh film directors 1979 births Comedy film directors