Seth Lewis Gordon (born July 15, 1974) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film editor. He has produced and directed for film and television, including for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

, and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Staff 1% for Development Fund. His films have screened at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and

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 ...

. He has directed the films '' The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'' (2007), ''

Four Christmases ''Four Christmases'' is a 2008 American Christmas comedy film about a couple visiting all four of their divorced parents' homes on Christmas Day. It stars Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon with Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight ...

'' (2008), ''

Horrible Bosses ''Horrible Bosses'' is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer ...

'' (2011), ''

Identity Thief ''Identity Thief'' is a 2013 American road comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, screenplay by Craig Mazin, story by Mazin and Jerry Eeten and starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. The film tells the fictional story of Sandy Patterson, wh ...

'' (2013), and ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...

'' (2017). He has also directed several episodes of television series like ''

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 ...

'', ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...

'', ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of thr ...

'', ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. It focuses on the life of 18-year-old Sam Gardner ( Keir Gilchrist), who is on the autism spectrum. The first season was released on August 11, 201 ...

'', and '' For All Mankind''.

Life and career

Gordon grew up in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he studied architecture until leaving in 1997 to teach high school for six months in the small village of Shimanyiro,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. While there he helped secure

financing to finish construction of a school, and began filming what would eventually become the documentary ''Building Shimanyiro''. Upon returning to Yale, Gordon taught himself how to edit his footage on an Avid editing machine. Later, he helped shoot

Barbara Kopple Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work. She has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1977 for ''Harlan County, USA'', about a Kentucky miners' strike, /sup> and the second in ...

and

Cecilia Peck Cecilia Peck (born May 1, 1958) is an American film producer, director and actress. She is the only daughter of actor Gregory Peck and his second wife Veronique Passani. Career As an actress, Peck was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for '' ...

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

documentary ''

Shut Up & Sing ''Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing'' (also known simply as ''Shut Up and Sing'') is a 2006 American documentary film produced and directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck.Singer, Leig BBC Collective Dixie Chicks Shut up and Sing Film Interview/r ...

'', and after working as cinematographer, editor and producer on various films, he gained prominence with his documentary '' The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters''. Gordon directed the game company

Zynga Zynga Inc. () is an American developer running social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile and social networking platforms. Zynga states its missio ...

's " GagaVille" online film in 2010. He co-created and is an executive producer of the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television series '' Breaking In.'' He directed the 2011 comedy ''

'', but in August 2013 declined to direct the sequel, citing commitments to the television series '' The Goldbergs'', on which he is an executive producer, and a planned remake of the film ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follows Dav ...

''. Gordon directed the pilot of ''

Sneaky Pete ''Sneaky Pete'' is an American crime drama series created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston. The series follows Marius Josipović (Giovanni Ribisi), a released convict who adopts the identity of his cellmate, Pete Murphy, to avoid his past life. ...

'' for

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

, which he also produces with

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

and

David Shore David Shore (born July 3, 1959) is a Canadian television writer. Shore worked on ''Family Law'', ''NYPD Blue'' and '' Due South'', also producing many episodes of the latter. He created the critically acclaimed series '' House'' and more recentl ...

. A season of episodes has been ordered by Amazon Studios and is in production. Gordon directed the 2017 film version of ''

'', starring

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

and

Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...

. He graduated from

Lakeside School (Seattle) Lakeside School is an elite private/independent school located in Seattle, Washington for grades 5–12. As of 2021, school review website Niche ranks Lakeside School the best private high school in Washington state and the 23rd best private hig ...

in 1994 and the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

Television series

In 2009, Gordon developed and directed a video series focusing on the threat posed by cybercrime to Internet users, '' H*Commerce: The Business of Hacking You'', sponsored by antivirus software company

McAfee McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...

. Gordon has directed various music videos and commercials, and an episode each of ''

'' and ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

'', two episodes of ''

'', and several episodes of ''

''. He was a director and executive producer on NBC's '' Marry Me''. Gordon is a director and executive producer on ABC's '' The Goldbergs''. He also serves as a director and executive producer on the

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 ...

series ''

''.

Filmography

* ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2011) * ''

'' (2013) * ''

'' (2017) Acting credits Other credits

Documentary films

Television

References

External links

*
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Seth 1976 births American cinematographers American documentary filmmakers American film editors American television directors Living people Writers from Evanston, Illinois Yale University alumni Exit Players alumni Artists from Evanston, Illinois Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Lakeside School alumni Film directors from Illinois