Seth Gordon
Gordon in 2014
Born
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film director, producer, screenwriter, editor
Notable workThe King of Kong (2007)
Horrible Bosses (2011)
Identity Thief (2013)

Seth Gordon is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film editor. He has produced and directed for film and television, including for PBS, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the United Nations Staff 1% for Development Fund. His films have screened at the Sundance Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival. He has directed the films The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007), Four Christmases (2008), Horrible Bosses (2011), Identity Thief (2013), and Baywatch (2017). He has also directed several episodes of television series like The Office, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, Atypical, and For All Mankind.

Life and career

Gordon grew up in Evanston, Illinois.[1] He attended Yale University, where he studied architecture until leaving in 1997 to teach high school for six months in the small village of Shimanyiro, Kenya. While there he helped secure United Nations financing to finish construction of a school, and began filming what would eventually become the documentary Building Shimanyiro.[2] Upon returning to Yale, Gordon taught himself how to edit his footage on an Avid editing machine.[1] Later, he helped shoot Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing,[1] 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's "GagaVille" online film in 2010. He co-created and is an executive producer of the Fox television series Breaking In.[3] He directed the 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses, 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.[4] Gordon directed the pilot of Sneaky Pete for Amazon Studios, which he also produced with Bryan Cranston and David Shore.

Gordon directed the 2017 film version of Baywatch, starring Dwayne Johnson, Priyanka Chopra and Zac Efron.[5]

He graduated from Lakeside School (Seattle) in 1994 and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.[6]

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.[7] Gordon has directed various music videos and commercials, and an episode each of Modern Family and Community, two episodes of The Office, and several episodes of Parks and Recreation. He was a director and executive producer on NBC's Marry Me. Gordon is a director and executive producer on ABC's The Goldbergs.[8] He also serves as a director and executive producer on the Netflix series Atypical.[9]

Filmography

Film

Director

Acting credits

Year Title Role
2011 Horrible Bosses Ralph Peterberg (voice role)
2017 Baywatch Helicopter pilot

Other credits

Year Title Role
2005 Cry Wolf Editor, associate producer, and second unit director
2015 Pixels Executive producer
2022 The Lost City Story writer

Documentary films

Year Title Director Producer Writer
2005 New York Doll No Yes No
2007 The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters Yes No No
2010 Freakonomics Yes Executive Yes
Make Believe No Executive No
2011 Undefeated No Yes No
2014 Mitt No Executive No
Print the Legend No Yes No
2015 Finders Keepers No Yes No
Dark Web No Executive No
2017 Bill Nye: Science Guy No Yes No
Served Like a Girl No Yes No
2018 Wrestle No Yes No

Television

Year Title Director Executive
producer 		Writer Notes
2009 Community Yes No No Episode "Environmental Science"
2009–2010 The Office Yes No No Episodes "Double Date" and "The Delivery" (part 1)
Parks and Recreation Yes No No Episodes "Canvassing" and "The Stakeout"
2010 Modern Family Yes No No Episode "Travels with Scout"
2011 Breaking In Yes Yes Yes Also creator;
Directed 5 episodes
2013–2017 The Goldbergs Yes Yes No 7 episodes
2014–2015 Marry Me Yes Yes No 3 episodes
2017 Atypical Yes Yes No Episodes "Antarctica" and "A Nice Neutral Smell"
The Good Doctor Yes Yes No Episodes "Burnt Food" and "She"
Sneaky Pete Yes Yes No Episode "Pilot"
2019 For All Mankind Yes Yes No Episodes "Red Moon" and "He Built the Saturn V"
2020 Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Yes No No Episode "Pilot"
2022 The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball Yes Yes No Directed 5 episodes
2023 The Night Agent Yes Yes No

References

  1. ^ a b c Roston, Tom (November 30, 2008). "In 'Four Christmases,' Seth Gordon explores a season's gratings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  2. ^ Fernandez, Jay A. (November 26, 2008). "Director traveled unlikely road to "Christmases"". Reuters. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  3. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 19, 2010). "Fox Mid-Season Schedule – 'American Idol' to Wednesdays/Thursdays; 'Fringe' to Fridays". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (August 7, 2013). "'Horrible Bosses 2' Loses Director Seth Gordon". Variety. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  5. ^ Seth Gordon to Direct Dwayne Johnson in Paramount’s ‘Baywatch’ Movie
  6. ^ Collins, Jim. "Seth Gordon '94: Revealing a one-off perspective". No. Fall 2016. Lakeside Magazine. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  7. ^ Swartz, Jon (May 20, 2009). "Miniseries reveals truth about hackers". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 24, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  8. ^ Cieply, Michael (2011). "Seth Gordon Filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2016-10-17). "Netflix Greenlights 'Atypical' Series From 'The Goldbergs' Duo; Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keir Gilchrist & Michael Rapaport To Star". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-10-17.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seth Gordon.
Films directed by Seth Gordon
Authority control databases
Categories