Gail Mancuso (born July 14, 1958) is an American film and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

Early life and career

Mancuso grew up in

Melrose Park, Illinois Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 24,796. Melrose Park had long been home to a large Italian-American population. The suburb was the home o ...

. She is married to Brian Downs, a doctor, and divides her time between her homes in

Valencia, California Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California. This area, with major commercial and industrial parks, straddles State Route 126 and the Santa Clara River. Development projects continue to be built i ...

and

River Forest, Illinois River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, U.S. Per the 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The ...

. Mancuso began her career as an usher of the set of several television talk shows. Later, became a script supervisor for the Showtime comedy '' Brothers''. In 1989, she began serving as associate director for ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Rosea ...

''. After one of the show's directors left in 1991, she had the chance to become one of the main directors and continued until the show's eighth season. She went on to direct episodes of many television series like ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'', '' Dharma and Greg'' and '' Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place''. In 2007, Mancuso began working on the CBS sitcom ''

Rules of Engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...

''. She has also directed episodes of ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...

'' and '' Scrubs''. In 2008, she won a Gracie Award for her work on ''

''. In 2011, she was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award 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 ...

for her ''

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 th ...

'' episode " Slow Down Your Neighbors". In 2012, she directed Roseanne Barr and

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he received a Golden Globe Award, ...

in the pilot episode of ''Downwardly Mobile'' which was commissioned by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, but ultimately not picked up. In 2013, she won the Emmy Award for directing episode " Arrested" on ''

''. In 2014, she won the Emmy Award for directing episode "

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

" on ''Modern Family''. In 2019, Mancuso made her feature film directorial debut with '' A Dog's Journey'' which was the sequel to 2017's '' A Dog's Purpose'' directed by

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Academ ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mancuso, Gail American television directors American women television directors Living people 1958 births People from Melrose Park, Illinois Primetime Emmy Award winners Television producers from California American women television producers People from Valencia, Santa Clarita, California People from River Forest, Illinois Television producers from Illinois 21st-century American women