Rhys Thomas (born 18 September 1979) is a Welsh director and producer best known for his work on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, in which he served as Film Unit producer and director of shorts and music, winning an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 2015, and the series ''

Documentary Now! ''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas (director), Rhys Thomas, and premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC. Armisen and Hader star ...

'' 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 O ...

,'' which he also produced and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special in 2015. In 2015 he made his feature film debut with the film '' Staten Island Summer'' written by

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. That year he also directed

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

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. 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'' 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 variety 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 w ...

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

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

show '' Comrade Detective'' starring

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...

and

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. 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, screenwriter, producer, and director. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 20 ...

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 List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Hawkeye''.

Filmography

Film * '' Staten Island Summer'' (2015) Television

Accolades

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 British comedy film directors