Seth Lewis 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 The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

, and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

and

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival is held in Los Angeles in late February and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization. The organization ...

. 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 ''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), 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 ...

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

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'', '' Parks and Recreation'', '' Modern Family'', ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. The series takes place in Connecticut, and focuses on the life of 18-year-old Samuel "Sam" Gardner ( Keir Gilchrist), who is autistic. The first sea ...

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

Life and career

Gordon grew up in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

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

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. While there he helped secure

financing to finish construction of a school, and began filming what would eventually become the

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''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 and Cecilia Peck's Dixie Chicks documentary '' Shut Up & Sing'', 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 video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher known for its social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile an ...

's "GagaVille" online film in 2010. He co-created and is an executive producer of the Fox television series '' Breaking In.'' 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''. Gordon directed the pilot of ''

Sneaky Pete ''Sneaky Pete'' is an American black comedy crime drama television 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 Murph ...

'' for Amazon Studios, which he also produced with

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor. After taking minor roles in television, he established himself as a leading actor in both comedic and dramatic Bryan Cranston filmography, works on stage and screen. He has received ...

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 recent ...

. 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 professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

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 India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...

and Zac Efron. He graduated from

Lakeside School (Seattle) Lakeside School is a private school located in Seattle, Washington, for grades 5–12. As of 2024, school review website Niche (company), Niche ranked Lakeside School as the best private high school in Washington State and the 52nd best privat ...

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, urba ...

. 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 proprietary software company focused on online ...

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

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

'', two episodes of ''

'', 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''. He also serves as a director and executive producer on the

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 ...

series ''

''.

Filmography

Film

Director * '' Four Christmases'' (2008) * '' Horrible Bosses'' (2011) * '' Identity Thief'' (2013) * ''

'' (2017) * '' Back in Action'' (2025) (Also writer and producer) Acting credits Other credits

Documentary film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Seth American cinematographers American documentary filmmakers American film editors American television directors American Jews Living people Writers from Evanston, Illinois Yale University alumni Exit Players alumni Artists from Evanston, Illinois Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Lakeside School (Seattle) alumni Film directors from Illinois Year of birth missing (living people)