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

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 w ...

, and the

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

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 46,6 ...

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 ''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, f ...

'', ''

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 t ...

'', '' Atypical'', 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, Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, Downtown Chicago, ...

. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, 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 and Cecilia Peck's

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 ...

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 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''). Twelv ...

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'' 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 t ...

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

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 Awa ...

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) 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 ...

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, villag ...

'', two episodes of '' The Office'', 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 ...

series '' Atypical''.

Filmography

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