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Rhys Thomas (director)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rhys Thomas
Born
Morgan Rhys Thomas[1]

(1979-09-18) 18 September 1979 (age 45)
Cowbridge, Wales
NationalityWelsh
Alma materTrinity College, Dublin
Occupation(s)Director, Producer, Writer
Years active2004–present

Rhys Thomas (born 18 September 1979) is a Welsh director and producer best known for his work on Saturday Night Live for NBC and the series Documentary Now! for IFC.[2][3]

Career

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Rhys Thomas became the Saturday Night Live 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, 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[4][5] written by Colin Jost.[6] That year he also directed John Mulaney’s Emmy nominated stand up special The Comeback Kid for Netflix.[7]

Thomas is also a co-creator and director of the Emmy nominated IFC series, Documentary Now!.[8][9] 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.[10] In 2017, he produced and directed all six episodes of the Amazon Prime show Comrade Detective[11] starring Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He teamed with Bill Hader again in 2018 for Pringles' first ever Super Bowl commercial.[12]

In 2021, Thomas served as an Executive Producer and directed episodes 1, 2 and 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Hawkeye.[13]

Filmography

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Film

Television

Year Title Director Producer Notes
2009–2016 Saturday Night Live Yes Yes SNL shorts
2012–present Saturday Night Live Opening Credits Yes Yes
2013 Newsreaders Yes No 3 episodes
2015 The Comeback Kid Yes No
Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special Segment Yes
Adele Live in New York City Yes Yes Opening Sequence
2015–2022 Documentary Now! Yes Executive Also creator
2016–present Late Night with Seth Meyers Yes No Opening Titles
2017 Comrade Detective Yes Executive 6 episodes
2018 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Yes No
Kansas City Yes Executive Pilot
2019 John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch Yes No
2021 Chad Yes Executive Pilot
Hawkeye Yes Executive 3 episodes

Accolades

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Year Award Category Title Result Ref.
2022 Peabody Awards Entertainment Documentary Now! Nominated [14]

References

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  1. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007
  2. ^ "Rhys Thomas Interview". Charlie Rose.
  3. ^ "Working on the latest 'Documentary Now!' episode is like 'SNL' all over again for Armisen and Hader". 12 October 2016 – via LA Times.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (19 September 2013). "Gina Gershon Joins 'Staten Island Summer' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  5. ^ "Netflix Picks Up SNL-Fueled Staten Island Summer Comedy". Slash Film. 11 June 2015.
  6. ^ "'Staten Island Summer': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. 6 August 2015.
  7. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (22 June 2016). "Channing Tatum & A24 To Produce 1980s Romanian Cop TV Show Spoof As Series". Deadline.
  8. ^ Noble, Matt (18 August 2016). "[WATCH] 'Documentary Now!' star Bill Hader, directors Alex Buono & Rhys Thomas dish Emmy-nominated show". Gold Derby.
  9. ^ ""How did I get here?": Documentary Now!'s little Talking Heads tribute that could". AV Club. 10 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Rhys Thomas". IFC.
  11. ^ Schildhause, Chloe (August 4, 2017). "What the Hell is Comrade Detective?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  12. ^ "See Pringles' Full Super Bowl Ad, a Bid to Wow You With 'Flavor Stacking'". Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  13. ^ Harper, Rachael (24 November 2021). "Hawkeye: Interview with series head director Rhys Thomas". SciFiNow.
  14. ^ Voyles, Blake (September 20, 2023). "83rd Peabody Award Nominees". Retrieved September 20, 2023.
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