Gary Kordan

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Gary Kordan is an American production designer and television producer. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the fifth and final season of Key & Peele. [1]

Contents

Career

In 2016, Kordan won an Art Directors Guild Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work on the hit series Key & Peele starring Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele. [2] Additionally, he was the first Production Designer on the West Coast to design an Amazon series Betas and the second designer overall for Amazon Studios.

In addition to the entire 54-episode run of the Emmy and Peabody Award winning Key & Peele, some of Kordan's production design credits include: The Prank Panel starring Johnny Knoxville, Eric André and Gabourey Sidibe (ABC), Kenan starring Kenan Thompson and Don Johnson (NBC), Miracle Workers starring Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi (Max), Downward Dog (ABC), Ghosted starring Adam Scott and Craig Robinson (FOX), [3] Jordan Peele's Weird City (YouTube), Crank Yankers (Comedy Central), Time Traveling Bong starring Broad City's Ilana Glazer (Comedy Central), [4] The Meltdown with Jonah & Kumail (Comedy Central), @midnight (Comedy Central), Workaholics starring Blake Anderson, Adam Devine and Anders Holm, [5] Reggie Watts: Spatial (Netflix), Fred Armisen's Netflix special "For Drummers Only", [6] The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn & Open Mike Eagle (Comedy Central), Melissa McCarthy's Nobodies, [7] the feature film What Now? starring Kevin Hart (Universal), Just Add Magic, [8] Betas (Amazon Prime), Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time (Epix), Teachers (TV Land), Those Who Can't (TruTV), Just Add Magic: Mystery City (Amazon Prime), For The Cultura (Quibi) and 2022 Emmy Nominee for Outstanding Art Direction, The Barbarian and the Troll (Nickelodeon).

He also co-created and executive produced E!'s Number 1 Single with Lisa Loeb (E! Entertainment), directed two music videos for the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and wrote jokes for Joan Rivers, one of his many professional and personal collaborations with the comedy legend. Gary spent the fall and winter of 2002 in Paris as a writer for the massive reality hit Fox's dating show Joe Millionaire (FOX), its finale beating the Super Bowl ratings with 42.6 million viewers. In 2017 he followed Ike Turner with a camera, documenting his life, which led to an unlikely friendship that lasted until Ike's death and resulted in a box of unused, yet fascinating footage.

In front of the camera, Kordan produced and hosted two public access shows on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, both resulting in a cult following, co-hosted Treasures In Your Home, a nightly live eBay style talk show that very often beat Late Night with David Letterman in many markets, and hosted the red carpet arrivals of the first X-Men film on Ellis Island.

Kordan's life in art and comedy began at a very early age, drawing portraits and caricatures of everyone he knew and working as a doorman at the legendary Catch A Rising Star comedy club. He went on to study Fine Arts and Illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York City, and during his junior year landed full-time job working for Joan Rivers on her daytime talk show, CBS's The Joan Rivers Show. [9] It was there, and because of Joan's encouragement, Gary began his career in the art department. [10]

Kordan is a member of the Art Directors Guild Local 800, a Daytime Emmy Judge, a member of the Television Academy Peer Group Executive Committee and resides in Los Angeles with his photographer wife, Justine Ungaro. Together they own a creative soundstage called Stu., live with two dogs, Simon & Daphne (named prior to Bridgerton) and have a closet full of black clothes.

Awards

In 2015, Kordan was nominated for an Art Directors Guild Award for his work on Key & Peele. In 2016, he was nominated once again for Key & Peele and won. [2] In 2016 Kordan was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the final season of Key & Peele. Most recently, Gary was nominated for a 2022 Emmy Award for The Barbarian and the Troll for Outstanding Art Direction.

Filmography

YearTitleNotes
2023Miracle WorkersProduction designer
2023The Prank PanelProduction designer
2022Atsuko Okatsuka: The IntruderProduction designer
2021The Barbarian and The TrollProduction designer
2021 Kenan Production designer
2020Let's Go, Atsuko!Production designer
2020 Just Add Magic: Mystery City Production designer
2019-2021 Crank Yankers Production designer, Co-Producer
2019 Comedy Central Roast: Alec Baldwin Segment Production designer
2019The New NegroesProduction designer
2019 Weird City Production designer
2017 Ghosted Production designer
2017 Truth & Iliza Post-production, Production designer
2017 Downward Dog Post-production, Production designer
2017 Nobodies Post-production, Production designer
2016Untitled Weeks/Mackay ProjectPre-production, Production designer
2016Reggie Watts: SpatialPost-production, Production designer
2016 Kevin Hart: What Now? Production designer
2016 Time Traveling Bong Production designer
2016 Those Who Can't Production designer
2016-20117 Teachers Production designer
2016 Idiot Sitter Production designer
2015-2016 Just Add Magic Production designer
2012-2015 Key & Peele Production designer
2014-2016 The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail Production designer
2013-2015 @midnight Production designer
2015Salem RogersProduction designer
2014Gettin' Some Strange with Kurt BraunohlerProduction designer
2013-2014 Quick Draw Production designer
2013-2014 Betas Production designer
2014 Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time Production designer
2009-2014 Shark Tank Art director
2013 Adam DeVine's House Party Production designer
2011-2013 Workaholics Production designer
2012MegawinnerProduction designer
2012Workaholics: The Other CubicleProduction designer
2011ShreddProduction designer
2011 Sports Show with Norm Macdonald Art director
2011 JailBait Production designer
2011 The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down Production designer
2010AlabamaProduction designer
2010Back NineProduction designer
2010Savage LoveProduction designer
2010 Thintervention with Jackie Warner Production designer
2010 Instant Recall Production designer
2010Curb: The DiscussionProduction designer
2010Untitled Burr and Hart ProjectProduction designer
2009 The League Production designer
2009 Dogg After Dark Production designer
2009 Top Chef Masters Art director
2008 Chocolate News Art director
2008 Man Stroke Woman Art director
2008 Cheech & Chong: Roasted Art director
2008 Root of All Evil Art director
2008The McCaingelsArt director
2008 Scream Queens Production designer
2008Dan's Detour to LifeProduction designer
2008Guinness World Records Live: Top 100Production designer
2005-2008 Mind of Mencia Art director
2007 Temptation Art director
2007 Talkshow with Spike Feresten Art director
2006 Number 1 Single Producer
2006VIP PassportArt director
2003 Shock Video 2004: Too Hot for the Box Production designer
2003 Joe Millionaire Host writer
2003House of CluesProps department
1999 Door Knock Dinners Art director
1997 The Rosie O'Donnell Show Tattoo artist
1995Can We Shop? Set dresser
1989-1993 The Joan Rivers Show Production assistant

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References

  1. "Nominees/Winners" . Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  2. 1 2 "Gary Kordan". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  3. "'Ghosted': Slime and Sets Were Made With Classic Horror in Mind".
  4. "'Key & Peele's' Production Designer on the Importance of Authenticity".
  5. "'Key & Peele' Production Designer Gary Kordan on Challenging the Status Quo in Television Comedy". 8 June 2016.
  6. "Fred Armisen Netflix Special Taping Drummers Only seated - SFGate". Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  7. "Gary Kordan - Nobodies, Teachers, Just Add Magic | On The Fly Filmmaking - Popcorn Talk - We Talk Movies". popcorntalknetwork.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14.
  8. "Darkness and Danger Are Leavened with Humor in 'Just Add Magic' Season 2". 18 January 2017.
  9. "Key & Peele's production designer on how he makes the show's sets part of the joke". The A.V. Club . 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  10. "Meet Gary Kordan, the Designer Behind Kevin Hart, Key & Peele, and Patton Oswalt". The Interrobang. 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-08-29.