Biography.guide
Home › People › Film director › Rhys Thomas
Portrait of Rhys Thomas

Rhys Thomas

b. 1979

Welsh film director

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Rhys Thomas

Born 1979. Rhys Thomas is a British and Welsh film director, screenwriter, executive producer and television producer.

Rhys Thomas (born 18 September 1979) is a Welsh director and producer best known for his work on Saturday Night Live for NBC, in which he served as Film Unit producer and director of shorts and music, winning an Emmy Award in 2015, and the series Documentary Now! for IFC.

Career 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 written by Colin Jost. That year he also directed John Mulaney’s Emmy nominated stand up special The Comeback Kid for Netflix.

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

In 2021, Thomas served as an executive producer and director of episodes one, two, and six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Hawkeye.

Filmography Film Staten Island Summer (2015)

Television

Accolades Year Award Category Title Result 2022Peabody AwardsEntertainmentDocumentary Now!

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Trinity College, Dublin
Also known as
Rhys Michael Thomas

People in Rhys Thomas's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Rhys Thomas's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Rhys Thomas?

Welsh film director

When was Rhys Thomas born?

Rhys Thomas was born on 18 September 1979 in Cowbridge.

What is Rhys Thomas's occupation?

Rhys Thomas is a film director, screenwriter, executive producer and television producer.

What nationality is Rhys Thomas?

Rhys Thomas is British and Welsh.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Rhys Thomas

· Wikidata: Q30122028

· DBpedia: Rhys Thomas (director)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Rhys Thomas. https://biography.guide/rhys-thomas-film-director/

MLA: "Rhys Thomas." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/rhys-thomas-film-director/.

Chicago: "Rhys Thomas." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/rhys-thomas-film-director/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:24 UTC