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Research, Collaboration Essential for Production Design of Sketch Show ‘Key & Peele’

Research, Collaboration Essential for Production Design of Sketch Show ‘Key & Peele’

Production designer Gary Kordan has been on an impressive run. After two straight Art Directors Guild nominations for his work on the variety show “Key & Peele,” including a win this year, he’s celebrating his first Emmy nomination for production design in the show’s final season.

The Comedy Central sketch show, which aired its 53rd and last episode in September, is up for outstanding production design for a variety, nonfiction, reality, or reality-competition series.

In his typically humble fashion, Kordan says he felt that winning the ADG honor was the proverbial cherry on top of his team’s efforts for the series’ five-season run.

Kordan says he recognized that “Key & Peele” would be a challenge from its earliest stages of development, featuring a cinematic aesthetic seldom seen in a variety show. He approached the design of each sketch as if it were a drama, he adds.

Heavy Lifting: Each “Key & Peele” skit required hours of research and preparation. Courtesy of Comedy Central

The designer quickly developed a rapport with the other “Key & Peele” department heads and came up with a production schedule that included 10 pre-taped sketches a week, each requiring a full range of locations, from the interior of the White House to back alleys in France.

Kordan researched every sketch by visiting museums and libraries, as well as scouring online resources such as Pinterest.

For each sketch he would create between 12 and 15 mood boards. Once the design was defined, he’d meet with the cinematographer to discuss blocking.

“We’d look at the design and walk through it, acting it out almost like theater,” Kordan explains.

Once On the same page with the DP, Kordan would assess the budget and scout the location with the directors, who would define the sightlines so Kordan could inform his talented team to build only what was needed. When the sets were completed, Kordan added the “icing on the cake”: a scenic painter who layered on grime, dirt, fingerprints, and other details to age the set and give it a real-location feel.

Up next for Kordan: returning for the second season of Amazon’s “Just Add Magic,” a children’s series with a wide array of diverse sets.

“I’m never looking for the easy way out,” he says. “I love challenging myself and my crew. I love to try to pull things off.”

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