Keith Raywood
Encyclopedia
Keith Raywood, also credited as Keith Ian Raywood, is an Emmy award-winning American
Production Designer
.
, New York
, and lived between there and Miami Beach, Florida
, throughout his childhood. As a teenager, he attended The Dwight School and studied painting at The Art Students League of New York
with Issac Soyer. In 1975, while enrolled at Cornell University
for painting, he switched to architecture at the end of his freshman year, and then left for London
to study at The Architectural Association School of Architecture
. While there, he joined the unit that was tutored by architects Bernard Tschumi
and Nigel Coates
. In the spring of 1978, he traveled to the Soviet Union
with Rem Koolhaas
, along with Koolhass' other students and colleagues. Raywood credits his time at The AA as most inspiring and influential in his work, and it would later greatly inform his process, aesthetic, and "Architectural" style as a Production Designer.
In 1979, Raywood returned to Cornell's College of Architecture. While there he formed the band Symbols, released two EP's, and regularly performed in New York City clubs like CBGB's, Tramps, Danceteria
, & Max's Kansas City
.
on the film Easy Money. He then worked with Lee as his assistant and Art Director
for the next five years on most of Lee's film, television, and theatre projects, while designing his own sets for music video's, commercials, television, and theatre. In 1985, Raywood would co-design with Lee the original production of The Normal Heart
at The Public Theater in New York City. Raywood has remained close friends with his mentor Lee, and to this day they share the Production Design credit at Saturday Night Live.
Raywood became the Art Director of Saturday Night Live
(NBC
) in 1985, and has been one of its Production Designers since 1989. He has also designed many music specials and series for Viacom's MTV
, VH1
, BET
, and Spike TV
networks including The MTV Video Music Awards
, The Hip Hop Honors, The Vogue/VH1 Fashion Awards, Hard Rock Live, 106 and Park, MTV Unplugged
(2007), Divas Live, The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over
, Spike TV Video Game Awards
, VH1 Rock Honors
: The Who
, as well as all of the combined upfront
s for MTV Networks
. His other television credits include 30 Rock
(NBC), Russell Simmons
Presents Def Poetry (HBO), Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam
(HBO), Late Night With Conan O'Brien
(NBC), and The Concert For New York City
(VH1/CBS) broadcast live from Madison Square Garden
one month following the September 11, 2001 attacks
on the World Trade Center
, and for which he received a 2002 Emmy nomination. He has designed music videos and performances for recording artists such as Justin Timberlake
, Usher
, Beck
, Paul Simon
, Iggy Pop
, Madonna
, Fiona Apple
, Mary J. Blige
, Maxwell
, Whitney Houston
, Salt-N-Pepa
, Death in Vegas
, Bon Jovi
, The Foo Fighters, and Macy Gray
, as well as commercials for Nikon
, AT&T
, Apple, Revlon
, Elizabeth Arden
, Gap, GE
, Visa, Dove, and Nike
, while working with noted directors Michael Haussman
, Mark Romanek
, Mark Seliger
, and Terry Richardson
, among others. He also designed at 11 Penn Plaza, New York City the new studios for the Fuse Music and MSG networks in 2010.
In 2007, Raywood turned his attentions to creating architectural designs for Video Art
installations by artist/director/photographer Michael Somoroff
. Their first collaboration Illumination opened at the BravinLee
gallery on June 21, 2007, in New York City.
Awards for his 2008 designs of Saturday Night Live
, 30 Rock
, and the MTV Video Music Awards
. He was again nominated by the Guild for 30 Rock and SNL in 2010 and 2011. He received the 2011 ADG Award for the 2010 Betty White/Jay Z episode of SNL. Considering it's longevity and influence, this surprisingly was the first time Saturday Night Live had received a design award of any kind in its 36 seasons on NBC. He also received two Primetime Emmy Award
nominations in 2009 for Saturday Night Live, and The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for which he won Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music, or Non-fiction Programming. Raywood received a first place 2009 Promax Broadcast Design Award for his work on 2008's Spike Guys' Choice Awards
. In 2010 & 2011 Raywood received another two Emmy nominations for Saturday Night Live, making it five nominations for his work on that show.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Production Designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
.
Early life and education
Keith Raywood was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and lived between there and Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
, throughout his childhood. As a teenager, he attended The Dwight School and studied painting at The Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
with Issac Soyer. In 1975, while enrolled at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
for painting, he switched to architecture at the end of his freshman year, and then left for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to study at The Architectural Association School of Architecture
Architectural Association School of Architecture
The Architectural Association School of Architecture, more usually known as the AA, is an architectural school in London, United Kingdom...
. While there, he joined the unit that was tutored by architects Bernard Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi
Bernard Tschumi is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Born of French and Swiss parentage, he works and lives in New York and Paris. He studied in Paris and at ETH in Zurich, where he received his degree in architecture in 1969...
and Nigel Coates
Nigel Coates (architect)
Nigel Coates is an English architect, author, and prolific designer of interiors, exhibitions, products, and lighting. He grew up in the town of Malvern, Worcestershire and was educated at Hanley Castle Grammar School before studying at the University of Nottingham and the Architectural Association...
. In the spring of 1978, he traveled to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
with Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
, along with Koolhass' other students and colleagues. Raywood credits his time at The AA as most inspiring and influential in his work, and it would later greatly inform his process, aesthetic, and "Architectural" style as a Production Designer.
In 1979, Raywood returned to Cornell's College of Architecture. While there he formed the band Symbols, released two EP's, and regularly performed in New York City clubs like CBGB's, Tramps, Danceteria
Danceteria
Danceteria was a well-known four-floor nightclub located in New York City which operated from 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. Throughout its history, the club had seven different locations, three in NYC and four in the Hamptons...
, & Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
.
Career
Shortly after moving back to New York City in 1982, Raywood would meet and become the assistant to Eugene LeeEugene Lee (designer)
Eugene Lee was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, 1939. He attended Beloit Memorial High School. He has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. He has BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Yale Drama School and three honorary Ph.Ds. Mr...
on the film Easy Money. He then worked with Lee as his assistant and Art Director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
for the next five years on most of Lee's film, television, and theatre projects, while designing his own sets for music video's, commercials, television, and theatre. In 1985, Raywood would co-design with Lee the original production of The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay Jewish-American founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group...
at The Public Theater in New York City. Raywood has remained close friends with his mentor Lee, and to this day they share the Production Design credit at Saturday Night Live.
Raywood became the Art Director of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
) in 1985, and has been one of its Production Designers since 1989. He has also designed many music specials and series for Viacom's MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
, BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
, and Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
networks including The MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, The Hip Hop Honors, The Vogue/VH1 Fashion Awards, Hard Rock Live, 106 and Park, MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
(2007), Divas Live, The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over
Hell Freezes Over
Hell Freezes Over is a live album by the Eagles, released in 1994. The album contains four new studio tracks and eleven tracks recorded live for an MTV special. It went to #1 on the Billboard album chart upon its release where it stayed for two weeks. It is the band's second live album behind their...
, Spike TV Video Game Awards
Spike TV Video Game Awards
Spike Video Game Awards is an award show hosted by Spike TV that recognizes the best computer and video games of the year. The VGAs feature live music performances and appearances by popular performers in music, movies, and television. Additionally, preview trailers for upcoming games are...
, VH1 Rock Honors
VH1 Rock Honors
The VH1 Rock Honors were an annual ceremony paying homage to bands who influenced the sound of rock music. The events began in 2006, and the final event took place in 2008. The general format of each show is for modern bands to "pay tribute" to classic greats of the rock/metal world , after which...
: The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, as well as all of the combined upfront
Upfront
In the North American television industry, an upfront is a meeting hosted at the start of important advertising sales periods by television network executives, attended by the press and major advertisers...
s for MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
. His other television credits include 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
(NBC), Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
Presents Def Poetry (HBO), Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam
Def Comedy Jam
Def Comedy Jam is a HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons. The series had its original run from July 1, 1992 to January 1, 1997. The show returned on HBO's fall lineup in 2006. Def Comedy Jam helped to launch the careers of several African-American stand-up comedians...
(HBO), Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
(NBC), and The Concert For New York City
The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
(VH1/CBS) broadcast live from Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
one month following the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, and for which he received a 2002 Emmy nomination. He has designed music videos and performances for recording artists such as Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
, Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Maxwell
Maxwell (musician)
Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
, Death in Vegas
Death in Vegas
Death in Vegas are a psychedelic rock and electronic rock band from the United Kingdom, comprising two permanent members: Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes...
, Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
, The Foo Fighters, and Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
, as well as commercials for Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
, AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, Apple, Revlon
Revlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
, Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden
Florence Nightingale Graham , who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.-Biography:Arden was born in 1884 at Woodbridge, Ontario,...
, Gap, GE
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, Visa, Dove, and Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, while working with noted directors Michael Haussman
Michael Haussman
Michael Haussman is an American music video, motion picture and television advertisement director, writer and producer.Michael Haussman is a director, writer and artist, whose internationally acclaimed commercials have won numerous awards and are featured in advertising books and trade journals...
, Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek is an American filmmaker, whose directing work includes feature films, music videos and commercials.He wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 2002 film One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams...
, Mark Seliger
Mark Seliger
Mark Seliger is an American photographer noted for his portraiture.Seliger was born in Amarillo, Texas and attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, and Texas A&M University–Commerce. Seliger served as the chief photographer for Rolling Stone from 1992 to 2002 and...
, and Terry Richardson
Terry Richardson
Terrence "Terry" Richardson is an American fashion photographer.-Early life:Richardson was born in New York City, the son of Bob Richardson, a fashion photographer who struggled with schizophrenia and drug abuse...
, among others. He also designed at 11 Penn Plaza, New York City the new studios for the Fuse Music and MSG networks in 2010.
In 2007, Raywood turned his attentions to creating architectural designs for Video Art
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
installations by artist/director/photographer Michael Somoroff
Michael Somoroff
Born in New York City in 1957, Michael Somoroff is a prominent commercial director as well as an accomplished photographer and artist. His father, Ben Somoroff, was a celebrated commercial photographer who studied with Alexey Brodovitch at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art now the...
. Their first collaboration Illumination opened at the BravinLee
BravinLee programs
BravinLee programs is a contemporary art gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The gallery's programs support the exhibition of works on paper, artist books, public art projects, and artist-designed hand-knotted rugs....
gallery on June 21, 2007, in New York City.
Awards
In 2009, Raywood was nominated for three Art Directors GuildArt Directors Guild
The Art Directors Guild is an American labor union and branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees representing almost 2,000 motion picture and television professionals....
Awards for his 2008 designs of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
, and the MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
. He was again nominated by the Guild for 30 Rock and SNL in 2010 and 2011. He received the 2011 ADG Award for the 2010 Betty White/Jay Z episode of SNL. Considering it's longevity and influence, this surprisingly was the first time Saturday Night Live had received a design award of any kind in its 36 seasons on NBC. He also received two Primetime Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations in 2009 for Saturday Night Live, and The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for which he won Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music, or Non-fiction Programming. Raywood received a first place 2009 Promax Broadcast Design Award for his work on 2008's Spike Guys' Choice Awards
Spike Guys' Choice Awards
The Spike Guys' Choice Awards is an awards show produced by the Viacom cable channel Spike and held since 2007. It is patterned after Viacom's MTV Movie Awards...
. In 2010 & 2011 Raywood received another two Emmy nominations for Saturday Night Live, making it five nominations for his work on that show.