Gary Shimokawa

Gary K. Shimokawa (born February 13, 1942) is an American director and producer. He is best known for directing the sitcoms Archie Bunker's Place, Night Court and The Golden Girls. He has directed and produced over 40 shows and movies. Shimokawa was born in Los Angeles in 1942. He is of Japanese descent; he and his family were interned at Manzanar shortly after his birth following the attack on Pearl Harbor and signing of Executive Order 9066.Before venturing into Hollywood films and TV, Shimokawa taught on the junior high and high school level in Los Angeles, and wrote on the Gardena Valley News, a local bi-weekly paper, as the Sports and Entertainment editor. In television, he has directed and produced shows for over 35 years (primarily half-hour multi-cam comedy shows for prime-time and cable) totaling over 600 episodes. He also co-wrote a comedy pilot for Nickelodeon cable TV network. Shimowaka holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Southern California (USC) in Comparative Literature.

Shimokawa also served as an adjunct professor at USC for two years in the graduate film and television program and was also an adjunct professor at LMU in undergraduate television. He presently serves as a visiting professor at New York University's Kanbar Institute of Film & Television.