Lucia Aniello
Born	1983 (age 41–42) Italy
Alma mater	Columbia University
Occupations	Film director writer producer
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Paul W. Downs ​ (m. 2021)​
Children	1[1]

Lucia Aniello (born 1983) is an Italian-born^[2] American director, writer, and producer best known for her work onHacks, for which she won multipleEmmy Awards, andBroad City. She has directed and written episodes of both shows, as well as the miniseriesTime Traveling Bong and the 2017 filmRough Night.

Aniello was born in Italy and grew up in Hadley, Massachusetts, where her parents owned Italian restaurants, before moving toNew York City.^[3][2] In 2004, she graduated fromColumbia University, where she was a film and media studies major and studied with film criticAndrew Sarris.^[4][5] She was inSigma Delta Tau sorority.^[6] She also played varsity tennis forColumbia.^[7]

Aniello is an alumna of theUpright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational and sketch comedy group founded in 1990 by a group of comedians includingAmy Poehler who is an executive producer ofBroad City.^[8]

Aniello and Paul W. Downs met at a Upright Citizens Brigade Level One improvisational comedy class.^[8] Aniello and Downs began working together on a series of digital shorts and improv.^[8] They started their own website and comedy production company called Paulilu Productions. Together they have been writing, directing and acting in digital shorts since 2007. Some of their most well-known web series includeThe Diary of Zac Efron andThe Real Housewives of South Boston.^[3]

Aniello also metIlana Glazer ofBroad City through the same Upright Citizens Brigade class where she met Downs. As Aniello and Downs began to make digital shorts and build the foundations of Paulilu, Glazer andAbbi Jacobson worked on the prototype ofBroad City. The two comedic duos occasionally acted in each other's shorts or directed them.^[3] WhenBroad City moved to television Glazer and Jacobson asked Aniello to direct the pilot and cast Downs as Trey, the trainer and boss of Jacobson's character on the show. After the show was picked up by Comedy Central, they asked both Aniello and Downs to join the group of writers for the show.^[9]

Aniello also co-createdTime Traveling Bong. Her interest in the subject began in college when she wrote a thesis on time-travel movies atColumbia University. The movie is astoner film comedy about two cousins who acquire a bong that acts as a time traveling device.^[10]

Aniello directed and, with Downs, co-wrote the comedyRough Night, which was released in June 2017. It starsScarlett Johansson,Zoe Kravitz,Kate McKinnon,Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer,Demi Moore,Ty Burrell andColton Haynes.^[11] During the time of the film's release, Aniello was the first woman to direct an R-rated comedy in nearly 20 years.^[12]

In 2020, she directed and executive produced the Comedy Central seriesAwkwafina Is Nora from Queens as well as Netflix'sBaby-Sitters Club.

Aniello is showrunning and directing theHBO Max showHacks, starringJean Smart. The first season ofHacks garnered 15Emmy nominations and 3 wins, including “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series,” “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series,” and Jean Smart won “Outstanding Lead Actress in aComedy Series.”^[13][14] The series won twoWriters Guild of America Awards in the categories of“Comedy Series” and “New Series,”^[15] and Aniello won aDirectors Guild of America Award inthe category of“Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series.”^[16] The series also took home twoGolden Globe Awards for “Best Musical or Comedy TV Series” and “Best Television Actress in a Musical or Comedy”.^[17] Hacks was honored as one of the “Outstanding Television Programs of the Year” at theAmerican Film Institute Awards^[18] and won a 2022Peabody Award.^[19] Season 1 of Hacks also received various award nominations at theScreen Actors Guild Awards,^[20]Critics Choice Awards,^[21]Producers Guild of America Awards,^[22] and theGotham Awards,^[23] among others.

In its second season,Hacks received 17Emmy nominations and 3 wins, including “Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series,” “Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Contemporary Costumes.”^[24] The series won aWriters Guild of America Award in the "Episodic Comedy" category,^[25] and was honored as one of the “Outstanding Television Programs of the Year” at theAmerican Film Institute Awards for its second consecutive year.^[26] Jean Smart also won aCritics Choice Award for “Best Actress in a Comedy Series” for her second consecutive year.^[27] The series was nominated for threeGolden Globe Awards,^[28] twoWriters Guild of America Awards,^[29] twoScreen Actors Guild Awards,^[30] and aProducers Guild of America Award,^[31] among numerous others.

More recently, Aniello and Paul W. Downs signed a deal withWarner Bros. Television.^[32]

Aniello resides inLos Angeles with her husband and comedic partnerPaul W. Downs, with whom she co-wroteRough Night.^[33] After having their wedding delayed for 16 months due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Aniello and Downs got married in a September 2021 intimate ceremony in Italy. A week later, they publicly announced their wedding at the73rd Primetime Emmy Awards during Aniello's acceptance speech after winning the award forOutstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.^[34] They have a son, born in 2022.^[1]

• Lucia Aniello atIMDb

• 1983 births
• Columbia Lions women's tennis players
• American women screenwriters
• American women film producers
• Film producers from Massachusetts
• Television producers from Massachusetts
• American women television producers
• Living people
• American women film directors
• American television directors
• American women television directors
• Film directors from Massachusetts
• Directors Guild of America Award winners
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• People from Hadley, Massachusetts
• Italian emigrants to the United States
• Screenwriters from Massachusetts
• American women television writers
• American television writers
• American showrunners
• 21st-century American women writers
• Writers Guild of America Award winners
• Children's and Family Emmy Award winners

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