Simon Lythgoe(I)
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Simon Lythgoe, Showrunner-Executive Producer and President of Legacy Productions, has received three Emmy nominations, one Producers Guild of America nomination, and in 2006 received a People's Choice Award for his work on American Idol. More recently, Simon received two Telly Awards for Showrunning Decorating Disney: Halloween Magic and Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings: Holiday Magic.
British-born Simon came to the United States from Australia in 2001 to produce American Idol after completing work on its predecessor, Popstars, an Australian talent competition produced in fifty-four countries worldwide. By the turn of the millennium, Lythgoe had already amassed an impressive list of international television credits, including work on The Late Show with David Letterman, Her Majesty's Royal Variety Performance, Australia's Seven Network's long-running drama Home and
Away, and the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Since arriving in America, Simon has specialized in non-scripted reality competitions,
shiny floor formats, and many cable series. Some of these productions include three
specials and two series of Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings featuring stars like Olivia
Newton-John, Jason Derulo & Pentatonix, two specials of Decorating Disney with
Whoopi Goldberg, Sofia Carson, Jordan Fisher, and Cierra Ramirez. Lythgoe also produced the first six seasons of American Idol, three seasons of So You Think You Can Dance and has consulted on the major network hits, America's Got Talent, game shows Let's Make a Deal, and NBC's Celebrity Family Feud.
In addition to his television productions, Lythgoe is an active keynote speaker, lecturing on non-scripted format development around the world. The talks have included prestigious universities in Australia, America, and the UK and industry conferences like BANFF, Hunan TV in China, and CJ ENM in South Korea.
Before his television career, Simon began working in theatre on multiple shows in North London. More recently, he returned to producing for the stage in Sydney's State Theatre in Australia.
Next on Lythgoe's schedule is the red carpet premiere of the Netflix scripted feature film he Exec Produced starring Grammy-winning a cappella group Pentatonix and Christina Milian titled, Meet Me Next Christmas.
In addition to his television productions, Lythgoe is an active keynote speaker, lecturing on non-scripted format development around the world. The talks have included prestigious universities in Australia, America, and the UK and industry conferences like BANFF, Hunan TV in China, and CJ ENM in South Korea.
Before his television career, Simon began working in theatre on multiple shows in North London. More recently, he returned to producing for the stage in Sydney's State Theatre in Australia.
Next on Lythgoe's schedule is the red carpet premiere of the Netflix scripted feature film he Exec Produced starring Grammy-winning a cappella group Pentatonix and Christina Milian titled, Meet Me Next Christmas.