Duke Johnson

• Name — Duke Johnson • Born — 20 March 1979 • Birthplace — St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. • Occupation — Director, Writer, Producer • Education — New York University, AFI Conservatory • Years Active — 2000–present • Spouse — Soyoung Na

Johnson was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended St. John Vianney High School. Between his second and third years at St John Vianney, he attended a summer film course at Columbia College Chicago. He graduated from the film school at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he spent a semester studying animation in Prague. After graduating, he spent three years working as a waiter in a New York restaurant before moving to Los Angeles, where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in directing from the AFI Conservatory in 2006.

Johnson has been nominated for Annie Awards in 2011 and 2012 for directing stop-motion episodes of shows such as Mary Shelley's Frankenhole and Community. In 2016, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in the 88th Academy Awards for co-directing the stop-motion comedy-drama film Anomalisa with Charlie Kaufman. Johnson made his solo directing debut with the 2025 film The Actor, based on the 2010 novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake.

Short film • Year — Title — Director — Producer • 2006 — Marrying God • 2017 — Moonwrapped Feature film • Year — Title — Director — Producer — Writer — Notes • 2015 — Anomalisa — Co-directed with Charlie Kaufman • 2025 — The Actor • TBA — Lincoln in the Bardo — In production Television • Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Notes • 2008 — Moral Orel — Episode "Help" • 2010 — Community — Episode "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" • 2010–2012 — Mary Shelley's Frankenhole — Also matte painter • 2012 — Beforel Orel: Trust — TV special; also animator • 2020 — Cosmos: Possible Worlds — Supervising animation director Episode "Vavilov" Other credits • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2003 — Just an American Boy — Cinematographer — Documentary film • 2020 — I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Producer of animation • 2025 — Severance — Animator of "Lumon is Listening" video — Episode "Hello, Ms. Cobel"