Kevin S. Bright (born November 15, 1954) is an American television executive producer and director. He is best known as the showrunner of the sitcoms Dream On and Friends.
Early life Born to a Jewish-American family in New York City, Bright attended the East Side Hebrew Institute on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and graduated magna cum laude from Emerson College.
Career
Bright started his professional career under the tutelage of his father, Jackie Bright. After graduation, he worked in New York with Joseph Cates, where he produced specials for George Burns, Johnny Cash, David Copperfield, and Dolly Parton. After moving to Los Angeles in 1982, he started work in comedy programming such as The History of White People in America and comedy specials starring Robin Williams, Martin Mull, Harry Shearer, Paul Shaffer, and Merrill Markoe.
In 1993, Bright entered a partnership with Marta Kauffman and David Crane to form Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions and began a development deal with Warner Bros. Television to produce the comedy series Friends. He also directed 60 episodes of the series, including the series finale. After Friends, he went on to executive-produce the spin-off series Joey with Friends producers Shana Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri. Joey starred Friends actor Matt LeBlanc as the title character and featured Jennifer Coolidge, also an Emerson College attendee. Joey was cancelled on May 15, 2006, during its second season after a major ratings slump.
After Joey, Bright moved back to Boston where he began working at his alma mater, Emerson College. Over the last four years at Emerson, he executive produced three-sketch comedy shows, Zebro: A Laugh Show and Chocolate Cake City, four original half-hour situation comedies, Browne At Midnight, Saturdays, Ground Floor, and Record Cellar, and a live multi-cam stand-up comedy special, Die Laughing. He also serves as an advisor to The EVVY Awards.
Bright then went on to teach a series of television production classes in the Visual Media Arts department, and helped develop the program for Emerson's new LA Center, which opened in 2013. Kevin ran a diversity workshop for high school students through Emerson College, and worked with Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, to develop a method of teaching television production to the blind.
Bright moved back to Los Angeles in 2013, when he was appointed as Founding Director of the Emerson Los Angeles program. There, he has focused on building new programs that take full advantage of the opportunities Emerson's expanded presence in Los Angeles provides. He directed a documentary in 2007 with Linda Feferman called Who Ordered Tax? about his father, Jackie, who was an actor and vaudevillian performer.
In 2016, Bright served as the executive producer of the documentary Best and Most Beautiful Things about Michelle Smith, a woman from Bangor, Maine who is both legally blind and autistic. Bright also directed on CBS comedy Man with a Plan in 2019 for one episode, reuniting with Friends alum Matt LeBlanc.
In 2024, Bright served as an executive producer of the documentary My Own Normal about Alexander Freeman, a filmmaker from Newton, Massachusetts who has cerebral palsy, following his journey of becoming a partner and father and confronting the pain of his parents' reaction. The documentary world premiered at Independent Film Festival Boston.
In 2026, Bright served as producer of the documentary The Bridge, which follows 10 Israeli survivors of the October 7 attacks as they attend Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp in Los Angeles to play music alongside members of Van Halen, Whitesnake, Ratt, and Skid Row.
Personal life Bright lives with his wife, Claudia Wilsey Bright in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Filmography Film YearTitleContributionNotes1988Portrait of a White MarriageProducerFeature film2007Who Ordered Tax?Executive Producer/DirectorShort film2016Best and Most Beautiful ThingsExecutive ProducerDocumentary2016Jack Krash: Slave to RockExecutive ProducerShort film2017The LionExecutive Producer/DirectorFeature film2024My Own NormalExecutive ProducerDocumentary2026The BridgeProducerDocumentary
Television YearTitleContributionNotes1979The Magic of David Copperfield IIAssociate ProducerTelevision Special1979Johnny Cash ChristmasAssociate ProducerTelevision Movie1980The Magic of David Copperfield III: Levitating FerrariAssociate ProducerTelevision Special1981Johnny Cash and the Country GirlsAssociate ProducerTelevision Movie1982Magic with the StarsAssociate ProducerTelevision Movie1982Madame's PlaceAssociate ProducerAssociate Producer of 51 episodes1983Movie Blockbusters: The 15 Greatest Hits of All TimeAssociate ProducerTelevision Documentary1984The Magic of David Copperfield VI: Floating Over the Grand CanyondProducerTelevision Special1985The Magic of David Copperfield VII: FamiliaresProducerTelevision Special1985FTVProducerEpisode: "11.23.85"1985The Star GamesProducerunknown episode1986 George Burns' 90th Birthday Party: A Very Special SpecialAssociate ProducerTelevision Special1986FTVProducerEpisode: "2.7.86"1986The Magic of David Copperfield: ChinaProducerTelevision Special1986The Young Comedians All-Star ReunionProducerTelevision Special1986Viva Shaf VegasProducerTelevision Movie1987This Week IndoorsProducerTelevision Movie1987Martin Mull Live from North Ridgeville, OhioProducerTelevision Special1988The Magic of David Copperfield 10: The Bermuda TriangleProducerTelevision Special1988Harry Shearer...The Magic of LoveProducer/Executive ProducerTelevision Special1988Merrill Markoe's Guide to Glamorous LivingProducer/Executive ProducerTelevision Movie1990The American Film Institute Presents: TV or Not TV?ProducerTelevision Movie1990In Living ColorSupervising ProducerSupervising Producer of 11 episodesPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1990)1990The Late Mr. Pete ShowExecutive Producer/Writerunknown episode1990–1991HaywireCo-Executive ProducerCo-Executive Producer of 2 episodes1990–1992Totally Hidden VideoCo-Executive ProducerCo-Executive Producer of 9 episodes1990–1996Dream OnExecutive Producer/DirectorExecutive Producer of 105 episodesWriter of 3 episodesCableACE Award for Comedy Series (1992)Nominated - CableACE Award for Comedy Series (1991, 1993–1995)1991The Ron Reagan ShowExecutive ProducerExecutive Producer of 2 episodes1993Family AlbumExecutive Producer/WriterExecutive Producer of 6 episodesWriter of 6 episodes1994CouplesExecutive ProducerTelevision Movie1994The Adventures of Brisco Country Jr.WriterEpisode: "And Baby Makes Three"1994–2004FriendsExecutive Producer/DirectorExecutive Producer of 236 episodesDirector of 54 episodesPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (2002)Nominated - Gold Derby Award for Episode of the Year for episode "The Last One (Part 1 & 2)" (2004)Nominated - Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Direction in a Comedy Series (2002)Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003)1995The News HoleExecutive Producerunknown episode1997–2000Veronica's ClosetExecutive Producer/DirectorExecutive Producer of 66 episodesWriter of 2 episodes1998–2000JesseExecutive Producer/DirectorExecutive Producer of 34 episodesWriter of 5 episodes2001DAGDirectorEpisode: "The Triangle Report"2002Romeo FireExecutive ProducerTelevision Movie2003The Tracy Morgan ShowDirectorEpisode: "Haircut Night"2004–2006JoeyExecutive Producer/DirectorExecutive Producer of 46 episodesWriter of 19 episodes2006Chabad TelethonConsulting ProducerTelevision Movie2006Love, Inc.DirectorEpisode: "Fired Up"2007Chabad TelethonConsulting ProducerTelevision Movie2017Independent LensExecutive ProducerEpisode: "Best and Most Beautiful Things"2017Long Day's Journey Into Night: LiveExecutive ProducerTelevision Movie2019Man with a PlanDirectorEpisode: "Adam Acts His Age"2021Friends: The ReunionProducerTelevision special
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