{{Short description|American production designer and art director}} {{about||the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia|John Elvin Shaffner}} '''John Shaffner''' (born 1952) is an American production designer and art director. He has worked on 44 different television series as well as 68 pilots.<ref>{{Citation|title=Designing the apartment in 'Friends' - CNN Video|date=22 September 2020 |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/great-big-story/2020/09/22/great-big-story-designing-apartment-in-friends-gbs.great-big-story|access-date=2020-10-01}}</ref>
== Early life == Shaffner was born in Missoula, Montana. His mother worked for a television station{{which|date=October 2020}} in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1940s.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Shaffner attended Sentinel High School and has an undergraduate degree in fine arts from University of Montana and a MFA from Carnegie Mellon University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2021/july/emmy-nominations.html|title=CMU Alumni Recognized by Emmy Nominations|work=Carnegie Mellon University|access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>
== Career == Shaffner and his life partner Joe Stewart also work together, including at the outset of their television careers when they designed the set for ''Star Search''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Emmy Award-Winning Production Designers John Shaffner and Joe Stewart Awarded Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees at Carnegie Mellon University|url=https://www.emmys.com/news/academy-news/shaffner-and-stewart-awarded|access-date=2020-10-01|website=Television Academy|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title={{!}}{{!}} The Montanan - The Magazine Of The University of Montana|url=https://archive.umt.edu/montanan/w10/The%20Design%20Of%20Success.php|access-date=2020-10-01|website=archive.umt.edu}}</ref> He designed the talk show stages for Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O’Brien, Rachel Ray, and Dr. Phil. He has also built the backdrops for the last three Republican National Conventions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Park|first=Andrea|title=So This Is Why Monica's Walls Were Purple on 'Friends'|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/friends-production-designer-explains-monicas-apartment-purple|access-date=2020-10-01|website=Glamour|date=20 March 2018 |language=en-us}}</ref>
He designed the set of ''Friends'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harrison|first=Olivia|title=Friends' Set Designer Says Monica Geller's Apartment Would Be A Very Different Color If The Show Was Made Today|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/09/8434849/friends-tv-set-designer-john-shaffner-interview|access-date=2020-10-01|website=www.refinery29.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Spotlight: Big Bang Theory|url=https://www.setdecorators.org/?name=BIG-BANG-THEORY&art=spotlight&SHOW=Big-Bang-Theory|access-date=2020-10-01|website=SDSA Set Decorators|language=en-us}}</ref> ''Golden Girls, Two and a Half Men'', ''The Big Bang Theory,''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Delcourt|first=Maxime|date=2018-12-06|title=meet the set designer behind 'friends' and the 'the big bang theory'|url=https://i-d.co/article/john-shaffner-set-designer-friends-the-big-bang-theory/|access-date=2020-10-01|website=i-D|language=en}}</ref> ''Roseanne'', and ''Dharma and Greg''.
Shaffner served as chairman of the Television Academy and of the Art Directors Council at the Art Directors Guild.<ref name=":0" />
== Awards == Shaffner has been nominated for 31 Emmy awards and won four,<ref>{{Cite web|title=John Shaffner|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/john-shaffner|access-date=2020-10-01|website=Television Academy|language=en}}</ref> including three for his work on the CBS series ''The Magic of David Copperfield.''<ref name=":1" />
Shaffner was nominated 33 times by the Art Directors Guild, and won Art Directors Guild Awards for the designs of the 2006 Emmy Awards and ''The Big Bang Theory''.
In 2019, Shaffner and Stewart were awarded Honorary Doctor of Fine Art Degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.<ref name=":1" />
In 2002, Shaffner won the award he sponsors from the University of Montana and now and serves on the college's advisory council.<ref>{{Cite web|title={{!}}{{!}} The Montanan - The Magazine Of The University of Montana|url=https://archive.umt.edu/montanan/w10/The%20Design%20Of%20Success.php|access-date=2021-01-23|website=archive.umt.edu}}</ref>
== Personal == Shaffner lives with Joe Stewart in Los Angeles, California. They sponsor the annual gala University of Montana "Odyssey of the Stars" celebrating College of Visual and Performing Arts alumni, and fundraises for scholarships.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Amundson|first=Ingela Ratledge|date=2019-10-23|title=7 Inside Stories Behind the 'Friends' Set Design|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/7-inside-stories-behind-the-friends-set-design-11571853263|access-date=2020-10-01|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|id=0787343}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffner, John}} Category:American production designers Category:American art directors Category:University of Montana alumni Category:Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Category:1952 births Category:Living people