Biography

Cindy Chao is a Los Angeles–based production designer who frequently collaborates with fellow production designer Michele Yu; the partnership between the two began during their undergraduate years at UC San Diego and has endured across more than fifteen years of film and television work. They have served as production designers on feature films such as Much Ado About Nothing (2013) and Grandma (2015), as well as television series including A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019) and Waffles + Mochi (2021). Their contributions to A Black Lady Sketch Show have garnered significant industry recognition. In 2022, they earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Competition Series for the episode "Anybody Have Something I Can Flog Myself With?" In 2023, they were again nominated for a Primetime Emmy, this time for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series for the episode "Peek-a-Boob, Your Titty's Out." In 2022, they received two nominations by the Art Directors Guild for Excellence in Production Design in the Variety, Reality or Competition Series category: one for A Black Lady Sketch Show episode S2.E5 "If I'm Paying These Chili's Prices, You Cannot Taste My Steak!" and another for Waffles + Mochi episode S1.E1 "Tomato." Then in 2023, they were again nominated by the Art Directors Guild for A Black Lady Sketch Show, this time for episodes S3.E2, S3.E4, and S3.E5. In 2024, they received another Art Directors Guild nomination for A Black Lady Sketch Show season 4: S4.E1 "I'm Clapping From My Puss," S4.E2 "What Kind of Medicine Does Dr. King Practise", and S4.E5 "Peek-A-Boob, Your Titty's Out" under the Variety or Reality Series category.

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