About
Peter Atencio is a film and television director, producer, and writer currently based in London.
His career has established him as one of the most exciting and original voices in contemporary filmmaking, and the over 2 billion views his work has garnered on youtube alone serves as a testament to his mark on pop culture and entertainment.
He won a primetime Emmy award while directing and executive producing every episode of the hit sketch comedy series Key & Peele, and was nominated for two more Emmys during the show's legendary five season run. Atencio also won a Peabody and American Comedy Awards for his work, as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination for best television director, in addition to numerous other accolades.
He and stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele re-teamed in movie theaters for 2016's KEANU, an action comedy released theatrically by Warner Bros and New Line Pictures. Next, he directed & produced the Amazon Studios / Scott Free original series Jean-Claude Van Johnson, working with fellow executive producer Ridley Scott and creator Dave Callaham. He then relocated to Prague to showrun and direct the action dramedy Whiskey Cavalier for Bill Lawrence's Doozer Productions and Warner Bros. television. The show aired on ABC in the United States and internationally in over 60 countries. As an in-demand television director he's worked on multiple other high-profile shows, including Jordan’s Peele’s The Twilight Zone for Paramount Plus, The Last Man On Earth for the FOX network, and Phil Lord & Chris Miller's The Afterparty for Apple TV+.
His next feature film was the action comedy The Machine starring Bert Kreischer and Mark Hamill, which he also produced. The film was released in theaters nationwide on Memorial Day weekend 2023 by Legendary Entertainment and Sony Pictures / Screen Gems. When it debuted on Netflix later that year, it was the #1 most viewed film on the platform in the United States, with over 14,500,000 hours of viewership.
His latest project is Animal Friends, an original feature for Legendary Pictures & Maximum Effort, starring Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Eric Andre, Addison Rey, Ellie Bamber, Lil Rel Howery, Jimmy Tatro, Travis Kelce, and Atencio himself. He's directing, producing, and co-writing the film, set to be released in theaters worldwide in the summer of 2025. The road trip action comedy is a hybrid of computer animated visual effects with live action, with FX work provided by DNEG, who is also a partner in the production effort.
In addition to his narrative work, he is a prolific commercial director, creating innovative, visually stunning work for a variety of clients, including Pepsi, Taco Bell, Twitter, State Farm, Honda, Frito-Lay, and more; and has won numerous advertising industry awards including three Clio Awards. He's represented globally for advertising by Ridley Scott & Associates. He is represented by UTA for film and television projects.
To contact Peter:
- Feature Films - UTA / Jason Burns
- Television - UTA / Matt Rice
- Advertising - RSA Films / Luke Ricci
- Manager - Artists First / Peter Principato