Peter Atencio

Peter Atencio is a director, producer, and editor who specializes in comedy and is best known as the director of all episodes of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele (2012-2015), starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Atencio’s feature film debut was the anthology comedy, Night of the Dog (2005), which he edited and executive produced as well as wrote and directed the segment starring Peter Donovan, Doug on the Rocks.

In his only non-comedy feature directing assignment, Atencio helmed The Rig (2010), starring William Forsythe, Stacey Hinnen, and Art LaFleur. Peter Atencio, as director of the Key & Peele series, continued to collaborate with the comedy duo on their feature debut as a pair (which they also co-wrote and co-produced), Keanu (2016), with Method Man, Luis Guzman, Nia Long, and Will Forte.

Atencio’s fourth directorial feature (and also as a producer) was The Machine (2023), based on star-producer Bert Kreischer’s stand-up act (with Kevin Biegel and Scotty Landes as credited co-screenwriters), co-starring Mark Hamill and Jimmy Tatro, and released by Screen Gems.  Atencio has worked as an editor on shorts, videos, and TV series from 2005 to 2015, and has also served as an executive producer on shorts and TV series from 2003 to 2019.