“Leo” Akira Yoshimura is an Emmy Award winning*
Watch the full interview at Saturday Night Live*
Yoshimura has been nominated 16 times for his work on SNL and has been awarded 6 Emmys for Outstanding Production Design
2021 Kristen Wiig
2020 Eddie Murphy, John Mulaney
2019 John Mulaney, Emma Stone
2018 Bill Hader
2017 Alec Baldwin
2013 Justin Timberlake, Martin Short, Ben Affleck
His work has also been honored by the Art Directors Guild with 5 ADG Excellence in Design Awards
2020 John Mulaney, Adele, Dave Chappelle
2016 Larry David, Peter Dinklage, Tom Hanks
2012 Mick Jagger
2011 Justin Timberlake
2010 Betty White
production designer*Watch the full interview at Saturday Night Live*
He has been at SNL since the premier on October 11, 1975 and has appeared in dozens of sketches. In 48 seasons Yoshimura has only missed one broadcast, for his son’s college graduation. (Remarkably, Yoshimura has been at SNL longer than Lorne Michaels, who took a 5-year break from the show.)
and other shows,*
Beyond SNL, Yoshimura has done production design for shows including Late Night with Seth Meyers, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the Emmy Awards.
a Yale graduate,*MFA, Yale School of Drama, Design Department, 1971 and an artist.*
Yoshimura has studied in Italy at the Florence Academy of Art and The Art Studio of Florence. He takes studio classes at The Art Students League of New York, where he has studied with Harvey Dinnerstein, Mary Beth MacKenzie, and Dan Gheno. More