Michael Goi
Michael K. Goi, ASC, ISC (born March 4, 1959) is an American cinematographer, director, producer, and writer of television and film. He is best known for his work for Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk on the television series Glee, Scream Queens and American Horror Story. He is a four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee for his cinematography.
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| Michael Goi |
|---|
| Goi in 2023 |
| (1959-03-04) March 4, 1959Chicago, Illinois |
| Michael K. Goi |
| Columbia College Chicago |
| Cinematographer, television and film director, producer, screenwriter |
| 1980–present |
| In office2009–2012 |
| Daryn Okada |
| Stephen Lighthill |
Michael K. Goi, ASC, ISC (born March 4, 1959) is an American cinematographer, director, producer, and writer of television and film. He is best known for his work for Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk on the television series Glee, Scream Queens and American Horror Story. He is a four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee for his cinematography.
His directorial work includes the 2011 horror film Megan Is Missing, and episodes of series like The Rookie and its spinoff The Rookie: Feds (which he also produced), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Goi served as the 49th President of the American Society of Cinematographers, from 2009 to 2012.
Of Japanese descent, Goi was born and raised in Chicago, and was educated at Columbia College Chicago. He cites Mario Bava's giallo film Blood and Black Lace and Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967) as key early influences.
He began his career as director of photography on a short horror film directed by John Strysik, The Music of Erich Zann, in 1980; and then on the comedy The Blues Brothers, as a production assistant.
He went on to serve as cinematographer on film and television series, such as: Moonstalker, How U Like Me Now, What Matters Most, Call Waiting, Funky Monkey, Cloud 9, Witness Protection, My Name is Earl, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Mr. Sunshine, Salem and The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
Goi has written and directed three feature films during his career; Voyeur, an action drama about a reluctant porn star and her biggest fan; Megan Is Missing (2011), about internet predators and the disappearance of Megan Stewart (Rachel Quinn); and Mary, starring Gary Oldman and Emily Mortimer, on which he also served as the cinematographer.
Goi served as the exclusive cinematographer on Lisa Kudrow's Web Therapy throughout the entirety of its 87-episode run.
As director of photography, Goi first worked with prolific writer/producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk on their (with Ian Brennan) FOX musical comedy Glee, in 2011, with the episode "Asian F". That same year he also began work on the duo's new FX series American Horror Story. His first episode on the series was the Murder House installment "Rubber Man". He went on to work on Murphy's short-lived NBC comedy The New Normal; and the trio's 2015 horror/comedy Scream Queens. During the fourth season of American Horror Story, Goi made his series directorial debut with "Magical Thinking". He served as the series' exclusive cinematographer from the premiere of Asylum, until the end of the fifth season. He was succeeded in the capacity by Breaking Bad's Nelson Cragg, with the commencement of the sixth year.
Goi joined the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in 2003. Goi was the 49th President of the ASC, from 2009 to 2012.
In 2025, he received the ASC's Career Achievement in Television Award. The same year, he was appointed to its Artificial Intelligence Committee.
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes | .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Chains | No | Yes | ||
| 1999 | Voyeur | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2011 | Megan Is Missing | Yes | Yes | Also editor and co-producer | |
| 2019 | Mary | Yes | No |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | A Hunger Artist | |
| 1989 | Moonstalker | |
| Chains | ||
| Sam and Sarah | Also editor | |
| 1992 | How U Like Me Now | |
| Hellmaster | ||
| 1994 | Hollywood Hills 90028 | Also still photographer |
| 1995 | Ladies in Waiting | |
| 1996 | Evil Obsession | |
| Frankie D. | ||
| 1997 | Deadlock: A Passion for Murder | |
| 1998 | Hundred Percent | |
| Vampire Centerfolds | With Geoffrey de Valois | |
| Sorority House Vampires | Uncredited | |
| Born Champion | ||
| 1999 | The Awakening of Gabriella | |
| Forbidden Sins | ||
| 2001 | What Matters Most | |
| 2004 | Call Waiting | |
| Funky Monkey | ||
| The Bike Squad | ||
| 2006 | Cloud 9 | |
| Fingerprints | ||
| Cut Off | ||
| 2007 | The Dukes | |
| Frankie D | ||
| 2008 | Witless Protection | |
| 2010 | Expecting Mary | |
| 2011 | Kiss and Tell: The History of Black Romance in Movie | Documentary |
| 2014 | The Town That Dreaded Sundown | |
| 2019 | Mary | |
| 2020 | Words on Bathroom Walls |
| Year | Title | Episode(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Sexy Urban Legends | "Sleeping with Strangers" (Segment "Organ Donor") | |
| 2015–16 | American Horror Story | "Magical Thinking" | |
| "Room Service" | |||
| "Flicker" | |||
| "Chapter 2" | |||
| 2016 | Pretty Little Liars | "Hit and Run, Run, Run" | |
| 2017 | Sleepy Hollow | "Child's Play" | |
| Famous in Love | "Taking Care of Business" | ||
| Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments | "Those of Demon Blood" | ||
| Nashville | "The Night Before (Life Goes On)" | ||
| 2018 | Falling Water | "Nothing Personal" | |
| "The Art of the Deal" | |||
| The Arrangement | "Surface Tension" | ||
| The Gifted | "coMplications" | ||
| "iMprint" | |||
| 2018–25 | The Rookie | "Time of Death" | |
| "Plain Clothes Day" | |||
| "Free Fall" | |||
| "Impact" | |||
| "Hand-Off" | |||
| "In Justice" | |||
| "The Squeeze" | |||
| "Wildfire" | |||
| 2019 | Empire | "My Fault Is Past" | |
| Swamp Thing | "The Anatomy Lesson" | ||
| 2019–20 | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | "Chapter Thirteen: The Passion of Sabrina Spellman" | |
| "Chapter Six: All Of Them Witches" | |||
| 2019–23 | Riverdale | "Chapter Sixty-Five: In Treatment" | |
| "Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two: Miss Teen Riverdale" | |||
| 2020 | Charmed | "Guess Who's Coming To SafeSpace Seattle" | |
| 2021 | Big Sky | "Let It Be Him" | |
| "Nice Animals" | |||
| "Love Is a Strange and Dangerous Thing" | |||
| Kung Fu | "Guidance" | ||
| 2022–23 | The Rookie: Feds | "Face Off" | |
| "The Silent Prisoner" | |||
| "The Remora" | |||
| "Red One" | |||
| 2024 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | "Aang" | |
| "Warriors" | |||
| 2025 | Doc | "...Must Come Down" |
TV movies
- The Fixer (1998)
- Who Killed Atlanta's Children? (2000)
- Christmas Rush (2002)
- Red Water (2003)
- Judas (2004)
- Katie Sullivan (2006)
- Life on Mars (2008)
- The Untitled Michael Jacobs Pilot (2010)
- How to Be a Better American (2010)
- Bloodline (2013)
- The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez (2016)
TV series
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Pleasure Zone | 13 episodes |
| 1999-2000 | Nightcap | 11 episodes |
| 2001 | Lady Chatterley's Stories | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Invasion | Episode "The Last Wave Goodbye" (With Jeffrey Jur) |
| 2007 | The Wedding Bells | 7 episodes |
| 2007-08 | My Name Is Earl | 23 episodes |
| 2008-13 | Web Therapy | 64 episodes |
| 2009 | In the Motherhood | 4 episodes |
| 2009-10 | The Mentalist | 7 episodes |
| 2011 | The Nine Lives of Chloe King | 9 episodes |
| Mr. Sunshine | 12 episodes | |
| 2011-12 | Glee | 7 episodes |
| 2011-13 | Web Therapy | 23 episodes |
| 2011-16 | American Horror Story | 52 episodes |
| 2012 | The New Normal | Episode "Pilot" |
| 2014 | Salem | 12 episodes |
| 2015 | Scream Queens | Episodes "Pilot", "Hell Week" |
| 2024 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Episodes "Aang", "Warriors" |
- List of presidents of the American Society of Cinematographers
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- Michael Goi at IMDb