Lindsay Anne Shookus, Williamsville South High School, Class of 1998 (Inducted 2017)
Lindsay Shookus is an award-winning producer at Saturday Night Live, receiving two Emmys for her work on the iconic show. She has worked at NBC's 30 Rockefeller Center for her entire career beginning fresh out of college in 2002 as an assistant to a producer at SNL, quickly learning the craft of producing late-night programming. While at SNL, she was also an associate producer for the hit comedy series, 30 Rock, working on 42 episodes of the sitcom from 2008 to 2010. In 2015, she produced NBC’s Emmy-nominated Adele: Live in New York City special. The same year, she won an Emmy for outstanding variety special for producing “The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special”. In September 2017, she won her second Emmy for making SNL’s 42nd season one of its most memorable thanks, in large part, to must-see sketches about presidential politics.
As a student at Williamsville South, Ms. Shookus was president of her junior and senior classes and was captain of the tennis team her senior year. She participated in the school’s theater program and, as a senior, had the lead role in Pippin. After graduating high school, Ms. Shookus attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She headed to New York and SNL where, during her first week on the job, actor Matt Damon hosted and Bruce Springsteen was the musical guest. In a 2015 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, she said: "I was watching Bruce Springsteen perform from 30 feet away on my fourth day. I remember thinking, ‘How is this my job?’" Today, she books the show’s hosts and musical guests alongside SNL’s legendary creator, Lorne Michaels.
She was named one of Hollywood Reporter’s Up-and-Coming Execs 35 and Under and has appeared on Billboard’s Women in Music list twice. Ms. Shookus resides in New York City with her daughter.