Roger Nygard grew up along the shores of Lake Minnetonka. His father, Roger Nygard, Sr., was an executive at General Mills in charge of buying the trainloads of grain used to make Wheaties and Cheerios. Nygard graduated from Orono High School in 1980, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Communications from the University of Minnesota in 1984.

From the age of 7, ever since learning how to use his father’s 8mm movie camera, Nygard has been making movies. In 1979 Nygard premiered his 8mm opus, “The Indestructible Man, Part 2” in the Orono High School cafeteria during study hall to a SRO crowd, when the majority of the school’s students preferred watching the filmed antics to studying that particular day.

Since then, Nygard has continued in that occupation, having directed episodes of the HBO series, "The Mind Of The Married Man," the FOX series "The Bernie Mac Show," the NBC series "The Office," the DisneyXD series "Zeke & Luther," as well as editing episodes of HBO’s "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Having made seven independent films, he is probably most well known for "Trekkies," a documentary described as "affectionate, nonjudgmental" (Hollywood Reporter & Daily Variety) or “terrifying and unsettling” (National Post), depending on who you ask. His latest documentary is about "The Nature Of Existence," asking why are we here, and what are we supposed to do about it? Nygard traveled the globe going to the source of each of the world's philosophies, religions, and belief systems, to meet spiritual leaders, scientists, artists, wrestlers, pizza chefs, and other experts who have influenced, inspired, or freaked out humanity.

Sun Newspaper Article:
http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2010/09/16/sota_pop/arts_and_entertainment/articles/342rogernygard.txt

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