Melissa Rosenberg

Last updated
Melissa Rosenberg
Melissa Rosenberg posed.jpg
BornMelissa Anne Rosenberg
Marin County, California, U.S.
OccupationTelevision writer, television producer, screenwriter
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Bennington College
University of Southern California
Period1993–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1995)​

Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of America Awards. Since joining the Writers Guild of America, she has been involved in its board of directors and was a strike captain during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. She supports female screenwriters through the WGA Diversity Committee and co-founded the League of Hollywood Women Writers.

Contents

She worked on several television series between 1993 and 2003 before joining The O.C. 's writing staff, eventually leaving the show to write the 2006 film Step Up . From 2006 to 2009, she served as the head writer of the Showtime series Dexter , rising to executive producer by the time she departed at the end of the fourth season. She wrote her second produced screenplay, the 2008 film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel Twilight in 2007, and then adapted the novel's three sequels.

Rosenberg is also widely known as the creator of the Netflix series Jessica Jones .

Early life

Rosenberg was born in Marin County, California. [1] Her father is Jack Lee Rosenberg, a psychotherapist and the founder of integrative body psychotherapy. Her mother was Patricia Rosenberg, a lawyer. She was the second of four children by her father's first wife. [2] Rosenberg's father was Jewish [3] [4] and her mother was of Irish Catholic background. [5]

As a child, Rosenberg enjoyed presenting plays and recruiting other neighborhood children to perform in them. [2] She attended a "massive public high school with a crowd of people bunched in a classroom and expected to learn" in Southern California. She later moved to New York City to join a small theatre company before moving again to Bennington, Vermont to attend Bennington College. [6] She originally aspired to work in Dance and Choreography. She says she began too late, however, so she moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in the film industry instead. She graduated from the University of Southern California's (USC) Peter Stark Producing Program with a Master of Fine Arts degree in film and television producing. [1] [6]

Career

Rosenberg's first project was a dance film commissioned by Paramount Pictures that was ultimately never made. [1] She then shifted to television writing. She first wrote for Class of '96 in 1993, and went on to work on shows including Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1995–1996), Dark Skies (1996), The Magnificent Seven (1998), Ally McBeal (2001) and Birds of Prey (2002) before she came to join the writing staff of The O.C. in 2003. Leaving The O.C. at the conclusion of its first season, she was hired to write her second screenplay, the 2006 dance film Step Up . [7] (Later, she was also offered the job of writing the sequel, Step Up 2: The Streets , but turned the offer down as she was busy with other projects.) [8]

Rosenberg went on to write for the television series Love Monkey (2006) and Dexter (2006–2010). Her job on the Showtime series was her first on a show written for cable—she stated in 2007, "Cable is the place to be ... it's just wonderful." [9] Rosenberg initially worked as a consulting producer and writer on the first season. She and the other members of the Dexter writing staff were nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for best Dramatic Series at the February 2008 ceremony for their work on the first season. [10] [11] She gained a staff position as co-executive producer and writer for the second season in 2007 and continued in this role for the third season in 2008. The writing staff was again nominated for the WGA award at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the third season. [12] As part of the senior production team she was also co-nominated for the Outstanding Drama Series award at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. [13] She was promoted to executive producer for the fourth season in 2009 and continued to write episodes. She was nominated for the WGA award a third consecutive time at the February 2010 ceremony for her work on the fourth season of Dexter. [14]

Rosenberg at the 2016 WonderCon in Los Angeles, California. Melissa Rosenberg by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Rosenberg at the 2016 WonderCon in Los Angeles, California.

Summit Entertainment, the production company which had produced Step Up, [15] offered Rosenberg the chance to adapt Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel Twilight into a film of the same name, which she accepted. [7] Her primary inspiration for the adaptation was Brokeback Mountain , which she described as a "great model" of forbidden love alongside Romeo and Juliet , and thought its adaptation from short story to film was "beautiful". [16] [17] She was given a "manifesto" written by Meyer outlining everything that had to be included or could not be changed in the adaptation. [15] She wrote a detailed 25-page outline in August 2007, expecting to have another two months to write the actual screenplay, but had only five weeks to finish the script before the commencement of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. [18] After the release of Twilight, she was hired by Summit to adapt the sequels New Moon and Eclipse , the second and third books in the series, respectively, and she had already begun drafting the New Moon screenplay by November 2008. [19] [20]

In July 2010, Rosenberg left her role of writer and executive producer on Dexter, explaining that "For the past four years I've been writing Dexter and one Twilight or another." She was then working on adapting the final novel in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn , which was split into two films, and said, "I can do one Twilight and Dexter, but I couldn't do two." She was regretful about leaving the series and called it her favorite television experience to date. [21]

Rosenberg was on the Writers Guild of America's board of directors for five years before stepping back because "you can get really, really wrapped up in it". She was very active, however, in the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, standing on the line as a strike captain. [18] She is currently involved in the WGA Diversity Committee supporting female screenwriters, but is more active in the League of Hollywood Women Writers, which she and several other women set up while on strike, aiming to fight the "boys' club mentality" in television writing rooms. [18]

Rosenberg at the 2016 Peabody Award Ceremony Melissa Rosenberg, the creator and showrunner of "Marvel's Jessica Jones", May 2016.jpg
Rosenberg at the 2016 Peabody Award Ceremony

Beginning in 2010, Rosenberg had been developing a Jessica Jones TV series for ABC, which would be based on Alias comic book series by Brian Michael Bendis. [22] However, later in 2012, it was revealed that ABC had passed on the series. [23] [24] In October 2013, following a deal made by Netflix and Marvel, the series was revived as a part of four series and one mini-series commitment in which Rosenberg was brought on to be the showrunner. [25] In December 2014, the series had cast Krysten Ritter as Jones and revealed the official title of the series as Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones. [26] In June 2015, Marvel revealed that the title for the series would be shortened to Marvel's Jessica Jones . [27]

In August 2018, it was reported that Rosenberg had signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television and would leave Jessica Jones after season 3. [28] In February 2019, Netflix announced it was cancelling the show after three seasons. [29]

Rosenberg speaking at the 2016 Wonder con at the Los Angeles Convention center in Los Angeles, California Melissa Rosenberg (25538919004).jpg
Rosenberg speaking at the 2016 Wonder con at the Los Angeles Convention center in Los Angeles, California

Personal life

Rosenberg's mother died when Rosenberg was a teenager, after her father had remarried to Lynn MacCuish; he later married again to fellow therapist Beverly Kitaen-Morse. She has an older sister, Andrea (b. 1960), younger fraternal boy-girl twin brother and sister Erik and K.C. (b. 1963), and a younger half-sister, Mariya (b. 1981), by her father's second wife. [2]

Rosenberg lives in Los Angeles with her husband Lev L. Spiro, a television director. [30] She joked that "At our wedding, half the attendees were shrinks, the other half, their clients," after explaining that "My sister is a dance therapist; my other sister is in graduate school to become a therapist. My husband's parents are both shrinks. His uncle, two aunts and sister are shrinks." [31]

Filmography

Film writer

Television

YearTitleWriterProducerNotes
1993 Class of '96 YesNoEpisodes "Midterm Madness", "The Adventures of Pat's Man and Robin";
Also story editor
1994 Party of Five YesSupervising
1995–1996 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman YesNoEpisodes "One Touch of Nature", "If You Love Someone..." and "Reunion"
1996 The Outer Limits YesNoEpisode "The Sentence"
Dark Skies YesNoAlso story editor
1996–1997 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys YesNoEpisodes "Mummy Dearest" and "Beanstalks and Bad Eggs"
1998 The Magnificent Seven YesCo-producerEpisodes "Working Girls" and "Witness"
2000 Boston Public NoConsultingEpisode "Chapter Two"
2001 Ally McBeal YesNoEpisode "Hats Off to Larry"
The Agency YesConsulting
2002 Birds of Prey YesConsultingEpisodes "Slick", "Sins of the Mother" and "Nature of the Beast"
2003–2004 The O.C. YesCo-executiveEpisodes "The Outsider", "The Rescue" and "The Third Wheel"
2006 Love Monkey YesCo-executiveEpisodes "Confidence" and "Coming Out"
2006–2009 Dexter YesExecutive8 episodes
2008AlyxYesExecutiveTV movie
2013 Red Widow YesExecutiveAlso creator;
Episodes "Pilot" and "The Contact"
2015–2019 Jessica Jones YesExecutiveAlso creator and showrunner

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

YearNomination/WinCategory
2010Nomination(Outstanding Drama Series) Dexter
2009Nomination(Outstanding Drama Series) Dexter
2008Nomination(Outstanding Drama Series) Dexter

Gold Derby / Gotham / Hugo Awards

YearNomination/WinCategory
2016 (Hugo)Win(Best Dramatic Presentation) Jessica Jones
2016 (Gotham)Nomination(Breakthrough Series) Jessica Jones
2010 (Gold)Nomination(Best Drama) Dexter

Writers Guild of America

YearNomination/WinCategory
2011Nomination(Drama Series) Dexter
2010Nomination(Drama Series) Dexter
2009Nomination(Dramatic Series) Dexter
2008Nomination(Dramatic Series) Dexter

PGA Awards

YearNomination/WinCategory
2010Nomination(Outstanding Producer on Episodic Television, Drama) Dexter [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Buck</span> American television writer

Scott Randall Buck is an American television writer. Buck has written for several television series including Six Feet Under, Rome, Showtime's Dexter, Everybody Loves Raymond, Coach, Inhumans, The Oblongs and Iron Fist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Kitsis</span> American screenwriter and television producer (born 1971)

Edward Lawrence Kitsis is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work with his writing partner Adam Horowitz on the popular ABC drama series Lost and Once Upon a Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina M. Kim</span> American television writer

Christina M. Kim is an American television writer. In the 2005-06 television season, she joined the writing staff of Lost for the series' second season. The staff won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the second season.

Patrick Massett is an American screenwriter and producer.

Daniel Cerone is a television writer and executive producer. His credits include Dexter, where he served as showrunner, along with The Blacklist, The Mentalist, Dirty Sexy Money and Charmed. He was the co-creator of Constantine, the critically acclaimed adaptation of the DC comics Vertigo series Hellblazer, which developed a cult following. He also created and executive produced Clubhouse, the CBS baseball drama, as well as the ABC police procedural Motive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clyde Phillips (writer)</span> American screenwriter

Clyde B. Phillips is an American film producer, television writer, television producer, and novelist.

Lauren Gussis is an American television writer and producer, known for the Showtime series Dexter, the NBC series E-Ring and the Netflix Original Series Insatiable (2018). She has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Lisa Albert is an American television writer and producer. She was born in New York City, and is currently based out of Los Angeles, California. Albert originally began working in publishing until she switched to television writing in 1986. She has worked in both capacities on the AMC drama series Mad Men as a writer and producer and has won a WGA Award for her work on the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Jacquemetton</span> American screenwriter

Maria Jacquemetton is a Greek American television writer and producer. She graduated from Lehigh University in 1983. She served as a producer for the first season of Mad Men and co-wrote, with her husband, Andre, three episodes of the season.

Robin Veith is an American television writer. She served as a writer's assistant on the first season of Mad Men and co-wrote the final episode of the season "The Wheel" with the series creator Matthew Weiner. Weiner and Veith were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for their work on the episode. Alongside her colleagues on the writing staff she won a Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series and was nominated for the award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2008 ceremony for her work on the season. She returned for the second season as a staff writer. She was nominated for the WGA award for Best Dramatic Series a second time at the February 2009 ceremony for her work on the second season. She won the WGA Award for Best Drama Series at the February 2010 ceremony for her work on the third season. Veith was also nominated for the WGA award for episodic drama at the February 2010 ceremony for her work on "Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency".

Timothy (Tim) Schlattmann is a three-time Emmy award nominee television writer and producer. Nebraska born and raised, this former disc jockey and college professor's writing credits include ABC's number one hit Roseanne, Fox's Get Real, the WB's Smallville, the feature XCU: Extreme Close-Up, and the critically acclaimed Dexter for Showtime. As an Executive Producer since 2012, Tim Schlattmann completed the eighth and final season of Dexter and authored "Dexter Early Cuts: Dark Echo", an ongoing web series for Showtime. He has served as an Executive Producer on CBS's "Under The Dome".

Scott Reynolds is a television writer. He has written for the Showtime series Dexter and the Bruckheimer television series E-Ring. He has also created/written the comic book UTF with Tone Rodriguez for APE comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Ehrin</span> Television screenwriter, showrunner, and producer (born 1960)

Kerry Anne Ehrin is an American screenwriter, showrunner, and producer. The first writer with whom Apple TV+ signed an overall deal, Kerry Ehrin developed and ran the first two seasons of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, which led the streaming service's launch. Ehrin was also the co-creator, executive producer, and co-showrunner of the Emmy-nominated and critically acclaimed A&E drama series Bates Motel which featured Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore in the iconic roles of Norma and Norman Bates, and aired for five seasons on A&E. Prior to that, she was a writer and producer on Friday Night Lights and Parenthood and has received numerous Emmy and WGA nominations, as well as four AFI Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Heldens</span> Television screenwriter and producer

Elizabeth Heldens is a television writer and producer. She is the creator of Deception, a drama on NBC which premiered on January 7, 2013. She has worked on the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series at the February 2007 ceremony for her work on the first season of Friday Night Lights. She was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Dramatic Series the following year at the February 2008 ceremony for her work on the second season of Friday Night Lights. Heldens was nominated for Best Dramatic Series a second time at the February 2009 ceremony for her work on the third season of Friday Night Lights. She was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Drama Series for the third consecutive year at the February 2010 ceremony for her work on the fourth season. Her production company is Selfish Mermaid.

"The British Invasion" is the twelfth episode and finale of the second season, and twenty-fourth overall episode, of the American television drama series Dexter, which first aired on 16 December 2007 on Showtime in the United States. The episode was written by Daniel Cerone and was directed by Steve Shill. In the episode, Lila Tournay finds Sgt. James Doakes imprisoned in an Everglades cabin and learns from him that her object of affection, Dexter Morgan, is the serial killer known as the "Bay Harbor Butcher". She decides to help Dexter and kills Doakes by setting the cabin on fire. Meanwhile, Dexter's sister Debra questions whether her career is more important than her relationship with FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy.

<i>Jessica Jones</i> (TV series) 2015–2019 Marvel Television series

Marvel's Jessica Jones is an American television series created by Melissa Rosenberg for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the franchise's films, and was the second Marvel Netflix series leading to the crossover miniseries The Defenders. The series was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Rosenberg serving as showrunner. Scott Reynolds was co-showrunner for the third season.

<i>Jessica Jones</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the American television series Jessica Jones, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Jessica Jones, a former superhero who opens her own detective agency after her superhero career comes to an end at the hands of Kilgrave. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Melissa Rosenberg serving as showrunner.

<i>Jessica Jones</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of the American streaming television series Jessica Jones, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Jones as she takes on a new case after the events surrounding her encounter with Kilgrave. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Melissa Rosenberg serving as showrunner.

<i>Jessica Jones</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third and final season of the American streaming television series Jessica Jones, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Jones as she teams up with her mother's killer, Trish Walker, to take down a highly intelligent psychopath until a devastating loss reveals conflicting ideals that pits them against each other. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Melissa Rosenberg and Scott Reynolds serving as showrunners.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dawes, Amy (November–December 2008). "The XX Factor". Creative Screenwriting Magazine.
  2. 1 2 3 Itten, Theodor (2002). Fischer, Martin (ed.). Jack Lee Rosenberg: Celebrating a Master Psychotherapist. Itten Books. ISBN   3-9522485-0-9.
  3. ↑ Fermaglich, Kirsten Lise (2018). A Rosenberg by any other name : a history of Jewish name changing in America. New York: NYU Press. ISBN   978-1-4798-8719-4.
  4. ↑ "ROSENBERG Origin of Surname". dbs.anumuseum.org.il. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Berrin, Danielle (Nov 12, 2009). "Jewish Screenwriter Pens 'Kosher' Vampires for 'Twilight'". Cleveland Jewish News . Her father, Jack Lee Rosenberg, is a prominent psychotherapist; her mother, Patricia, who was raised Irish Catholic, died when the future screenwriter was a teenager
  6. 1 2 "Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg '86 crafts sharp characters for film and TV". Bennington College. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  7. 1 2 "The Twilight Lexicon's interview with Melissa Rosenberg" (PDF). TwilightLexicon.com. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  8. ↑ Ryan, Rotten (August 19, 2008). "Exclusive Interview: Twilight's Melissa Rosenberg". ShockTillYouDrop.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  9. ↑ Douglas, Pamela (2007). Writing the TV Drama Series: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV (2nd ed.). California, United States: Michael Wiese Productions. pp. 127–130. ISBN   978-1-932907-34-6.
  10. ↑ "2008 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced" (Press release). Writers Guild of America, west. December 12, 2007. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  11. ↑ Perry, Byron (December 12, 2007). "WGA announce TV, radio nominees". Variety . Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  12. ↑ "2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced" (Press release). Writers Guild of America, west. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  13. ↑ "2007–2008 Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations" (PDF) (Press release). Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. July 18, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  14. ↑ Gregg Mitchell & Sherry Goldman (2009). "2010 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  15. 1 2 Martin, Denise (November 13, 2008). "'Twilight' Countdown: Melissa Rosenberg defends 'Breaking Dawn'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  16. ↑ Carroll, Larry (September 16, 2008). "'Twilight' Tuesday: Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg Was Inspired By 'Brokeback Mountain'". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  17. ↑ Gnerre, Andrew (November 14, 2008). "Melissa Rosenberg Takes a Bite Out of Twilight". MovieMaker. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  18. 1 2 3 Charaipotra, Sona (September 16, 2007). "Exclusive Interview: 'Twilight' Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg". Premiere . Archived from the original on October 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  19. ↑ Zeitchik, Steven (November 14, 2008). "'Twilight' film franchise looks ahead". The Hollywood Reporter .
  20. ↑ Sperling, Nicole (November 6, 2008). "'Twilight': Will the Movie Be a Hit?". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  21. ↑ Callaghan, Dylan (July 2, 2010). "Work Hard, Twihard". Writers Guild of America, West. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  22. ↑ Schneider, Micheak (December 17, 2010). "Screenwriter Sets Marvel Adaptation for TV". Variety . Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  23. ↑ Molloy, Tim (May 15, 2012). "Screenwriter Sets Marvel Adaptation for TV". The Wrap . Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  24. ↑ Radish, Christina (November 15, 2012). "Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg Talks The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, ABC's Red Widow, the Status of AKA Jessica Jones, and More". Collider. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  25. ↑ Lieberman, David (November 7, 2013). "Disney To Provide Netflix With Four Series Based On Marvel Characters". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on April 14, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  26. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (December 4, 2014). "Krysten Ritter Nabs Lead In Marvel's 'Jessica Jones'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  27. ↑ Jayson, Jay (June 8, 2015). "Confirmed! Marvel Drops AKA From Jessica Jones Title". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  28. ↑ "'Jessica Jones' Creator to Exit for 8-Figure Warner Bros. TV Deal (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . 22 August 2018.
  29. ↑ "Netflix's Marvel Cancellations Signal Start of the New Streaming World Order". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  30. ↑ Wagner Apfelbach, Paula (2001). "Alumni News". University of Wisconsin–Madison. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  31. ↑ Eramo, Steven (September 1997). "Dark Tales". Xposé. 1 (14): 50–53.
  32. ↑ "Melissa Rosenberg". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-05-05.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.