Todd Ellis Kessler

Last updated

Todd Ellis Kessler is an American television producer and writer. He has worked in both capacities on varied series including The Practice , Crossing Jordan , Kevin Hill , The Unit and The Good Wife . He has been nominated for daytime and primetime Emmy Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award. [1]

Contents

Career

Kessler began writing for television with the NBC science fiction series Sleepwalkers in 1997. He served as an executive story editor for the series single season. Later in 1997 Kessler next became a writer for the second season of the ABC legal drama The Practice . He wrote the episodes "The Means" and "Axe Murderer".

In 1999 Kessler obtained his first production work on the science fictions series Strange World . The show was created by Howard Gordon and Tim Kring. Kessler was credited as a co-producer and also worked as a writer on the short-lived series.

Later in 1999 Kessler returned to The Practice as a co-producer and writer for the show's fourth season. He wrote the episodes "Legacy", "Marooned", "Committed" and "Settling". Kessler was promoted to producer for the fifth season but did not write any further episodes. Along with the rest of the production team Kessler was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding drama series for his work on the fifth season.

In 2001 Kessler became a supervising producer and writer on the legal drama Crossing Jordan . The series was created and executive produced by Tim Kring, who Kessler worked with on Strange World. Kessler wrote the first-season episodes "Believers" and "Blood Relatives" and left the crew at the end of the first season.

In 2002 Kessler became a writer and supervising producer for the medical drama MDs . Kessler wrote the episode "Open Hearts". The series was cancelled after ten episodes.

Kessler returned to television in 2004 as a supervising producer and writer for legal drama Kevin Hill . He wrote the episodes "Snack Daddy", "Homeland Insecurity", "Cardiac Episode" and "Through the Looking Glass". The show was cancelled after completing its first season. In 2006 Kessler worked as a supervising producer and writer on the second season of HBO historical drama Rome . The season did not air until early 2007. Kessler wrote the episodes "Testudo et Lepus" and "A Necessary Fiction". Rome was cancelled due to high production costs after two seasons.

In 2006 Kessler joined the crew of the action drama series The Unit . Kessler became a co-executive producer and writer for the series second season. He wrote the episodes "Report by Exception", "Johnny B. Good" and "In Loco Parentis". He returned as a co-executive producer for the third season in 2007 and wrote the episodes "Pandemonium: Part Two" and "Side Angle Side". The third season was shortened by the writers strike. Following the writer's strike Kessler returned to work on the fourth and final season of The Unit in 2008. He was promoted to executive producer and wrote the episodes "Sex Trade", "Misled and Misguided" (from a story by himself and Pete Blaber) and the series finale "Unknown Soldier".

In 2009 Kessler joined the crew of new legal drama The Good Wife as a co-executive producer and writer. [2] Kessler was joined by Ted Humphrey who had worked as a supervising producer and writer on the fourth season of The Unit. Kessler wrote the first-season episodes "Fixed" [3] and "Infamy". [4] Kessler and the rest of the writing staff for the first season were nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for best new series. [1]

In 2011 Kessler became a writer and co-executive producer for the period drama Pan Am . He wrote the episode "The Genuine Article" with consulting producer Nick Thiel, and had story credit on "Diplomatic Relations" (Jeffrey Lieber and Craig Shapiro shared credit for teleplay). The series was cancelled after fourteen episodes.

In 2012 Kessler became a writer and co-executive producer for the musical drama Nashville . He wrote the episodes "We Live In Two Different Worlds," "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" (with consulting producer David Marshall Grant), and "Why Don't You Love Me." Kessler left the series after the first season.

Related Research Articles

John Wells (filmmaker)

John Marcum Wells is an American theater, film, and television writer, director and producer.

Diane Frolov is an American television writer and producer. She has written for several television shows, including The Sopranos and Northern Exposure. She frequently co-writes episodes with her husband, Andrew Schneider.

Neal Baer

Neal Baer is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows Designated Survivor, ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Paul Redford is an American television writer and producer. Redford was a story editor and writer for Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night. He also worked on Sorkin's next series The West Wing. Redford joined the crew in the first season as a story editor and regular writer. Redford and his co-writers won a Humanitas Prize in the 60 minute category in 2000 for their episode "Take this Sabbath Day". The episode was also nominated for a WGA Award for best episodic drama.

Adam Fierro is an American television writer and producer.

David H. Goodman American television writer and producer

David H. Goodman is an American television writer and producer.

Corinne Noel Brinkerhoff is an American television writer and producer. She has worked on the series The Good Wife and Boston Legal. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for best new series in 2010.

Ted Humphrey is an American television and film writer, producer and director. He is best known for his work on the CBS series The Good Wife, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series in 2010, as well as the 2010 and 2011 Emmy Award for Best Drama Series. In 2011, he was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Drama Writing for his script for the episode "Boom," and was honored with the Voices of Courage and Conscience Award from the Muslim Public Affairs Council for the same script. The Good Wife also earned a Peabody Award and twice received the American Film Institute’s Award for Excellence in Film and Television.

Robert King (writer)

Robert King is an American film and television writer and producer. He is married to Michelle King, who is also his writing partner. The couple created the comedy-drama BrainDead (2016); the legal drama series The Good Wife (2009–16), which earned them a Writers Guild of America Award; its spin-off The Good Fight (2017-), and Evil (2019-).

Michelle King American television writer and producer (born 1958)

Michelle King is an American television writer and producer. She is married to Robert King, who is also her writing partner. The couple created the legal drama series The Good Wife, which earned them a Writers Guild of America Award. They have also created the comedy-drama BrainDead.

Angela Amato Velez is an American television writer and producer. She has also worked as a police officer, legal aid attorney and novelist. She has worked as a writer and producer on the police drama Southland and the legal drama The Good Wife. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for best new series for The Good Wife in 2010.

Aaron Zelman is an American television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on the series Law & Order, Criminal Minds and Damages. He has been nominated for an Emmy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his work on Damages. He created "Resurrection" for ABC that is currently on Season 2.

Melinda Hsu Taylor American television writer and producer

Melinda Hsu Taylor is an American television writer and producer. She is currently Executive Producer and show-runner of Nancy Drew for the CW Network.

Kim Clements is an American television writer and producer. She has worked in both capacities on the series Wanted, The Black Donnellys, Shark, and My Own Worst Enemy. Clements won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series for her work on Lost.

Jennifer M. Johnson American television writer, producer

Jennifer M. Johnson is an American television writer and producer.

Michael S. Chernuchin is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the NBC crime dramas Law & Order and Brooklyn South. He has won a Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award and an Edgar Award.

Scott A. Williams is an American television writer and producer, as well as co-founder of Shane's Inspiration, a non-profit that builds playgrounds for kids of ALL abilities. Scott has worked on the NBC crime dramas Brooklyn South and Third Watch. He worked as a co-executive producer and writer for the Fox police procedural Bones from 2006 to 2009. He was nominated for an Edgar Award for his work on the series Brooklyn South. He is now a writer and executive producer on NCIS.

Bonnie Mark is an American television writer and producer. She has worked on the ABC crime drama NYPD Blue and the NBC crime dramas Third Watch and Homicide: Life on the Street. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for her work on Homicide.

Julie Martin is an American television writer and producer. She has worked on the NBC crime dramas Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She won a Humanitas Prize and was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for her work on Homicide. She has also been nominated for an Edgar Award for her work on Criminal Intent.

Jorge Zamacona is an American television writer and producer. He worked extensively on the police drama Homicide: Life on the Street and wrote the series' crossover episodes with the crime drama Law & Order. Zamacona co-created the police dramas 10-8: Officers on Duty and Wanted.

References

  1. 1 2 Gregg Mitchell, Sherry Goldman (2010). "2010 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original (Press Release) on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  2. ↑ Charles McDougall (director); Michelle King & Robert King (writers) (2009-09-29). "Stripped". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 2. CBS.
  3. ↑ Dan Minahan (director); Todd Ellis Kessler (writer) (2009-10-13). "Fixed". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 4. CBS.
  4. ↑ Nelson McCormick (director); Todd Ellis Kessler (writer) (2010-01-05). "Infamy". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 11. CBS.
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.