Carter Covington ( 1973) is an American television show creator,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, story editor and producer. He is known for his

screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, de ...

on two television series which aired on the ABC Family network: ''

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

'' and ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirs ...

''. Covington was the showrunner for the first season of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

series '' Charmed''.

Early life

Covington grew up in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

. The son of Marie and Butch Covington, he graduated from R. J. Reynolds High School in 1991. Covington attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, where he received his degree in 1995 after studying foreign affairs and Spanish. After college, Covington was undecided about a career path. He taught English in Mexico and then worked as an advertising executive before studying entertainment business at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

's Business School, where he graduated in 2001. This was followed by a stint as a dog-walker. It wasn't until he met a screenwriter for the TV show '' Smallville'' that he said he found a career that interested him.

Career

Covington has been involved in more than 17 episodes of ''Greek'', some of which he co-wrote with fellow

graduate Amy Rardin. A

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapter ...

fraternity alumnus, Covington's own college experiences were an inspiration for his writing on ''Greek''. Covington is a self-professed fan of the original 1999 film ''

''. He often collaborated with original film director

Gil Junger Gil Junger (born November 7, 1954) is an American director, most famous for ''10 Things I Hate About You'', his directorial film debut. He is a 1972 graduate of the Trinity-Pawling School in Pawling, New York. Filmography Film Television * ...

on various ABC Family projects, where he regularly quizzed Junger for information about the movie. These discussions with Junger, coupled with Covington's desire to create a "reimagined" TV version of the movie, led to the creation of a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

episode of ''

'', which Junger directed. On July 7, 2009, the series premiere brought in 1.60 million viewer, a record for a 30-minute comedy debut on the ABC Family network. The series was canceled after one twenty-episode season. In 2018 Covington became the showrunner for

television series '' Charmed'' after it was picked up to series, in order to help executive producers Jessica O'Toole and Amy Rardin, neither of whom had run a show before. He departed the show after its first season and was replaced by married duo Liz Kruger and

Craig Shapiro Craig Shapiro is a television and film producer, writer and director. Filmography * ''Breakfast with Einstein'' (1998) – director * '' Passport to Paris'' (1999) – writer * '' Our Lips Are Sealed'' (2000) – writer, director * ''Winning Lon ...

Personal life

Covington is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He married Patrick Sean Smith, the creator of ''

'', in Maui on October 25, 2008. They have one adopted son, Cormac.

Filmography

Television shows

*''Just a Phase'' (2006) TV pilot, creator *''

'' (2007–09, 2011) writer, producer, executive story editor *''

'' (2009–10) creator, writer, executive producer *''

Hart of Dixie ''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of ...

'' (2012–13), writer *'' Faking It'' (2014–16) "Developed by," executive producer, writer *'' Charmed'' (2018–19) showrunner, executive producer, writer

Television movies

*''Happy Campers'' (2008) creator, writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Covington, Carter 1970s births American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers Living people Writers from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Showrunners University of Virginia alumni American male television writers LGBT television producers American LGBT screenwriters LGBT people from North Carolina American gay writers UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni Screenwriters from North Carolina 21st-century American LGBT people