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

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

story editor Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called supervising producer. The responsibilities of the story editor vary depending on the production; this article describes the duties the role most commo ...

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, dev ...

on two television series which aired on the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

network: ''

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

'' 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 in his film directorial debut and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, and Larisa Oleynik. The scree ...

''. Covington was the

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

for the first season of

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

series ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

''.

Early life

Covington grew up in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

. 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 university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, 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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

'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 ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' 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 chapt ...

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 film and television director. He is best known for directing '' 10 Things I Hate About You'' (1999), his directorial film debut. He is a 1972 graduate of the Trinity-Pawling School in Pawling, ...

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 Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

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

for

television series ''

'' 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.

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 ...

. He married

Patrick Sean Smith Patrick Sean Smith is an American television show creator, writer, and producer. Filmography *'' The Chronicle'' (2002) writer *''Everwood'' (2003-2004) writer *'' Summerland'' (2005) writer *''Supernatural'' (2006) writer *''Greek'' (2007– ...

, the creator of ''

'', in

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

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 *''

'' (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 American showrunners University of Virginia alumni American male television writers LGBTQ television producers American LGBTQ screenwriters LGBTQ people from North Carolina American gay writers Richard J. Reynolds High School alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni Screenwriters from North Carolina 21st-century American LGBTQ people Year of birth missing (living people)