Colleen McGuinness is an American

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and producer who has worked as a writer and producer on shows including ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'', ''

Life & Beth ''Life & Beth'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Schumer, who also stars alongside Violet Young, Michael Cera, Yamaneika Saunders, Michael Rapaport, and Susannah Flood. The show premiered on Hulu on March 18, 2022. I ...

'', and '' Ramy''. After joining ''30 Rock'' in 2011, she shared in its 2013

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

nomination for best series as well as in its 2013 and 2014 WGA nominations and 2014 PGA nomination. McGuinness directed the 2024 short film '' Loser'' which is being adapted into a feature film with the same name and will be produced by

Radio Silence In telecommunications, radio silence or emissions control (EMCON) is a status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area are asked to stop transmitting for safety or security reasons. The term "radio station" may include anything ca ...

Early life and education

McGuinness, who is half-Korean and half-Irish, was born in

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...

, and was raised on Long Island in

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. The population was 339,938 at th ...

. McGuinness was a tennis champion in high school. At

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, McGuinness studied directing with Professor Marcus Stern and directed productions of ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

'' and ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'' while also producing a version of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

''. The production of ''

'' that McGuinness directed was the first undergraduate co-ed production at the Hasty Pudding Theater in over 10 years. Upon graduating, McGuinness was awarded the Louise Donovan award for directing.

Career

McGuinness began her career at

Castle Rock Entertainment Castle Rock Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick (September 8, 1947 – February 27, 2025) and Alan Horn. Histo ...

and later became a development assistant at

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

. While at New Line, McGuinness wrote and directed her first short film, ''For Mature Audiences Only''. After Darren Starr saw her short film, he hired McGuinness for her first series writing job on ''

Miss Match ''Miss Match'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jeff Rake and Darren Star and produced by Imagine Television, Darren Star Productions, and 20th Century Fox Television. It aired in the United States on NBC from Septe ...

'', starring Alicia Silverstone. Since then, McGuinness has written on shows including ''

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French , from Medieval Latin , "price paid, wages", from Latin , "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social, and legal contexts. In the social and le ...

'', ''

,'' '' About a Boy'', ''

Friends from College ''Friends from College'' is an American comedy television series created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller. The series was greenlit for Netflix as an original on March 11, 2016. The first season consists of eight half-hour episodes, an ...

'', '' Forever (2018 TV series)'', '' Ramy'', '' Stargirl'', and ''

'', where she was also an executive producer. She joined the staff of ''

'' in 2011, which ultimately led her to share in the series' Emmy, WGA, and PGA nominations. In 2013, when

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

started her new production company Little Stranger productions, her company's first sale was an untitled comedy to be written by McGuinness and executive-produced by Fey and by former ''30 Rock'' showrunner

Robert Carlock Robert Morgan Carlock (born September 21, 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He has worked as a writer for several NBC television comedies, and as a showrunner for ''30 Rock'', which was created by his recurring collaborator, comedia ...

. In 2014, McGuinness developed a script with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for Fox. In 2016, together with ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' executive producer

Carolyn Strauss Carolyn Strauss (born July 13, 1963) is an American television producer and executive. She was promoted to HBO's head of original programming in 1990 and commissioned widely successful HBO series such as ''The Sopranos'', ''The Wire'', '' Six Fe ...

, McGuinness worked with

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

to develop a comedy series based on the novel ''Prep'' by

Curtis Sittenfeld Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld (born August 23, 1975) is an American writer. She is the author of 2 collections of short stories, ''You Think it, I’ll Say It'' (2018) and ''Show don't tell'' (2025), as well as seven novels: ''Prep'' (2005), the s ...

. McGuinness later wrote, produced, and directed the 2024 short film '' Loser'' which has played in over 25 film festivals, including the Oscar-qualifying Hamptons International Film Festival and the Palm Springs International ShortFest. ''Loser'' won multiple awards, including "Best International Short", "Best Director" (Colleen McGuinness), and "Best Performance in a Lead Role" (

Angourie Rice Angourie Isabel Teresa Rice ( ; born 1 January 2001) is an Australian actress. She began her career as a child actress, coming to attention for her roles in '' These Final Hours'' (2013) and '' The Nice Guys'' (2016). She played Betty Brant in ...

) at the Oxford International Film Festival, "Best Short" and "Best Screenplay" (Colleen McGuinness) at the LA Indie Film Festival, "Best Film" and "Best Actress" (

) at DOC LA, "International: Best Film" at the Canberra Short Film Festival, "Best Short Film" at the Byron Bay International Film Festival, "Best Short Drama" at the New Hampshire Film Festival, and the "Audience Award" at the Charlotte Film Festival. McGuinness is currently developing ''Loser'' into a feature film, which is to be produced by

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinness, Colleen American people of Irish descent American people of Korean descent American women television writers Living people American women screenwriters Screenwriters from Texas People from Killeen, Texas Screenwriters from New York (state) People from Islip (town), New York American television writers 21st-century American women Harvard University alumni 1977 births