Courtney A. Kemp (born May 4, 1977) is an American television writer and producer. She created the 2014 television series franchise '' Power Universe'' for the network

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

. She has written for such shows as ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'' and '' Beauty & the Beast''.

Early life and education

Kemp was raised in Westport,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and began reading college textbooks at the age of eight. Her father Herbert Kemp Jr was the first African American graduate of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

Tuck School of Business The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1900 as the first institution in th ...

. The Kemp family was one of the few African American families in Westport and faced discrimination. By the age of 10 she had begun reading plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, eventually coming up with her own stories. In 1994, she graduated from

Staples High School Staples High School is a public high school in Westport, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in District Reference Group A (along with ...

and went on to receive her bachelor's degree from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

as well as her Master's in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

Kemp initially hoped to become a journalist after graduating from Columbia University. She was an editorial assistant at '' Mademoiselle'' before the magazine shut down. Afterwards, she worked at '' GQ'' for three years. She then left the industry and started writing for the J.Crew catalogue. Kemp's job at ''GQ'' landed her many good opportunities, especially getting offers from several TV producers asking her to adapt one of her pieces, on

interracial dating Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different " races" or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation (Lat ...

, into a show. Although this never materialized, it made her want to start producing for the small screen. At the age of 26, Kemp left Westport and went to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to further pursue her dream as a television writer. There she garnered her big break by becoming a staff writer for the then-

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

hit series ''

The Bernie Mac Show ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001, to April 14, 2006. The series featured Ber ...

''. She then began writing for other television shows such as ''

Eli Stone ''Eli Stone'' is an American Legal drama, legal Musical film, musical comedy drama television series that was created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who also served as executive producers alongside Ken Olin who directed the pilot, with M ...

'', ''

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

'' and '' Beauty & the Beast'' (a 2012 remake of the 1987 series of the same name) before eventually becoming increasingly known for her writing of episodes for the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

political drama series ''

''. Her idea for what would become the first series she ever sold and pitched, ''

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

'', came about when she met rapper

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

and executive producer

Mark Canton Mark Canton is an American film producer and executive. Early life and education Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York City, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and publicity - incl ...

at a coffeehouse in Los Angeles. She thought up the concept of a guy destined to leave his life as a drug dealer behind him to become a successful club owner and businessman, and soon penned the script with 50 Cent and Canton alongside her, both serving as executive producers. The show aired on the Starz network from June 7, 2014 to February 9, 2020 and received critical acclaim. The success of the show spawned several spin-offs including '' Power Book II: Ghost'' which premiered on September 6, 2020. Kemp served as the showrunner for the show. In August 2021, she signed a deal with

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In January 2024, it was announced that Kemp is working on a new show titled, ''Dirty 30,'' a drama based on rogue NYPD police officers. The show will stream on HBO.

Personal life

Kemp lost her father, Herbert Kemp Jr., in 2011. The first episode of ''

'' was dedicated to his memory and he was the inspiration behind the main character James "Ghost" St. Patrick. Courtney and her family lived in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

where they were one of few black families residing in the town at the time and suffered racial harassment. Kemp describes herself as having been a voracious reader in her youth with an interest in politics. She has a child named Arden. Her ex-husband, a former Senior Vice President of Business Affairs at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

named Brian Mawuli Agboh, filed for a divorce in 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Courtney A. 1977 births Living people African-American screenwriters American women television producers American television writers Brown University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American women screenwriters American women television writers American showrunners 21st-century American women writers Screenwriters from Connecticut Staples High School alumni 21st-century American screenwriters Television producers from Connecticut 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women African-American women screenwriters