Jeffrey Stepakoff is an American television writer, producer, and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

Education

After graduating from

Woodward Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is a private, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park, Georgia, College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, Johns Creek, Geor ...

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

in 1981, Stepakoff earned a degree in journalism from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. After graduation, he began working at an advertising agency. He graduated from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

with a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in playwriting in 1988. He teaches at

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia with two campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in the Kennesaw area and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was founded ...

as Associate Professor of Screenwriting since 2006.

Career

Stepakoff's ticket to television writing came through a Carnegie Mellon contact who was involved with ER. The contact helped introduce him to an agent and

David Milch David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's '' Deadwood'' (200 ...

, creator of "

Deadwood Deadwood may refer to: Places Canada * Deadwood, Alberta * Deadwood, British Columbia * Deadwood River, a tributary of the Dease River in northern British Columbia United States * Deadwood, California (disambiguation), several communit ...

" and

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

. The

1988 Writers Guild of America strike The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by ...

prevented Stepakoff from working right away. Although he was offered a job as a scab writer for

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 ...

's ''

Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Sco ...

'', produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

, he turned it down. When the strike ended, he was offered another job by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

to write for ''

Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...

''. In 2015 Jeffrey Stepakoff was appointed the Executive Director of the

Georgia Film Academy The Georgia Film Academy (GFA) is a not-for-profit entertainment arts program based in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a collaboration of the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia created in 2015 by Georgia state leader ...

Credits

His credits include Zoe Busiek: Wild Card (hired by

Lynn Marie Latham Lynn Marie Latham is an American television writer, producer, and showrunner. Her initial foray into writing for television was as a story editor for the series '' Berrenger's'' in 1985. That same year, Latham became a writer for the nighttime ser ...

Major Dad ''Major Dad'' is an American sitcom television series created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from September 17, 1989, to May 17, 1993, on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. M ...

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

Hyperion Bay ''Hyperion Bay'' is an American drama television series that ran for one season on The WB from September 21, 1998 to March 8, 1999. The series was partially filmed in Humboldt County, California, in the cities of Trinidad Trinidad is the ...

, " C-16: FBI", " Flipper", "

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

( Creative Consultant), "

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl X ...

", "

", and "

". Stepakoff also created pilots for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

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 ...

, MTM,

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 ...

and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. He developed and wrote major motion pictures, including

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and

Brother Bear ''Brother Bear'' is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker and produced by Chuck Williams, f ...

Awards/Nominations/Publications

Books

His book ''BILLION-DOLLAR KISS: The Kiss That Saved Dawson’s Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing'', a revealing account of his experiences in the television industry, is a critically acclaimed one.

Fiction

*''Fireworks Over Toccoa'',

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

, 2010 *''The Orchard'', St. Martin's Press, 2011 *''The Melody of Secrets'', St. Martin's Press, 2013

Membership

Stepakoff is a member of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

, the

Writers Guild of Canada The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) is a trade union representing professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the WGC write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of the Week, do ...

, the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, and

IATSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

, and is a voting member of the

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. A 501(c)(6) non-profit or ...

. He currently resides with his wife and children in

Dunwoody, Georgia Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a Atlanta metropolitan area, northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008, but its area ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepakoff, Jeffrey Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Screenwriting instructors American television producers American television writers American male television writers UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media alumni Woodward Academy alumni