Jenji Leslie Kohan (born July 5, 1969) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the creator and

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 ...

of the Showtime comedy-drama series ''

Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...

'' and the

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 ...

comedy-drama series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

''. She has received nine

Emmy Award 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 categor ...

nominations, winning one as supervising producer of the comedy series '' Tracey Takes On...''.

Early life

Kohan was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Los Angeles 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, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the daughter of Rhea Kohan and Alan W. "Buz" Kohan. She is the youngest of three siblings; the other two are twins Jono and

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

. Much of the family is in show business: * Father Buz is an

-winning television writer and producer, as well as a music composer. * Mother Rhea is a television writer, novelist, and occasional actress. * Brother David is an Emmy Award-winning television producer. Kohan's paternal grandparents were Charles Kohan, who was born in Romania in 1902, and May E. Charles, who was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, to parents from Russia. The two knew each other from childhood and grew up in a New York City

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...

on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

.Emmy TV Legends Interview: "Buz Kohan on how he got his nickname"
retrieved October 10, 2015 Kohan says that her father was the "king of variety television in his day," writing and producing the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

and other variety shows. Her mother was a novelist. Kohan grew up in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

and graduated from

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (shortly as BHHS or Beverly) is a public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills is Moreno High School, a small alternative school located on Beverly Hills High School's c ...

, in 1987. She first attended

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, then transferred to

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 ...

as a sophomore, where she graduated, with a degree in English language and literature, in 1991.

Career

Kohan's first job in the industry was with ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz that aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...

'', of which Kohan wrote one episode, and later said was a "rough entrance" to the business. After a series of writing jobs on shows such as '' Mad About You'', '' Tracey Takes On...'', and ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', she collaborated with her brother, David Kohan, writing an outside script for ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a Gay men, gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra ...

''. The siblings also worked together on the sitcom '' The Stones'' for CBS, which was ultimately unsuccessful. She has discussed the differences between her and her brother's career saying, "David took the big, commercial, funny route; I was always a little darker personally, and not terrific within the system. I had to make my own way."

''Weeds''

Kohan was the creator of the Showtime

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series ''

'', which she executive produced as

and

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

at her writing studio, Tilted Productions, in

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, ...

throughout its entire eight season airing.

''Orange Is the New Black''

Kohan created the

comedy drama ''

,'' an adaptation that was inspired by Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' about her experiences in a minimum-security women's prison. Kohan's executive producing duties as showrunner and head writer consists of running the writer's room, which is located at her writing studio, Tilted Productions, in

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

takes place in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Netflix, as a streaming service distribution model of TV and movie content, is unique in that it does not provide ratings information, so Kohan does not know exact ratings for ''

,'' which has been characterized as the most watched original series on Netflix, in a new distribution model where binge viewing is enabled by full seasons of shows being made available at once.

Other projects

Producing

Kohan has an overall deal with Netflix. She served as Executive Producer on the

series '' Teenage Bounty Hunters'' and ''

The Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human Comedy (drama), comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy, Comedy'' "''D ...

''.

Hayworth Theatre

Kohan owns the historic

Hayworth Theatre The Hayworth Theatre is a theater and performing arts venue at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard located in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. History The building that houses the Hayworth is significant due to i ...

in Los Angeles. One floor is used for production and two for postproduction. She plans on turning the auditorium into a venue for performances.

Personal life

Kohan has three children. The oldest was her son Charlie, who died in a skiing accident on December 31, 2019; the middle child is her daughter Eliza, and the youngest is her son Oscar. They live in the

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

neighborhood of

. Kohan and her family are practicing Jews of the Reform denomination.

Filmography

* 1994: ''

'' – writer (1 episode, "Stop Will! in the Name of Love") * 1996: '' Boston Common'' – writer (1 episode, "Relationship of Fools") * 1996–1999: '' Tracey Takes On...'' – writer (37 episodes); supervising producer/producer (47 episodes) * 1997: '' Mad About You'' – producer, writer (1 episode, "The Recital"), written by credit (1 episode, "Astrology") * 1998: ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'' – story (1 episode, "The Power of Female Sex") * 2000: ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'' – producer (12 episodes), writer (1 episode, "Kiss and Tell") * 2002: ''

'' – writer (1 episode, "Fagel Attraction") * 2002: ''My Wonderful Life'' (TV movie) – writer, executive producer * 2004: '' The Stones'' – writer, executive producer * 2005–2012: ''

'' – creator, writer, executive producer (102 episodes) * 2009: ''Ronna & Beverly'' (TV movie) – writer, executive producer * 2010: ''Tough Trade'' (TV movie) – creator, writer, executive producer * 2013–2019: ''

'' – creator, writer, executive producer * 2015: ''The Devil You Know'' – creator, writer, executive producer (1 pilot episode) * 2017–2020: '' GLOW'' – executive producer * 2019: '' American Princess'' – executive producer * 2020: '' Teenage Bounty Hunters'' – executive producer * 2024: ''

'' – executive producer

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohan, Jenji 1969 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American showrunners American women television producers American women television writers Columbia College (New York) alumni Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American television writers Television writers from California Jewish women writers Mass media people from Beverly Hills, California People from Los Feliz, Los Angeles Primetime Emmy Award winners Television producers from California American television show creators Writers from Los Angeles Writers Guild of America Award winners