Joshua Brand is an American television writer, director, and producer who created ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' is an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...

'', '' I'll Fly Away, A Year in the Life,'' and ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents in the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska, that originally aired on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It rec ...

'' with his writing-and-producing partner John Falsey, with whom he worked through 1994. He was also a writer and consulting producer of FX's 2013–18 series ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...

''.

Early life

Joshua Brand 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 and raised in

Kew Gardens, Queens Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway, to the east by the Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to ...

, New York City. He graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, after which he was given a fellowship 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 ...

, where he received a Master of Arts degree with honors 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 ...

."JOSHUA BRAND & JOHN FALSEY – Creators"
Northern Exposure: Creators & Producers Biographies.

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

. September 10, 2005.

Career

His play ''Babyface'' was produced in Los Angeles in 1978 and was selected as a semi-finalist in the Great American Play Contest sponsored by the Louisville Actors Theater. Another play, ''Grunts'', was produced

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the Wonderhouse Theatre in New York City. In 2012, his full-length play ''The Real Me'' was a finalist at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Brand's early television career was spent writing scripts for

MTM Enterprises MTM Enterprises (also known as MTM Productions) was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' for CBS. The name for the produc ...

' '' The White Shadow'', where he and John Falsey met. The two of them then created ''

'' for MTM in 1982 and wrote the story for every episode in the first season except one before leaving the show. He and Falsey then wrote and produced ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' for

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and the

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 ...

winning miniseries ''

A Year in the Life ''A Year in the Life'' is an American television drama series that began as a three-part miniseries which was first broadcast in December 1986 and later ran as a weekly series on NBC from September 16, 1987 to April 13, 1988. It was created by ...

'' before developing their other two signature series. At the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1992, Brand and Falsey captured 15% of all nominations with 16 Emmy nominations for ''

'' and 15 for '' I'll Fly Away''. During this time, Brand and Falsey also won three Emmys: outstanding miniseries in 1987 for ''

''; outstanding writing in a miniseries or special for the '' I'll Fly Away'' pilot in 1992; and outstanding drama series for ''

'' that same year. In an unprecedented move by Public Broadcasting,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

bought the rights to '' I'll Fly Away'' and rebroadcast the series in its entirety in the leadup to their original two-hour movie based on the show. Brand and John Falsey created the short-lived series '' Going to Extremes'', which was filmed entirely on the island of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. He has been nominated for eleven

Emmy Awards 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 ...

(winning three, as noted above), as well as winning two

Peabody Awards The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

(''

'', '' I'll Fly Away''), two

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

(''

''), along with the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

, the

Producers Guild of America Award Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes ...

, and the Environmental Media Award for Ongoing Commitment. Falsey and Brand split as a team in 1994, with Falsey essentially leaving the industry, but in 2013, Brand and Falsey jointly received the Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement from 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 ...

. Since 2013, Brand has been a writer and consulting producer of the acclaimed FX series ''

''; he wrote or co-wrote four episodes during the first season and has written two episodes in each subsequent season. The writers of the series, including Brand, received the Best Dramatic Series award at the 69th Writers Guild of America Awards, and they were also nominated for that award in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. His directing credits include the feature film '' A Pyromaniac's Love Story'', the television movies ''Wall to Wall Records'' and ''Homeward Bound'', the television pilot ''Gemini Man'', and episodes of '' thirtysomething'' and ''

Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American fantasy family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi ( Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays on CBS f ...

''. Brand was also nominated for an

and a DGA Award for directing the two-hour '' I'll Fly Away'' pilot.

References

External links

*
Joshua Brand at FilmReference.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Joshua American television producers American television directors American male screenwriters Jewish American screenwriters Primetime Emmy Award winners City College of New York alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people 1952 births American showrunners American male television writers American television writers People from Kew Gardens, Queens 21st-century American Jews Writers Guild of America Award winners