Will Scheffer is an American
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, and was co-creator and
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
of the television series ''
Big Love'' and the American remake of
Getting On with longtime
life partner Mark V. Olsen
Mark V. Olsen (born 1962) is an American television producer and screenwriter. He was the co-creator and executive producer of the HBO series ''Big Love'' and Getting On along with his writing partner and husband Will Scheffer. In 2007, Olsen ...
. He is President and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Anima Sola Productions, which he founded with Olsen in 1992 to create television and film content.
His writing credits include ''Big Love: In the Beginning'', ''Ellis Island'', ''
Duck Town'', ''
Easter'', ''
In the Gloaming In the Gloaming may refer to:
* "In the Gloaming" (song), 1877 British song
* ''In the Gloaming'' (film), 1997 American TV film based on a story by Alice Elliott Dark
*''In the Gloaming'', 1998 album by Jolene
See also
*Roamin' in the Gloamin', 19 ...
'', ''
The Pact'', ''
Citizen Baines'', and ''
Getting On''.
Life
Family
Scheffer's father, Ben, was a
Holocaust survivor, who
emigrated from
the Netherlands through
Ellis Island in 1941. His mother, Sandra, was the daughter of
Jews who fled Russia in 1916.
Education
Scheffer attended
State University of New York at Purchase
The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was fo ...
where he earned a
Bachelor of Fine Arts
A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases.
Background
The Bachelor ...
with Honors in
Theater.
Career
In 1997, Scheffer was honored with the ''
Variety'' magazine "One of the Rising Writers to Watch" award. He has also taught and lectured at
Bernard M. Baruch College,
Lewis and Clark College and
School of Visual Arts,
Manhattan,
New York City.
Personal life
Scheffer is
openly gay; he and Olsen have been married to each other since the early 1990s.
About their collaborative process, Scheffer said: "Mark and I talk everything through but don't actually write together. We take turns on drafts, passing them back and forth for multiple revisions. Sometimes I'll write the first draft and he'll revise and sometimes he'll write the first draft. On set it's looser and we'll have to revise together but we prefer to actually write in our own space. The 'fantasy' image of having desks facing each other and tossing lines back and forth doesn't work for us."
Works
*
*
References
External links
*
*
Place of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American people of Dutch-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
American male screenwriters
Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
American male television writers
American soap opera writers
Television producers from New York (state)
Showrunners
LGBT producers
American gay writers
State University of New York at Purchase alumni
Baruch College faculty
Lewis & Clark College faculty
School of Visual Arts faculty
Writers Guild of America Award winners
1969 births
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Screenwriters from Oregon
21st-century American Jews
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