Alexander "Zander" Sutton Lehmann (born July 13, 1987) is the creator, writer, and producer of the TV show, ''

Casual Casual or Casuals may refer to: * Casual wear, a loosely defined dress code **Business casual a loosely defined dress code **Smart casual a loosely defined dress code * Casual Company, term used by the United States military to describe a type of ...

.''

Early life and education

Lehmann was born to a in a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Santa Monica,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the son of director

Michael Lehmann Michael Stephen Lehmann (born March 30, 1957) is an American film and television director known for directing the dark comedy ''Heathers''. Early life and education In 1978, Lehmann graduated from Columbia University.

and Holland Sutton. He has a younger sister. Lehmann's family would relocate to the Bay Area and in 2005, he graduated from Marin Country Day School. In 2009, Lehmann graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was on a baseball scholarship, with a psychology degree. It was in college where Lehmann first took an interest in screenwriting, taking a class on the subject with the sole purpose of keeping his health insurance.

Career

Lehmann got his start working in the mail room at ICM and then as a development assistant for four years. When he was 25 years old, Lehmann sold a pilot called ''Game Show'' to

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

. It was unproduced, although attached to director

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

, but led to further work in the industry. In 2015, Lehmann's script, ''The Beautiful Game,'' was selected as one of the 10 best unproduced scripts, listed on '' The Hollywood Reporter's'' Black List. He sold the film to

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

, with

Morgan Neville Morgan Neville (born October 10, 1967) is an American film producer, director and writer. His acclaimed film '' 20 Feet from Stardom'' won him the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2014 as well as a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. H ...

attached to direct. In 2015, Lehmann was named as one of '' Variety's'' 10 TV Writers to Watch. Lehmann got his start as a staff writer on the 2016

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

show, ''

The Shannara Chronicles ''The Shannara Chronicles'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. It is an adaptation of ''The Sword of Shannara'' trilogy of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. It follows three heroes as they pro ...

.'' He sold a script to Lionsgate Television, which became the

Jason Reitman Jason R. Reitman (; born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian-American actor and filmmaker, best known for directing the films ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2005), ''Juno'' (2007), '' Up in the Air'' (2009), ''Young Adult'' (2011), and '' Ghostbusters: ...

-produced

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

series, ''

.'' ''Casual'' was Hulu's second original series. The show is co-produced with

Helen Estabrook Helen Estabrook is an American TV/film producer and executive known for producing the film ''Whiplash'' (2014), which earned her a nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture at the 87th ceremony. She is Head of Global Film and Television at C ...

, Liz Tigelaar, and

– who directed the pilot as well as other episodes. The show stars Michaela Watkins and

Tommy Dewey Thomas R. Dewey (born August 3, 1978) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He co-starred with Michaela Watkins in the Hulu original series '' Casual.'' Early life Dewey was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He went to Mountain Brook High Schoo ...

as sister and brother, and

Tara Lynne Barr Tara Lynne Barr (born October 2, 1993) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Roxy in the dark comedy film ''God Bless America'' (2011), which earned her a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Leading Young Actress in a Featu ...

as Watkins' daughter. Lehmann said that ''Casual'' was inspired by his relationship with his younger sister, with whom he lived with for three years during their parents' divorce, and who started dating his best friend. The series is unique in the industry as, in addition to executives and writers who are women, the majority of the episodes are directed by women. Directors include Lake Bell,

Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus ...

Marielle Heller Marielle Stiles Heller (born October 1, 1979) is an American writer, director, and actress. She is best known for directing the films ''The Diary of a Teenage Girl'' (2015), ''Can You Ever Forgive Me?'' (2018), and ''A Beautiful Day in the Neig ...

, Karyn Kusama,

Gillian Robespierre Gillian Robespierre (born June 29, 1978) is an American director and writer, known for writing and directing the films ''Obvious Child'' and ''Landline''. Early life Robespierre was born to a Jewish family and raised in New York City. In 2005 ...

, and Lynn Shelton. The show was positively received. ''Casual'' was nominated for a 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

Filmography

* 2015–2018: ''

'' (TV series) – Creator, writer, producer * 2016: ''

'' (TV series) – Writer (1 episode: "Pykon")

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehmann, Zander Showrunners American television writers 20th-century American Jews 1987 births Living people Washington University Bears baseball players 21st-century American Jews