A Conversation with Women Showrunners

Hannah Bos, along with her writing partner Paul Thureen, is creator and showrunner of HBO’s AFI Award winning and Peabody nominated comedy series SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE. Hannah and Paul were nominated for a 2022 Humanitas Prize for Comedy Teleplay for the pilot episode. Together they have also written for HBO’s HIGH MAINTENANCE and Amazon’s MOZART IN THE JUNGLE. They received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for “Best First Screenplay” for their feature DRIVEWAYS (dir. Andrew Ahn), which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival (North American premiere at Tribeca Film Festival). Along with Oliver Butler, Hannah and Paul were founders/co-Artistic Directors of The Debate Society, a multiple-Obie award winning, Brooklyn-based theater company. As an actor, Hannah has received a Drama Desk Award and Lucille Lortel Award nomination.

Laura Eason is a producer, screenwriter and playwright. TV: Executive producer/showrunner of the forthcoming STARZ drama series THREE WOMEN, Showtime’s THE LOUDEST VOICE (WGA nomination) and four seasons of Netflix’s HOUSE OF CARDS (Emmy nomination, WGA nomination). FILM: BLUE NIGHT (Tribeca Film Festival, available on demand).  THEATRE: Her more than twenty plays and adaptations have been produced extensively in the US and around the world. For six years, Laura was the Artistic Director of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago (2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award), where she is still a proud ensemble member.

Soo Hugh serves as showrunner, executive producer, and visionary behind the Apple TV+ series PACHINKO, which has won numerous awards including a Peabody, a Gotham Award, and a Critics’ Choice Award. In March 2024, Hugh signed a multi-year overall deal with Apple TV+ and Media Res.

Hugh currently Executive Produces the Apple TV+ limited series THE WHITE DARKNESS and is writing and directing an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s TENDER IS THE NIGHT for Fox Searchlight, in addition to her numerous producing projects through her banner, Moonslinger Productions. Hugh was previously the co-showrunner for the critically lauded first season of AMC’s THE TERROR. She also created THE WHISPERS for ABC. Other television credits include writing on THE KILLING (AMC) and UNDER THE DOME (CBS).

Erica Saleh is a screenwriter and playwright. She was the Creator/Showrunner of ONE OF US IS LYING for Peacock. Other credits include HAPPY FACE, EVIL, INSTINCT, WISDOM OF THE CROWD, and CHANNEL ZERO. She is currently serving her first term as the WGAE’s VP for the Film/TV/Streaming sector and serves on the Guild’s Organizing Committee and Committee for Inclusion and Equity, and was a member of the 2020 and 2023 MBA negotiating committees.

Meredith Scardino is the writer/creator of GIRLS5EVA, which is on its third season exclusively on Netflix. She is currently in an overall deal at Universal Television. Previously, Meredith was a writer/producer on UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHIMIDT for Netflix and Universal. She has worked on LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, THE COLBERT REPORT, and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and has won several Primetime Emmys and Writers Guild awards for her work on THE COLBERT REPORT.  She began her career in entertainment working as a cartoonist and animator, making shorts for Comedy Central. She lives in New York City with her partner, young son, and loyal hound.

Panel moderator Marygrace O’Shea is a television writer, professor, author and proud member of the WGAE. Her new book, Conversations with Women Showrunners features more than 40 interviews with America’s leading showrunners including Angela Kang (THE WALKING DEAD), Aline Brosh McKenna (CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND), Barbara Hall (MADAM SECRETARY), Charlotte Brown (RHODA), Chris Nee (DOC MCSTUFFINS), Elizabeth Berger (THIS IS US), Gloria Calderón Kellett (ONE DAY AT A TIME), Ilene Chaiken (THE L WORD), Liz Meriwether (NEW GIRL), Liz Tigelaar (LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE), Marta Kauffman (FRIENDS), Tracy Oliver (HARLEM), Sierra Teller Ornelas (RUTHERFORD FALLS), and many more. Conversations with Women Showrunners is published by Focal Press/Routledge and is available at Amazon: https://a.co/d/e3FetWQ