Production biographies

11 September 2013

JOSS WHEDON

Co-Creator/Executive Producer

Joss Whedon is one of Hollywood's top creators, scripting several hit films, including "Marvel's The Avengers," and creating one of television's most critically praised shows, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Originally hailing from New York, Whedon is a third-generation television writer. His grandfather and father were both successful sitcom writers on such shows as "The Donna Reed Show," "Leave It to Beaver" and "The Golden Girls."

After receiving a degree in film studies from Wesleyan University, Whedon landed his first writing job on the staff of the top-rated series "Roseanne." He later pulled double duty on the series "Parenthood," co-producing and writing a number of episodes.

After creating "Buffy" as a feature film script, Whedon brought it to television in 1996, where it became a cult phenomenon. In 2000 he garnered his first Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his groundbreaking episode entitled "Hush." In 2002 he wrote, composed and directed a Broadway-style musical episode entitled "Once More, With Feeling," which received worldwide recognition and spawned an "Original Cast Recording" soundtrack, which sold more than 400,000 albums worldwide.

In 1998 Whedon developed and produced "Angel," through 20th Century Fox Television and his production company, Mutant Enemy. The "Buffy" spin-off gained a loyal following of its own and ran for five seasons on the WB. In 2002 he followed up with the critically acclaimed sci-fi drama "Firefly" for the Fox network. In addition to serving as creator and executive producer on "Angel," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly," Whedon also wrote and directed multiple episodes of each series.

He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay with Disney's box-office smash "Toy Story." Other notable feature writing credits include "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Speed" and "Alien Resurrection." In the fall of 2005 Whedon made his feature directorial debut with "Serenity," based on the "Firefly" series.

Whedon's musical Internet series, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," made its debut online in 2008 and became a smash success, winning numerous awards, including an Emmy. Concurrently, he finished his second season of "Dollhouse," working as the creator, writer and director of the Fox television series.

Whedon co-wrote and produced Lionsgate's critically-praised "The Cabin in the Woods." He then went on to write and direct Marvel's superhero ensemble, "The Avengers," which was a breakout success and became one of the highest grossing films of all time. His most recent project is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," a film Whedon adapted, directed, produced, composed and edited. He co-created and directed the pilot for the new ABC television series "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and will serve as an executive producer on the series as pre-production on the sequel to "The Avengers" gets underway.

 

JED WHEDON

Co-Creator/Executive Producer

Jed Whedon is a writer, producer and musician from a family of television writers: son of Tom Whedon ("The Golden Girls," "Alice," "The Electric Company"), grandson of John Whedon ("The Donna Reed Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show"), brother of Zack Whedon ("Southland," "Fringe") and Joss Whedon "(Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Marvel's The Avengers").

Whedon was born in Los Angeles, California and earned his living as a touring musician, game designer and graphic artist until he began writing scripts with his then-fiancée/now wife Maurissa Tancharoen.

Alongside Maurissa and his brothers Joss and Zack, he co-created and co-wrote the Emmy Award-winning musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" before moving on to such television shows as "Dollhouse," "Drop Dead Diva" and Starz's "Spartacus." He is currently co-creator and executive producer on the ABC television series "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

 

 

MAURISSA TANCHAROEN

Co-Creator/Executive Producer

Writer-producer Maurissa Tancharoen has taken an unusual path to her work in television. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she grew up singing and dancing and toured the country as a member of a Motown pop group. At Occidental College, she became heavily involved in the theater and wrote several award-winning plays. She started her screenwriting career as a staff writer on the FOX series "Oliver Beene" before moving on to write an action-comedy for Revolution Studios. She also created and executive-produced the MTV series "Dancelife" with her brother, director Kevin Tancharoen ("Mortal Kombat: Legacy," "Fame").

With her husband, Jed Whedon, and his brothers, she co-wrote and appeared in the Emmy Award-winning musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." She then went on to write and produce for such television shows as "Dollhouse," "Drop Dead Diva" and "Spartacus." Tancharoen is currently co-creator and executive producer on "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." for ABC television.

She sometimes goes by the name of Mo.

 

JEPH LOEB

Executive Producer

Jeph Loeb is an Emmy Award-nominated and Eisner Award-winning writer/producer. In television, his many credits include "Smallville," "Lost" and "Heroes"; and in film, "Teen Wolf" and "Commando." Loeb has written major comic icons, including "Spider-Man, "Hulk," "Iron Man," "Wolverine," "Batman" and "Superman." He is currently an executive producer of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," as well as the Head of Marvel Television.

 

JEFFREY BELL

Executive Producer

Jeffrey Bell is a writer, director and executive producer. He began his television career writing for "The X-Files." He then joined "Angel" as a writer/director/producer. He was promoted to executive producer and showrunner for the series' final two seasons. Bell then spent four years under an overall deal at ABC developing, writing, directing and producing. He was executive producer and/or showrunner on several network series, including "Alias" and "Day Break" for ABC, and the murder mystery "Harper's Island" for CBS. He was co-creator and showrunner of the series "The Protector" for Lifetime and a consulting producer on the Starz series "Spartacus." He is currently an executive producer and showrunner for "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Bell was born in Indiana, studied design and photography at the University of Cincinnati and then moved to Los Angeles, where he received an MFA in Film Production from UCLA. He has continued his ties to UCLA by teaching screenwriting in the MFA Producers Program.