We are excited to have launched this Q&A Series, “Sunday Tea with AWD” featuring many of our incredible Advisory Board and Honorary Board members. 

Join us for talks on all things directing, featuring a different leading industry speaker(s) each week who will share their expertise on a wide range of topics related to the art of telling stories in film, television, and new media. Each talk will last an hour. 

This week’s guest: AWD friend and Advisory Board member, showrunner, writer, and newly minted director, Marc Guggenheim, joins us for a discussion on working across genres and platforms to explore: What Is A Showrunner and How Does TV Get Made?

A native of Long Island, New York, Guggenheim practiced law at one of Boston’s most prestigious firms before getting hired on the writing staff of David E. Kelley’s Emmy-winning show about Boston attorneys, “The Practice.” Guggenheim then joined “Law & Order,” where he wrote for three seasons before moving on to the critically acclaimed series “Jack & Bobby,” and later, the ratings juggernaut “CSI:  Miami.” It was “Jack & Bobby” that introduced Guggenheim to Greg Berlanti, and the two resolved to create a show together, a pact which led to the development of “Eli Stone,” for which they received a Writers Guild Award nomination for Best Drama Teleplay.

While producing the “Eli Stone” pilot, Berlanti pulled Guggenheim in to help him produce the first season of “Brothers & Sisters.” Guggenheim has continued to collaborate with Berlanti on the feature film versions of the DC Comics characters Green Lantern and The Flash.  “Green Lantern” was released as a major motion picture starring Ryan Reynolds in June 2011. Guggenheim also served as executive producer of two other television pilots for Berlanti Television: “No Ordinary Family” and “Guilty,” the latter of which Guggenheim created.

Last year, Marc Guggenheim served as showrunner and Executive Producer of Amazon’s “Carnival Row,” starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne. He also executive produces the “Tales of Arcadia” trilogy series for Netflix alongside acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro. The third series in the trilogy, “Wizards,” will premiere on Netflix in July. (Guggenheim won an Emmy for “Best Writing In An Animated Program” for his work on the first series in the trilogy, “Trollhunters.”)

2019 was a prolific year for Marc. In addition to showrunning the CW’s epic five-show crossover, “Crisis On Infinite Earths,” he added “director” to his résumé, having just wrapped production on Episode 514 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (which he co-created).

While maintaining a successful career in television, Guggenheim has pursued a parallel career as a screenwriter, with such diverse projects as the film adaptation of “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” (2013), a feature film version of “Perry Mason” for Robert Downey Jr., and an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s sci-fi classic “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.” He is currently at work on an adaptation of the beloved “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series for 20th Century Films/Disney.

A life-long comic book fan, Guggenheim has been writing comics professionally for over ten years, working on titles for both Marvel Comics (“Blade,” “X-Men,” “Amazing Spider-Man,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), DC Comics (“The Flash,” “Justice Society of America,” “Batman Confidential”), and original creator-owned works (“Resurrection,” “Halcyon,” “Nowhere Man,” “Jonas Quantum,” “Stringers”).

Guggenheim is continually exploring other mediums.  He’s written the scripts for numerous videogames, including “Call of Duty 3,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “Singularity.” (Wolverine and Singularity were nominated for consecutive WGA Awards.) In 2008, he adapted a Stephen King short story “N.” into a Marvel Comics graphic novel and a 25-part mobisode series that was available online and through iTunes.

AWD members: Check your inboxes for your RSVP link.