JOSH SCHWARTZ
Executive Producer of “Nancy Drew”

Josh Schwartz became the youngest person in network television history to create and run a series when “The O.C.” premiered in 2003.  That show ran for four seasons and brought indie rock and Chrismukkah to the masses.  He next launched “Gossip Girl,” a pop culture smash which over its six seasons influenced fashion and music and even New Yorkers liked, as well as the Comic-Con favorite “Chuck,” whose fans ate countless Subway sandwiches to keep the spy comedy series on the air for five years.

In 2010, he and “Gossip Girl” co-creator Stephanie Savage launched Fake Empire, an entertainment company whose name was inspired both by the song from The National and from the fact that so many of the fake things they created were getting remade as reality shows.

Schwartz and Savage are also the writers and executive producers on “Marvel’s Runaways.”  The series is based on one of Schwartz’s all-time favorite comic books, which focuses on a group of teenagers who discover that their parents lead a sinister crime organization.

Fake Empire was also behind such series as “Hart of Dixie,” starring “The O.C.” alum Rachel Bilson (who set Schwartz up with his wife and was therefore owed a series) as well as “The Carrie Diaries” and “Astronaut Wives Club.”   They are currently producing an adaptation of the UK series “Misfits” as a pilot.

Schwartz is married with two little daughters and is terrified of them ever seeing some of his shows. While he has been closely connected with the soundtracks from his series, he’s now forced to mostly listen to the “Moana” soundtrack on an endless loop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 2019