Josh Schwartz

Often inspired by his own personal experiences of teen angst, Josh Schwartz made developing and creating character-driven programs geared toward a younger audiences look easy. Schwartz first gained attention when he created the hit series "The O.C." (Fox, 2003-07), an intelligent teen drama about young adults who live in a posh California seaside community. The show's multidimensional characters set the tone for the talented writer-producer's follow-up projects, most notably "Gossip Girl" (The CW, 2007-2012), a glossy teen melodrama where Schwartz delved into the lives of a group of beautiful and privileged young Manhattan socialites. While he was deft at developing dramas that stayed true to the world of wealthy and the elite, Schwartz also succeeded in crafting heartfelt stories from characters that live in small towns, as he did on "Hart of Dixie" (The CW, 2011-15). Throughout his career, Schwartz never wavered in creating universal stories and characters that audiences of any age could either relate to or aspire to, consistently proving that he was undeniably one of the industry's most refreshing and original voices.