Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson | |
|---|---|
 Jane Espenson in September 2006. | |
| Born | DOB unknown |
| Occupation | screenwriter comic book writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Website | |
| www.janeespenson.com | |
Jane Espenson is a Hugo Award-winning American writer who has worked on several television series and comic books, as well as in other genres. In television, she has worked on both situation comedies and dramas and is perhaps best known for her five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Early career
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While Espenson was a graduate student at University of California, Berkeley, she submitted several spec scripts for Star Trek: The Next Generation as part of a script submission program open to amateur writers instituted in 1989 by executive producer Michael Piller.[1]; Espenson has referred to the program as the "last open door of show business."[2]
Her next break was a spot in the Disney Writing Fellowship[3]; the fellowship led to work on a number of sitcoms, including Disney's animated comedy Dinosaurs and Touchstone Television's short-lived Monty.[4]
Work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In 1998, Espenson joined Mutant Enemy Productions as executive story editor for the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Espenson wrote or co-wrote twenty-three episodes, starting with "Band Candy" and ending with Buffy's penultimate episode, "End of Days."
She wrote episodes both humorous (e.g. "Triangle" and "Intervention") and serious (such as "After Life"). Espenson and Drew Goddard co-wrote the seventh-season episode "Conversations with Dead People," for which they won the Hugo Award for Best Short Dramatic Presentation in 2003.[5]
Other TV work
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Espenson has worked on several other television shows, including:
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 4.17 "Accession"
- Firefly episode "Shindig", with another finished but unproduced as of the cancellation of that series.
- The O.C. episode "The Gamble"
- Angel
- Tru Calling
- Gilmore Girls episodes 4.04 "Chicken or Beef", 4.16 "The Reigning Lorelai"
- The Inside
- The Batman
- Battlestar Galactica Season 3 episodes "The Passage", "Dirty Hands"
- Andy Barker, P.I.
- Jake in Progress (co-executive producer)
Editorial work
Espenson is the editor of Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly (BenBella Books, 2005, ISBN 1933771216), a collection of non-fiction essays on the short-lived television show Firefly.
She joined the staff of Battlestar Galactica for its fourth season.[6]
Personal life
Template:Persondata Espenson grew up in Ames, Iowa.[2] She studied linguistics as an undergraduate and graduate at University of California, Berkeley.[2]
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007) |
- ^ Lolita Fatjo on Writing for Star Trek from "The Little Review" (a writer's personal website)
- ^ a b c Biography of Espenson from her website
- ^ The Disney•ABC Writing Fellowship from an ABC website
- ^ Jane Espenson at IMDb
- ^ The Hugo Awards By Year from the Worldcon website
- ^ http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a12861/index-1.html
External links
- Jane's weblog
- Jane Espenson, an April 2007 episode (in MP3 format) of the USC School of Cinematic Arts podcast series
- Jane Espenson at Memory Alpha
- 20 Questions with Jane Espenson on PopGurls.com