Caitlin Parrish is an American playwright, television writer, and filmmaker and, along with Erica Weiss, the co-creator of ''
The Red Line'' on
CBS. Her work in television also includes
''Supergirl'',
''Under The Dome'', and
''Emily Owens MD''. Plays include ''A Twist of Water'', ''The Downpour'', and ''The Burials'', which were all created with her frequent collaborator, Erica Weiss. ''The View from Tall''
was her first feature film, which she also co-directed with Weiss.
Personal life
Parrish was born and raised in
Atlantic Beach Atlantic Beach is the name of some places in the United States:
*Atlantic Beach, Florida, a city
*Atlantic Beach, New York, a village
*Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, a town
*Atlantic Beach, South Carolina
Atlantic Beach is a town in Horry County, ...
, Florida and has spent the last decade in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Despite that, she still claims
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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as her artistic home.
She received her B.F.A. in theater studies from
The Theatre School at DePaul University
The Theatre School at DePaul University, previously the Goodman School of Drama (also known as TTS and GSD, respectively) is the drama school of DePaul University. Founded with its first class conducted at the Art Institute of Chicago on January 5, ...
and has an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
where she was an Annenberg Fellow. She currently resides in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with her husband, son and two dogs.
Theater
At age 18, Caitlin Parrish won the 2003 National Young Playwrights Competition, founded by
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
, for her first play, ''The View from Tall''. It subsequently received an
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
run at the historic
Cherry Lane Theatre
The Cherry Lane Theatre is the oldest continuously running off-Broadway theater in New York City. The theater is located at 38 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, N ...
. She would later adapt it into the screenplay for the 2016 film of the same name.
Parrish received her B.F.A. in theater studies from the
Theatre School at DePaul University where she met Erica Weiss and began a creative partnership that has lasted over 15 years. Her most recent plays, created with Weiss, include ''A Twist of Water'' and ''The Downpour.'' ''A Twist of Water (Route 66 Theatre)'', also enjoyed an
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
run at
59E59
59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...
and was nominated for Best New Work at the
Joseph Jefferson Awards
The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star ...
. It was the inspiration for
''The Red Line'' on
CBS. ''The Downpour'' (Route 66 Theatre) also received a Best New Work nomination at the
Jeffs, and both plays were named finalists by the
American Theatre Critics Association The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) is the only nationwide professional association of theatre critics in the United States. The ATCA membership consists of theatre critics who write reviews and critiques of live theatre for print, broad ...
for the Steinberg Award for Best New American Play. Parrish and Weiss also collaborated on The Burials, which played at
Steppenwolf Theatre
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on H ...
in 2016. Parrish was also known in Chicago for her work as a Theater Critic for
Time Out Chicago and for her lectures and solo performance pieces.
Film
Parrish and Weiss co-directed their first feature film, ''The View from Tall'', based on Parrish's first play. It stars Amanda Drinkall,
Michael Patrick Thornton
Michael Patrick Thornton is an American actor and theater director. He recently played the character of Dr. Gabriel Fife in the ABC drama series ''Private Practice''. He's also known for his performances on Broadway including as Lennox in the Sa ...
, and Carolyn Braver. The View From Tall premiered at the
Los Angeles Film Festival
The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...
and went on to play at other festivals including
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
2016,
Los Angeles Film Festival
The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...
2016,
Midwest Independent Film Festival 2017, and New York ReelAbilities Film Festival 2017, and is distributed through Cow Lamp Films.
Television
Her work in television includes stints as a writer for
Emily Owens, M.D.,
Under the Dome, and
Supergirl. She received a
Humanitas Award for her original television pilot “Painkiller.”
Parrish is an
Executive Producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
and
Showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
of
The Red Line on
CBS,
produced by
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
. Executive Producers also include
Ava DuVernay,
Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter,
Sunil Nayar
Sunil Nayar is an Indian American television writer and producer, most notable for his work on ''CSI: Miami''. For its third season onward, Nayar has been appointed main-showrunner and executive producer of the ABC television series ''Revenge''. H ...
, and Erica Weiss. It stars
Noah Wyle,
Emayatzy Corinealdi
Emayatzy Corinealdi ( ; born January 14, 1980) is an American actress. She starred in the Ava DuVernay 2012 drama film '' Middle of Nowhere'' for which she won Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer and received Independent Spi ...
, Aliyah Royale,
Noel Fisher,
Michael Patrick Thornton
Michael Patrick Thornton is an American actor and theater director. He recently played the character of Dr. Gabriel Fife in the ABC drama series ''Private Practice''. He's also known for his performances on Broadway including as Lennox in the Sa ...
, Vinny Chhibber,
Howard Charles, and Elizabeth Laidlaw. The 8 episode event series will be shown over four Sundays starting on April 28, 2019. ''
The Red Line'' follows the lives of three vastly different
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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families whose stories of loss intersect in the wake of the mistaken shooting of a black doctor by a white cop.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parrish, Caitlin
Year of birth missing (living people)
American dramatists and playwrights
American television writers
American filmmakers
Living people
People from Atlantic Beach, Florida
DePaul University alumni
University of Southern California alumni