Courtney A. Kemp (born May 4, 1977) is an American television writer and producer. She created the 2014
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...
television series franchise ''
Power Universe''. She has written for such shows as ''
The Good Wife'' and ''
Beauty & the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...
''.
Early life and education
Kemp was raised in
Westport,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, and began reading college textbooks at the age of eight. Her father Herbert Kemp Jr was the first African American graduate of
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
Tuck School of Business
The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Founded in ...
. The Kemp family was one of the few African American families in Westport and faced discrimination. By the age of 10 she had begun reading plays by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, eventually coming up with her own stories. In 1994, she graduated from
Staples High School
Staples High School is a public high school located in the town of Westport, Connecticut, United States. Staples High School is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in Dis ...
and went on to receive her bachelor's degree from
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
as well as her Master's in
English Literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
Career
Kemp had an initial plan to become a professor in literature with her degree but that did not suit her needs. She wanted a more collaborative career. She went on to land an interview at ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', to become an Assistant but did not land the job. She then strove to get a job for ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' and was questioning why that would not be possible. Kemp went on to land a position at ''
Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to:
* Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss"
Film and television
* ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson
* '' ...
'' and worked at ''
GQ'' for three years. She then left the industry and started writing for the
J.Crew
J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...
catalogue. Kemp's job at ''GQ'' landed her many good opportunities, especially getting offers from several TV producers asking her to adapt one of her pieces, on
interracial dating, into a show. Although this never materialized, it made her want to start producing for the small screen.
At the age of 26, Kemp left Westport and went to
Los Angeles, California
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' ...
to further pursue her dream as a television writer. There she garnered her big break by becoming a staff writer for the then-
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
hit series ''
The Bernie Mac Show
''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001 to April 14, 2006. The series featured Bernie ...
''. She then began writing for other television shows such as ''
Eli Stone'', ''
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
'' and ''
Beauty & the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...
'' (a 2012 remake of the
1987 series of the same name) before eventually becoming increasingly known for her writing of episodes for the
CBS political drama series ''
The Good Wife''.
Her idea for what would become the first series she ever sold and pitched, ''
Power'', came about when she met rapper
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...
and executive producer
Mark Canton
Mark Canton (born June 19, 1949) is an American film producer and executive.
Life and early career
Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and publ ...
at a coffeehouse in Los Angeles. She thought up the concept of a guy destined to leave his life as a drug dealer behind him to become a successful club owner and businessman, and soon penned the script with 50 Cent and Canton alongside her, both serving as executive producers. The show aired on the Starz network from June 7, 2014 to February 9, 2020 and received critical acclaim.
The success of the show spawned several spin-offs including ''
Power Book II: Ghost'' which premiered on September 6, 2020. Kemp served as the showrunner for the show. In August 2021, she signed a deal with
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
.
Personal life
Kemp lost her father, Herbert Kemp Jr., in 2011.
The first episode of ''
Power'' was dedicated to his memory and he was the inspiration behind the main character James "Ghost" St. Patrick.
Courtney and her family lived in
Westport, Connecticut where they were one of few black families residing in the town at the time and suffered racial harassment.
Kemp describes herself as having been a voracious reader in her youth with an interest in politics.
She has a child named Arden.
Her ex-husband, a former Senior Vice President of Business Affairs at
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
named Brian Mawuli Agboh, filed for a divorce in 2016.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Courtney A.
1977 births
Living people
African-American screenwriters
American women television producers
American television writers
Brown University alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
American women screenwriters
American women television writers
Showrunners
21st-century American women writers
Screenwriters from Connecticut
Staples High School alumni
21st-century American screenwriters
Television producers from Connecticut
21st-century African-American women writers
21st-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women