Paul Redford is an American television writer and producer. Redford's family, originally Canadian, moved to

Mission Hills, Kansas Mission Hills is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,594. The east city limits is the Kansas-Missouri state line at State Line ...

in the early 1970s. Paul graduated from

Shawnee Mission East High School Shawnee Mission East High School is a public high school in Prairie Village, Kansas, United States, for grades 9 through 12. It is one of five high schools operated by the Shawnee Mission USD 512 school district. Shawnee Mission East High Sc ...

in 1976, and in 1980 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, where he wrote for the

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

and appeared in numerous plays, including experimental work by classmate

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...

. After Harvard he acted for the Boston Shakespeare Company and the Denver Center Theatre Company (DCTC), before moving to Los Angeles in 198. Redford was a story editor and writer for

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...

's '' Sports Night''. He also worked on Sorkin's next series ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

''. Redford joined the crew in the first season as a story editor and regular writer. Redford and his co-writers (Sorkin and

Lawrence O'Donnell Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951) is an American television anchor, actor, liberal political commentator, and host of '' The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'', an MSNBC opinion and news program that airs on weeknights. H ...

) won a

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

in the 60 minute category in 2000 for their episode "Take this Sabbath Day". The episode was also nominated for a WGA Award for best episodic drama. Redford was promoted to co-producer for the second season and continued to write episodes. Redford and Sorkin were again nominated for a WGA Award for best episodic drama for their work on the second-season episode "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail". Part way through the third season Redford was promoted again to producer. He returned as a producer and writer for the fourth season. Redford was nominated a third time for the WGA Award for best episodic drama for his work on the fourth-season episode "Game On", which was once again co-written with Sorkin. He was promoted again in the fourth season to supervising producer. Redford and his fellow producers won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2003 for their work on ''The West Wing'' season four. Redford returned as a supervising producer for the fifth season. The production team were nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2004 for their work on the fifth season. He went on to work as a co-executive producer for ''

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

'' and ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

''. He was an executive producer for short-lived Fox drama '' Vanished''. He was hired by his ''West Wing'' and ''Sports Night'' colleague

Kevin Falls Kevin Falls is an American television writer and producer. He was the creator and showrunner of the NBC television drama ''Journeyman''. He worked as a consulting producer and writer on ''Shark''. He served as an executive producer for the short li ...

as a consulting producer on Falls' series ''

Journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

''. In 2008 he joined the crew of ''

Dirty Sexy Money ''Dirty Sexy Money'' is an American prime time drama television series created by Craig Wright. It ran on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wright served as an ex ...

'' as a writer and co-executive producer. He co-wrote the episode "The Injured Party" (with Sallie Patrick) and wrote the episode "The Unexpected Arrival". The show was canceled after the second season. In 2010 Redford wrote the ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tri ...

'' fourth-season episode "The Greater Good" and was the co-executive producer for two episodes of that series.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421030/fullcredits#cast, reviewed May 15, 2011.

Filmography

Producer

Writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Redford, Paul Living people American television writers American male television writers The Harvard Lampoon alumni Year of birth missing (living people)