Colette Burson (born June 22, 1970) is an American television writer, screenwriter, producer and director. She is the creator, executive producer and showrunner of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television show, ''

Hung Hung may refer to: People * Hung (surname), various Chinese surnames * Hùng king, a king of Vietnam People with the given name Hung include: * Hung Huynh, Vietnamese-American chef, winner of the third season of the television show ''Top Chef'' ...

''. In 2021 she is adapting the best selling novel ''The Growing Season'' by

Sarah Frey Sarah Frey (born July 24, 1976) is an American farmer and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and owner of Frey Farms, which she founded at age sixteen. Frey Farms is the largest H-2A visa employer in Illinois as well as the largest grower of pumpkins ...

for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, as well as writing the limited series ''Love Canal'' for

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, directed by

Patricia Arquette Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include ''True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed Wo ...

. Past work on shows includes '' Los Espookys'' for

and '' The Riches'' for FX. She is also the writer and director of the 2017 film ''

Permanent Permanent may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Permanent'' (film), a 2017 American film * ''Permanent'' (Joy Division album) * "Permanent" (song), by David Cook Other uses * Permanent (mathematics), a concept in linear algebra * Permanent (cy ...

''.

Early life and education

Burson grew up in

Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and f ...

. She attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, majoring in rhetoric and French, and went on to receive her MFA in dramatic writing from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

Career

Burson was a founding member of the theater company the Playwrights Collective, working at the company from 1991 until 1999, along with

Kate Robin Kate Robin is an American playwright, television writer and producer, and screenwriter. She is currently the showrunner of '' One Mississippi'' created by and starring Tig Notaro on Amazon. Career Robin's recent theater productions include: '' ...

Eduardo Machado Eduardo Oscar Machado (born June 11, 1953) is a Cuban playwright living in the United States. Notable plays by Machado include ''Broken Eggs'', '' Havana is Waiting'' and ''The Cook''. Many of his plays are autobiographical or deal with Cuba in ...

Lucy Thurber Lucy Thurber is an American playwright based in New York City. She is the recipient of the first Gary Bonasorte Memorial Prize for Playwriting, a Lilly Award and a 2014 OBIE Award for ''The Hill Town Plays''. Biography She was born in ...

, Dan Rybicky, Jennifer Farber Dulos, Carrie Luft, Dmitry Lipkin and Wendy Riss. The_Playwrights’_Collective_Theater_Company

Hung

Burson created ''Hung'' for HBO with her then-writing partner and now ex-husband Dmitry Lipkin. The show ran for three seasons, during which time Burson was nominated for a WGA award for Best New Series while ''Hung'' was nominated for four Golden Globes. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described ''Hung'' as “the most topical fictional programming on television” in 2010. The show examined gender and racial diversity at a time when it was not commonly discussed or held up as a goal for television creators. By the third season of ''Hung'', 6 out of 10 of the show's directors were women, including Burson, which according to an official

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

study released in 2011 ranked it the #1 top cable show in terms of hiring female episodic directors. ''Hung'' was unusually feminist in both its approach to content as well as behind the scenes. ''Hung'' has been described as a "mixture of feminist sexual activism with capitalist entrepreneurship."

Television

As a writer for television, Burson has written original comedy and drama pilots and episodes for

, FX,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, and

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

/Europa. She recently completed the pilot ''Retired'' for

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

. In 2018, she served as Executive Producer on ''This Close'' (Sundance Now) and Consulting Producer on ''Los Espookys'' (HBO).

Directing

Burson wrote and directed the short film ''BURP'' (2019), described as a "feminist horror fantasia". She also wrote and directed the 2017 feature film ''

'', produced by 2929 Entertainment. The film stars

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winner

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Emm ...

, and Kira McLean. Burson's short film ''Little Black Boot'', a Cinderella-like lesbian love story starring

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series ''Glee'' (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recogni ...

as the evil stepmother, premiered at Sundance and won over ten national and international awards, including the Grand Prize from Planet Out and Best Short Film Prize from Logo Television, Additional directing credits include ''

Coming Soon Come may refer to: *Comè, a city and commune in Benin *Come (Tenos), an ancient town on Tenos island, Greece Music *Come (American band), an American indie rock band formed in 1990 *Come (UK band), a British noise project founded in 1979 **Come ...

'' starring

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

and

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

(co-written with

), as well as several episodes of ''Hung'', including the season three premiere, "Don't Give Up on Detroit."

Personal life

Burson was married to ''Hung'' co-creator Dmitry Lipkin for nine years before divorcing in 2015. They have two children together.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burson, Colette American women film directors American women television producers 21st-century American women writers People from Abingdon, Virginia Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of Virginia alumni American women television writers 1970 births Living people 21st-century American screenwriters Screenwriters from Virginia Film directors from Virginia American television directors American women television directors Television producers from Virginia