Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 2008 (and Invited Alumni Faculty, 2015–16)

Creator, showrunner, writet, and executive producer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins debuts as TV creator of FX’s Kindred, a chilling adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s seminal 1979 sci-fi novel.

Previous TV roles include consulting producer on HBO’s Watchmen and Prime Video’s Outer Range. Considered one of the most important American playwrights working today, Jacobs-Jenkins’ works include An Octoroon, Girls, Gloria, Appropriate, and Everybody. Residency Five playwright at the Signature Theatre, with new world premiere scheduled for spring 2023. Awards: Obie, Charles Wintour, and Tennessee Williams awards; a MacArthur “Genius” Grant; 2020 Guggenheim and 2020 USA Artists fellowships; and the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama. Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama. VP and Board Member, Dramatists Guild Council; Board Member, Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize; Professor of Practice, Yale University. Graduate, Princeton, NYU, Juilliard.