American screenwriter
Alexa Junge is an American television writer, producer and screenwriter. Her work on Friends , from 1994 to 1999, earned her nominations for three Emmy Awards .
Personal life
Junge grew up in Los Angeles and attended Barnard College , where she wrote for and performed in the Columbia University Varsity Show with David Rakoff and Jeanine Tesori .[ 1] Junge continued her education at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts .[ 2] A 2001 profile of Junge observed, "For someone who once moved to the East Coast to pursue theater writing, a career in television came as a bit of a surprise."[ 3]
Junge is the granddaughter of screenwriter Marvin Borowsky and has one son, Henry Petrie.[ 4]
Career
Junge was a writer and producer for Friends from 1994 to 1999, for which she was nominated for three Emmy Awards [ 5] and a Writers Guild of America Award .[ 6]
Junge wrote the episode "The One Where Everybody Finds Out ", which won the National AOL Poll for "All Time Favorite Friends Episode"[ 2]
Her episode "The One with the Prom Video " was heralded by the authors of Friends like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends as "a watershed in the history of the show."[ 7] In 2014, Gawker published a list of every episode of Friends ranked from #236 through #1. "The One With The Prom Video" came in first.[ 8] It was 100 in the TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time .[ 9]
Junge went on to write for Once and Again , Sex and the City ,[ 10] The West Wing (for which she was nominated for one Emmy for production and one WGA Award[ 6] ) as well as Big Love [ 10] and the BBC comedy Clone . Junge also wrote lyrics for Disney's Mulan 2 and the children's stage version Mulan Jr. ,[ 11] as well as screenplay and lyrics for Disney's Lilo & Stitch 2 .[ 1]
A frequent contributor to National Public Radio's This American Life ,[ 12] Junge performed live for their 2008 "What I Learned From Television" tour.[ 13] She served as executive producer and showrunner for the first season of Showtime's series The United States of Tara ;[ 14] upon her departure Hollywood Reporter noted, "Bringing Friends alumna Junge on board (had been) key to securing a series order for Tara , created by Oscar winner Diablo Cody ."[ 15] Junge subsequently worked on Tilda for HBO with Bill Condon , Alan Poul and John Hoffman , and was the executive producer on Best Friends Forever starring Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair for NBC.[ 2] She also wrote four episodes of the 2015-16 Netflix series Grace and Frankie .[ 10] [ 16]
Junge's play Fingersmith (an adaptation of Sarah Waters ' novel) had its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in March 2015.[ 17] [ 10] Additional plays and musicals by Junge were produced at the Goodspeed Opera House , Studio Arena Theater , Playwrights Horizons Lab, Theaterworks and developed at New York Stage and Film as well as the MacDowell and Djerassi colonies of Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival .[ 10] Among these productions was the musical Starcrossed: The Trial of Galileo , for which Junge co-wrote the book and lyrics with Keith Levenson.[ 18]
Television writing credits
Friends episodes
Junge has written the following Friends episodes:
The West Wing episodes
Junge has written the following The West Wing episodes:
The United States of Tara episodes
Junge has written the following The United States of Tara episodes:
"Snow" (2009)
"Revolution" (2009)
"Inspiration" (2009)
Grace and Frankie episodes
Junge has written the following Grace and Frankie episodes:
"The Floor" (2017)
"The Party" (2016)
"The Vitamix" (2016)
"The Vows" (2015)
"The Funeral" (2015)
References
^ a b "Alexa Junge" . American Repertory Theater . Retrieved 2021-12-16 .
^ a b c "Alexa Junge - Artist" . MacDowell . Retrieved 2021-12-16 .
^ Stack, Vanessa. "Writer's POV" (in feature "Road to the Emmys writers and directors"), Daily Variety , 14 June 2001, 272 (9), page not given.
^ "137: The Book That Changed Your Life" . This American Life . 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2021-12-16 .
^ "Alexa Junge - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins" . Television Academy. Retrieved 2021-12-22 .
^ a b "2004 List of Nominees" . Writers Guild Awards. Archived from the original on June 13, 2004.
^ Friends like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends (November 1998) ISBN 978-0753502235
^ Donohue, Lacey (3 September 2014). "Every Episode of Friends , Ranked" . Gawker. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014.
^ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide June 28–July 4, 1997.
^ a b c d e The Dramatists Guild. "Ten questions: Alexa Junge," The Dramatist , Jan/Feb 2017, 14-15.
^ "Season preview 2015-16," American Theatre , October 2015, p. 66.
^ "Alexa Junge" . This American Life . Retrieved 2021-12-22 .
^ "What I Learned from Television" . This American Life . March 16, 2007. Retrieved 2021-12-22 .
^ " 'United States of Tara': How to Make a Personality Disorder Into Comedy" . The New York Times . 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2021-12-22 .
^ Andreeva, Nellie. "Junge steps aside as Tara topper ," Hollywood Reporter , 409 (4), 2009-03-23, page not given. via Press Reader (subscription required)
^ "Grace and Frankie (TV Series 2015–2022)" . IMDb.
^ Verini, Bob (2016-12-19). "Regional Theater Review: 'Fingersmith,' Based on the Novel That Inspired 'The Handmaiden' " . Variety . Retrieved 2021-12-16 .
^ Starcrossed: the trial of Galileo (theatrical program), New York Public Library Research holdings.
External links