Melanie Marnich

Melanie Marnich is an American television writer-producer and playwright. She co-created and serves as executive producer and co-showrunner for the upcoming Amazon series, The Expatriates.[1] She's written for Big Love on HBO; Showtime's The Big C and The Affair (as co-executive producer); and for AMC's Low Winter Sun. She also served as co-executive producer on The OA for Netflix. Her episode, “Come, Ye Saints” for Big Love, earned her a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for best drama episode. It was also named Best Television Episode of 2009 by Entertainment Weekly, rated third in TIME Magazine's list of 10 Best TV episodes of 2009,[2] and ranked in TV Guide's 100 Best Episodes of All Time. She received a Golden Globe for her work on The Affair.[3]

Melanie Marnich
OccupationTelevision writer, Television producer, Playwright
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego (MFA)
Notable worksA Sleeping Country, Quake, Big Love, The Affair, The OA
SpouseLee Blessing

Her plays have been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Kennedy Center, Dallas Theater Center, Baltimore Center Stage, Steppenwolf Theatre Company and The Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is a member of The Playwrights’ Center and an alumnus of New Dramatists. She also serves on the board of trustees for the Humanitas Foundation.

Biography

Early life

Marnich was born in Duluth, Minnesota, the only child of Mike and Mary (Fracassi). Her father worked for U.S. Steel, first in the company's Cement Plant, then later in the mines in northern Minnesota. Her mother worked as a secretary, eventually becoming the office manager for the local Teamsters office. Her father's parents immigrated from Yugoslavia. Her mother's parents came from Italy.

Marnich attended the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Journalism. After graduation, she worked as an award-winning copywriter in Minneapolis and then Cincinnati. She left her advertising career to attend the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where she earned her M.F.A. in Playwriting.

Personal life

Marnich is married to playwright Lee Blessing. They reside in Los Angeles.

Career

After graduating from UCSD, two of Marnich's plays written while she was a graduate student were launched nationally. Her play Quake premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays in 2001. In that same year, her play Blur premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Her other plays include: Tallgrass Gothic (premiere: Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays); Cradle of Man (premiere: Victory Gardens Theater); These Shining Lives (premiere: Baltimore Center Stage); and A Sleeping Country (premiere: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park).

Playwriting awards include: the Francesca Primus Prize (Denver Center Theatre); the Mickey Kaplan New American Play Prize (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); the Carbonell Award for Best New Work of the Year; two McKnight Advancement Grants and two Jerome Fellowships (The Playwrights’ Center); the Melvoin Award (Northlight Theatre); and the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award.

Marnich began writing for television when she joined the HBO drama Big Love as staff writer for the show's third season. She remained on that show through its fifth and final season. Since then she's worked for Showtime, AMC, Netflix and Amazon. She has developed work with HBO, AMC, Silver Pictures, Amblin, Scott Free and TNT, and Amazon.

Filmography

Production staff
Year Title Role Notes
2009 Big Love Staff Writer Season 3
2010 Story Editor Season 4
2011 Co-producer Season 5
2011 The Big C Co-producer Season 2
2012 Producer Season 3
2013 Consulting Producer Season 4
2013 Low Winter Sun Supervising Producer Season 1
2014 The Affair Co-executive Producer Season 1
2016 The OA Co-executive Producer Season 1
2019 The Son Consulting Producer Season 2

Writer
Year Show Season Episode Episode Number Original Airdate Notes
2009 Big Love 3 "Come, Ye Saints" 6 February 22, 2009
2010 4 "The Mighty And Strong" 4 January 31, 2010
2011 5 "The Oath" 4 February 6, 2011
2011 The Big C 2 "Cats and Dogs" 5 July 25, 2011
"Fight or Flight" 11 September 12, 2011
2012 3 "Face Off" 5 May 6, 2012
2013 4 "You Can't Take It With You" 2 May 6, 2013 Written by Cara DiPaolo & Melanie Marnich
2013 Low Winter Sun 1 "There Was a Girl" 7 September 22, 2013
2014 The Affair 1 "4" 4 November 2, 2014
"8" 8 December 7, 2014 Written by Dan LeFranc & Melanie Marnich
"9" 9 December 14, 2014 Teleplay by Melanie Marnich & Kate Robin

(Story by Dan LeFranc)

2016 The OA 1 "New Colossus" 2 December 16, 2016
"Forking Paths" 6 December 16, 2016
2019 The Son 2 "Hot Oil" 5 May 25, 2019

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2010 Writers Guild of America Award Best Episodic Drama Big Love Nominated
2015 Writers Guild of America Award Best New Series The Affair Nominated
2015 Golden Globe Awards Best TV Drama The Affair Winner

References
  1. Andreeva, Nellie (2019-01-11). "Writer Melanie Marnich Inks Overall Deal With Amazon Studios, Joins 'The Expatriates' As Executive Producer". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  2. Poniewozik, James. "Top 10 Episodes of 2009: The Best, and the Rest". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  3. "Golden Globe Winners 2015: Complete List". Variety. 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2019-10-09.

Melanie Marnich at IMDb

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