Executive Producer, Showrunner, Writer Ep 201)
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FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES Season 2 JESSE ALEXANDER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SHOWRUNNER, WRITER EP 201) Jesse Alexander serves as executive producer, writer and showrunner on Season 2 of Starz’s “American Gods,” based on Neil Gaiman’s award-winning novel. He recently served as co-executive producer on the first season of “Star Trek: Discovery,” garnering him a Hugo nomination for the episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad." Additional co-executive producer credits include Starz’s original series “Da Vinci’s Demons,” and the epic saga series “Heroes.” Alexander helped develop the pilot of ABC’s groundbreaking serial adventure “Lost,” serving as a co-executive producer through Season 1 and sharing the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama with his fellow “Lost” producers. As an executive producer and writer, Alexander’s credits include the critically acclaimed series “Hannibal” and “Alias” as well as the television movies The Saint and Day One, which he also created. He has also been an innovator in the field of transmedia storytelling — the process of extending narrative across multiple media platforms simultaneously. This strategy was critical to the success of “Alias” and “Lost.” The transmedia content he designed for “Heroes” established a new paradigm for how television shows can thrive cross-platform. In 2008, Alexander shared an Emmy® Award for the “Heroes” online content. An award-winning writer and producer of TV, movies, video games and comic books, Alexander has brought his vision of the cross-platform future of entertainment to MIT, Lucasfilm, NewTeeVee, Game Developers Conference, Microsoft Research, AFI, SMPTE, Ubisoft, USC, BBDO Energy, Netflix, Riot Games, FoxNext, Amazon, and others. In another life, Alexander wrote Eight Legged Freaks, that movie about giant spiders! NEIL GAIMAN (AUTHOR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, WRITER EP 201) Neil Gaiman is the New York Times best-selling author of books, short stories, films, and graphic novels for readers of all ages. He is listed as one of the top 10 living post-modern writers by the Dictionary of Literary Biography. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages and have sold close to 7 million copies overseas. Some of his most notable titles include the novels American Gods (for which he received the Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker and Locus Awards, and which sold half a million copies in the U.K. alone), The Graveyard Book (the first book to ever win both the Newbery and Carnegie medals), and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which was named the U.K.'s National Book Award 2013 Book of the Year. Gaiman is currently turning Good Omens, the novel he co-wrote with Sir Terry Pratchett, into a six-part television series with the BBC and Amazon. The second season of “American Gods” is currently in filming and will be released in 2019 on the Starz Network in conjunction with Fremantle and Amazon. Gaiman is also the creator of the hugely popular Sandman comic series, which was the first comic book to ever receive literary recognition when it won the World Fantasy Award – Short Fiction. The latest installment of the series, The Sandman Overture, was named Amazon Best Graphic Novel of 2015. Recently published were his New York Times list topper Norse Mythology, a retelling of the stories of the Norse gods and giants from the Prose and Poetic Eddas; the bestselling non-fiction collection, The View From the Cheap Seats; and the No. 1 best-seller, the reimagined fairy tale The Sleeper and the Spindle (with illustrations by U.K. Children's Laureate, Chris Riddell). Gaiman is Professor in the Arts at Bard College. He has four children, and is married to performer/writer Amanda Palmer. CRAIG CEGIELSKI (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) In June of 2017, Craig Cegielski founded Centinel Media, an independent television company dedicated to the development, production and global distribution of television programming. Prior to launching Centinel Media, Cegielski served as the Co-CEO of FremantleMedia North America (FMNA). The veteran television executive led the company into scripted television with the critically acclaimed “American Gods” as well as the A&E series “The Returned.” Previously, Cegielski was president of GK-TV, a division of Graham King’s GK Films. While at GK Films, he produced and distributed titles that included “Camelot,” and the Syfy series “Continuum.” As the executive vice president of programming and sales for Lionsgate International Television, Cegielski was responsible for oversight of all international distribution, acquisitions, sales and marketing for the international television group’s comprehensive slate of top-rated and critically acclaimed entertainment programming. Prior to joining Lionsgate, Cegielski worked for CBS/King World International, where he specialized in local production and programming. During his tenure, he successfully launched local adaptations of U.S. and international formats, such as the hit series “America’s Next Top Model” and highly rated game shows such as “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy!” “Hollywood Squares” and “The Vault.” He was also responsible for the acquisition of new reality and game shows such as “Word for Word.” From 1998 through 2004, Cegielski worked for Paramount Pictures in the co-production division of Paramount International Television. There, his focus was in developing and producing programming for the international marketplace. This emphasis produced an impressive slate that included four one-hour series, including USA Network’s hit drama “The Dead Zone” as well as two miniseries and 10 telefilms. SCOTT HORNBACHER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) As executive producer of “Mad Men,” Scott Hornbacher directed nine episodes: “Wee Small Hours,” “Waldorf Stories,” “Far Away Places,” “Dark Shadows,” “The Doorway (Parts 1 and 2),” “Time Zones,” “The Monolith” and “Severance.” He is the recipient of four Emmy® Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and three Producers Guild Awards for Best Drama for the series. Prior to “Mad Men,” Hornbacher served as co-producer for five seasons of “The Sopranos.” He is currently executive producer on Season 2 of Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” for Starz. In his recent role as executive producer on “The Last Tycoon” for Amazon, he also directed two episodes — “Burying the Boy Genius” and “An Enemy Among Us” — starring Matt Bomer, Kelsey Grammer, Lily Collins and Rosemarie DeWitt. His additional directing credits include an episode of the CBS drama “Conviction” (“The 1% Solution”), starring Hayley Atwell, as well as an episode of the Showtime drama series “Billions” (“YumTime”), starring Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff and Malin Akerman. Hornbacher debuted as a stage director with a recent Los Angeles production of Neil LaBute’s “Reasons to Be Pretty,” starring Wolfgang Novogratz, Laura Coover, Mercer Boffey and Andrea Hunt, which was produced in association with Aquila Morong Studio and Wolfgang Novogratz at The Lounge Theatre in Hollywood. Hornbacher is developing the one-hour series drama “Submission” as well as two thematically linked 90- minute improv-to-film projects, Open a Vein and Disillusion. IAN MCSHANE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) Just before graduating from the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Ian McShane caught his first break in 1962 when he landed the lead role in The Wild and the Willing. Other earlier breakout roles include the role of Anthony in the 1973 cult classic The Last of Sheila, Wolfe Lissner in Villain and Charlie Cartwright in If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. McShane gained critical acclaim on the small screen as the fierce yet charismatic Al Swearengen in HBO’s hit crime series “Deadwood,” for which he won a Golden Globe® Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series in 2005. His compelling and gritty portrayal also earned him nominations for an Emmy® Award that same year and a SAG Award in 2006. In 2010, McShane went on to garner another Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries for his portrayal of the scheming Waleran Bigod in Starz’s Emmy®-nominated “The Pillars of the Earth.” Since then, McShane has been seen starring opposite Johnny Depp as the pirate Blackbeard in Disney’s worldwide blockbuster hit Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In 2015, he also appeared as the cold-blooded billionaire Andrew Finney opposite Liev Schreiber in Season 3 of the Showtime series “Ray Donovan.” McShane has had other notable roles on popular television series, including FX’s “American Horror Story” and HBO’s highly regarded and award-winning “Game of Thrones.” HBO announced a “Deadwood” movie in 2018, which McShane shot in the fall that same year. McShane reprises his role as club owner and ex-assassin Winston in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 3, which will soon begin production. He can also be seen in projects such as The Hollow Point, Jawbone and Pottersville. McShane is also an accomplished, award-winning stage actor who made his West End debut in 1967 when he co-starred with Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen in “The Promise.” Other notable stage performances include his portrayal of Daryl Van Horne in “The Witches of Eastwick” and, most significantly, his role in the world premiere of Larry Atlas' “Yield of the Long Bond,” for which he received the 1984 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. With a decorated career spanning more than five decades, McShane’s other noteworthy roles on the big screen have included Joe Strombel in Woody Allen’s Scoop; King Brahmwell in Bryan Singer’s modern- day fairy tale Jack the Giant Slayer; and priest/prophet/warrior Amphiaraus, opposite Dwayne Johnson, in MGM's Hercules for director Brett Ratner. Notable roles on the small screen have included Sir Eric Russell in the landmark, blockbuster miniseries “Roots” and Ken Harrison in “Whose Life is it Anyway?” He also starred as the lovable rogue antiques dealer in the acclaimed series “Lovejoy,” which he also produced (and several episodes of which he directed) for the BBC and A&E.