Jenji Kohan

Biography

Jenji Kohan was born on 5 July 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an American television writer, producer, and showrunner best known for creating the acclaimed series Weeds and Orange Is the New Black. She graduated from Columbia University in 1991 with a degree in English and Literature.

Kohan began her television writing career in the 1990s, working on popular shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mad About You, Tracey Takes On..., Friends, Sex and the City, and Gilmore Girls. These early assignments helped establish her as a distinctive television writer with a talent for mixing comedy with darker and more challenging subjects.

Her breakthrough came in 2005 when she created Weeds, the Showtime comedy-drama about a widowed suburban mother who becomes involved in selling marijuana to support her family. Kohan served as creator, writer, executive producer, and showrunner throughout the series' eight-season run.

Kohan achieved even greater international recognition with Orange Is the New Black, which premiered on Netflix in 2013. Inspired by Piper Kerman's memoir about her experiences in a women's prison, the series ran for seven seasons and became one of Netflix's most successful original dramas. Kohan served as its creator, executive producer, head writer, and showrunner.

She later served as an executive producer on the wrestling comedy-drama GLOW and worked on projects including American Princess, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Social Distance, Worn Stories, and The Decameron.

Kohan has received numerous industry honors, including a Primetime Emmy Award and the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement from the Writers Guild of America West. She was also named one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014.