Cord Jefferson

Cord Jefferson is an American writer, director, journalist, and essayist who has worked on the TV series Watchmen, Succession, The Good Place, and Master of None.[1] He made his feature directorial debut with the 2023 comedy drama film American Fiction, which won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.[2] He is the recipient of an Emmy Award, NAACP Image Award, and two Writers Guild of America Awards.

Cord Jefferson
OccupationWriter, director, journalist
NationalityAmerican
Notable awardsEmmy Award, NAACP Image Award, Writers Guild of America Award

Early life

Cord Jefferson was born in Tucson, Arizona to a white mother and black father. His father is an attorney. After living outside the United States for several years until Jefferson was about five years old, the family returned to Tucson. His maternal grandfather was shocked by his daughter's choice to marry a black man, and he shut her and his grandson out of his life.[3] Jefferson's parents divorced when he was 14 years old, after his first year of high school.

He attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was one of a small number of biracial and black people. His father had attended law school there.[3] After college, Jefferson lived in Los Angeles and in Brooklyn, New York.[4][5]

Jefferson's mother died in 2016 of cancer.[5] When his father needed a kidney transplant in 2009, Jefferson donated one of his, traveling to Saudi Arabia where his father lives.[4] Jefferson wrote a personal essay on the experience, noting that he was treated for atrial fibrillation and that after surgery, he quit smoking and began to take better care of his health.[3]

Career

Journalism

As a writer, Jefferson got his start in journalism. Among his first jobs were writing for both Stereohyped and MollyGood.[6] He spent several years as an editor at Gawker until it failed financially in 2016. He also wrote for publications including USA Today, Huffington Post, The Root, and The New York Times Magazine.[7]

Television writer

Jefferson wrote for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and then for Master of None.[8] He and Damon Lindelof won the Emmy for outstanding writing for the sixth episode ("This Extraordinary Being") of Watchmen, which aired in November 2019.

In the middle of 2020, Jefferson worked on a TV series about his time writing for Gawker. He is developing the show for Apple TV+.[9] Later in that year, he signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV.[10]

Filmography
Year Title Role
2014 Survivor's Remorse Staff writer
2015–2016 The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore Writer
2017 Master of None Story editor, consulting producer
2017–2019 The Good Place Writer, story editor, co-producer
2019 Succession Consultant
2019 Watchmen Writer, story editor
2021 Station Eleven Writer, supervising producer
2023 American Fiction Director, writer, producer

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Notes Refs
2018 Writers Guild of America Awards Comedy Series Master of None Nominated Shared with: Aniz Adam Ansari, Aziz Ansari, Andrew Blitz, Matt Hubbard, Zoe Jarman, Joe Mande, Matt Murray, Sarah Peters, Sarah Schneider, Michael Schur, Leila Strachan, Gene Stupnitsky, Lakshmi Sundaram, Lena Waithe, Jason Woliner, and Alan Yang [11]
2019 The Good Place Nominated Shared with: Megan Amram, Christopher Encell, Kate Gersten, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Kassia Miller, Dylan Morgan, Matt Murray, Rae Sanni, Daniel Schofield, Michael Schur, Josh Siegal, Jen Statsky, and Tyler Straessle
2020 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Won Episode: "Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy" [12]
Writers Guild of America Awards Drama Series Succession Won Shared with: Jesse Armstrong, Alice Birch, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, and Will Tracy [13]
Watchmen Nominated Shared with: Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Janine Nabers, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, and Carly Wray
New Series Won
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special Won Shared with: Damon Lindelof (Episode: "This Extraordinary Being") [14]
2023 Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award American Fiction Won

References
  1. "Cord Jefferson". National Endowment for the Arts. 28 February 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  2. https://deadline.com/2023/09/american-fiction-wins-toronto-film-festivals-peoples-choice-award-oscar-harbinger-1235548676/comment-page-1/?unapproved=3859014&moderation-hash=830ab74a3c3fe094d0b1bea393654456#comment-3859014
  3. "'Watchmen' Writer Cord Jefferson". Fresh Air. August 13, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  4. "Contributor Cord Jefferson". Huff Post. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  5. Jefferson, Cord (November 2, 2014). "On Kindness: My mother is sick". Matter: Medium. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  6. "Cord Jefferson". Eric Pesola. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  7. Phillips, David (July 28, 2020). "'Watchmen' Screenwriter Cord Jefferson on the Origin of Hooded Justice". Awards Daily. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  8. Berkowitz, Joe (May 18, 2017). "From Gawker to "Master": How One Writer Made It to Aziz Ansari's Show". Fast Company. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  9. Sepinwall, Alan (June 17, 2020). "'Watchmen' Writer on Trump in Tulsa, Bad Cops, and America's White Supremacy Problem". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  10. Spivey, Kemberlie. "'Watchmen' Writer Cord Jefferson Inks Overall Deal With Warner Bros. Television". Forbes. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  11. "Writers Guild Awards Winners & Nominees: 2019-2013". Writers Guild of America. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  12. "NAACP ANNOUNCED THE WINNERS OF THE 51ST NAACP IMAGE AWARDS HOSTED BY ANTHONY ANDERSON ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND". NAACP. February 22, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  13. "2020 Writers Guild Awards Nominees & Winners". Writers Guild of America. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  14. "Watchmen". Television Academy. Retrieved September 21, 2020.


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