Who is Julie Benson?
Oh hi.
I'm an Emmy-winning TV writer and producer (live-action, animation, comics) and during my 20+ year career, I’ve learned the business from every angle. That’s why I’m confident in passing along not just how to write for TV, but how the entire machine actually works. The good, bad, and the ugly.
TLDR: here are my Credits and Writing Samples.
But for curious minds, here’s my origin story…
I cut my teeth in Hollywood working as the Office Manager of Dustin Hoffman’s production company Punch Productions. After a few years, I was promoted as his personal assistant. Here’s a nice photo of the two of us in his trailer during production of “Meet the Fockers.” (Blink and you’ll miss my name flying by in the credits.)
PAYING MY DUES
From there, I became assistant to Producer Tripp Vinson at Contrafilm on films “The Number 23”, “The Guardian”, and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” Here’s a pic of me and then Development Executive Gitty Daneshvari sitting at video village for “The Guardian” in 2006.
While there, I got pretty darn good at reading scripts, giving notes, and finding new voices so I was hired as the Development Executive for Bauer Martinez… which folded a short year later. But while there, I met a genius Producer called Cerise Hallam Larkin who started her own company Untold Pictures and brought me on as the Development Executive. This is a pic of us at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.
After a few years developing, I decided to transition into television and worked at CBS Studios for the brilliant executives Kim Metcalf and Amy Reisenbach in the Development Department. That was an amazing opportunity to learn how Studio and Network operated as I worked on over 20+ shows for those two powerhouse bosses.
That job inspired me to work with writers, so I made the leap to assist Josh Friedman on the “Locke and Key” & “The Asset” pilots, and “The Finder” for FOX. Josh is an incredible writer and taught me a lot about the craft and made me laugh daily.
After that, assisted the hilarious Showrunner Zack Estrin on ABC’s “Zero Hour” and was promoted to Writers’ Assistant on “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.” (Note: Devastatingly, Zack passed away in 2022 and the world, not just television, is all the worse for it.)
I followed a writer on that series, Rina Mimoun, over to ABC’s “Mistresses” where she was a Co-Showrunner with K.J. Steinberg. Those two brilliant women gave me a shot at becoming the script coordinator. Honestly, that was probably the toughest job I had yet! I want to create a digital guide to help future script coordinators navigate this tough job. Lord knows I could have used something like that when I started…
In 2019, I was an Executive Producer on the documentary film “Stuntman” for Disney+, recently and unceremoniously removed from streaming. Boo, but hey, we won Audience Award for Best Documentary Film at the LA Film Festival, had Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) onboard to Executive Produce, and I got this pretty cool picture at the premiere.
But wait, I left out a the most important part of my career yet… my team up!
While I was doing all those jobs, my sister Shawna Benson was also working a day job in Hollywood. At night, we wrote our spec scripts and finally got our first big break (and an Emmy Award) for the YouTube web series “Emma Approved.” From there, we landed our first staff writing job on The CW's “The 100.” It was 2015 and we were officially WGA writers! We even had agents at Gersh and everything. Officially official and it only took us over a decade. See? Very few are actual overnight successes.
After three incredible seasons penning the critically-acclaimed post-apocalyptic series, we jumped to Netflix's action packed “Wu Assassins”. We were lucky to work with veteran Showrunner John Wirth as Co-Producers on that fun series. Here’s a pic of the writers visiting the location in San Francisco with John at the head of the table.
Then we boldly ventured into animation, writing an episode of “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” under Bryan Q. Miller’s careful and generous guidance. We also served as Co-Producers on Netflix’s (nee Nickelodeon's) “Star Trek: Prodigy.” How cool is it that the Benson Sisters got to work with the Hageman Brothers?! Here’s a pic from one of the first days of the writers’ room on that Emmy-nominated series. Loved this crew…
In 2023 we were honored to write for Bruce Timm on Season Two of “Batman: Caped Crusader” (out soon on Amazon Prime Video). Since wrapping that epic show, Shawna and I have been writing new pilots, finished a horror feature “Call of the Void”, and are busy blue-skying new possibilities. What does the future hold for us? Stay tuned till next time…
While writing for TV, we also dove into the DC Comics universe during their 2016 Rebirth launch. We wrote “Batgirl and the Birds of Prey” (2016-2018) and followed it up with a 7-issue run on “Green Arrow” and a “Green Arrow Annual (Volume 6).” We returned to comics in 2023 with “Batgirl and the Birds of Prey - “Baewatch” for “G'nort's Swimsuit Edition #1.”
As a gal who grew up reading her dad’s Silver Age comics, I had so many pinch me moments during this phase. I cried with joy when Geoff Johns hired us for Birds (it was over the phone so he never knew, until now, I mean, if he ever reads this). And I never felt more honored than to have the great Gail Simone pass to BOP baton to us. Man… we’d love to get back to writing comics someday…
WHATNOT
When I’m not sharing the tools, templates, and strategies I've used throughout my Hollywood career (so you don't have to figure it all out from scratch like I did) I’m documenting my journey here on Writing & Whatnot. I have an insatiable curiosity and am currently exploring:
Project management - turns out producing TV is basically advanced PM.
Mixology - I love learning the origin stories behind liquor brands and craft cocktails.
Theme park design - immersive experiences and backstories are the future of narrative and something I’m excited to try my hand someday.
Forgotten women in history - because their stories deserve to be told.
SUPPORT WRITING AND WHATNOT
Thank you for visiting the site and if you read this far, you’re my kind of people, so please check out the contact page and let’s keep in touch.
I’m posting the tools I’ve used during my crazy career over on my Amazon Storefront. (Affiliate link gives me a tiny commission at no cost to you.)
If any of my blog posts, tutorials, or resources have helped you, consider buying me a chai latte (I know, I’m weird, I don’t drink coffee)! Your support helps me keep creating content for fellow writers and creators. ☕
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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I totally did! It was for the webseries “Emma Approved” and the exact award was "Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media - Original Interactive Program". In 2022, “Star Trek: Prodigy” was nominated for an “Outstanding Animated Series” award at the first ever Children’s & Family Emmy Awards
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I was fortunate to work on Season One of “Star Trek: Prodigy” and penned an episode of “He Man - Masters of the Universe” (no, not the Kevin Smith one) for Netflix. Shawna and I were honored to be writers for Season Two of Bruce Timm’s “Batman: The Caped Crusader.”
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I worked on: “Zero Hour” for ABC, the Josh Friedman “Locke & Key” pilot, and “The Asset” pilot, “The Finder” for FOX, “Mistresses” for ABC, and was in a mini writers’ room for “Lore” S3. I wrote for: CW’s “The 100”, Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”, and “Emma Approved” which aired on YouTube.
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Knee-deep, duh.
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I’m working on it as we speak! Give me your email and I’ll send you the latest and greatest Writing and Whatnot as it drops, oh and I promise not to spam you.
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You’d have to ask Shawna Benson, my writing partner and sister but I’m sure she’d say I’m full of ideas, great at writing dialogue, and striving to always learn and fine-tune my craft. OK, I lied, she’d probably say I’m little sister bossy or something, but we’ll forgive her.
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Pretty easily, to be honest. We have similar interests, voices, and it’s worked out pretty good for us so far. Check out thebensonsisters.com for our joint credits. This site is my solo project where I share screenwriting tips, Hollywood war stories, and the "whatnot."
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I did act in high school musicals, but no, I’m not be confused with actress Julia Benson who was on “Stargate” or the novelist from Texas, Julie Benson. I write with my sister Shawna Benson. Fun fact: I searched and there are at almost 600 other Julie Benson’s out there, we should start a support group.