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Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Lauren Iungerich

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Lauren Iungerich (Photo by Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media)

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is shone on writer, producer, director and showrunner Lauren Iungerich (pronounced: you-know-rick).

At the end of her junior year in college Lauren interned as an assistant to Arnold Kopelson, the Academy Award winning producer of films like Platoon, The Fugitive and Seven. After she graduated, she went to work as a Feature Film Development Executive, writing at nights and on the weekends. It was in 2000 that she quit that job in order to write full time. She then ended up getting hired to write a movie for Warner Bros., having a script optioned by Mel Gibson’s company. The executives there then asked her if she had any TV ideas and she spent the next couple of years selling TV pilots that, unfortunately, did not make it on the air.

But eventually she ended up getting a job on the writing staff of the short-lived ABC Family TV series 10 Things I Hate About You thanks to a play she wrote during the writer’s strike. From there ABC Family asked her to write something for them, which lead her to making some Web content such as My Two Fans, which was about a woman who has her own fan club that gives her advice.

Now, Lauren is the series creator, writer, director and showrunner of the popular MTV comedy Awkward, which is set in a California high school focusing on teenagers that will start its second season tomorrow night on MTV at 10:30 PM. And with the success of Awkward, Lauren has developed a second comedy called Dumb Girls that will focus on twentysomethings.

Lauren got married last year, but is a self-described American Bridget Jones, who has no problem embarrassing herself or writing about it. You can follow her on Twitter @laurenei.

Using her favorite online handle, Rueben is an East Coast-bred gal who is now a permanent Californian and a lifelong tv-oholic. She watches at least 25 TV shows a week, goes to the movies as often as possible, listens to music every waking moment, reads every day and “plays” on the internet every chance she can. Some of her current favorite TV shows are Outlander, Sweet Magnolias, Wednesday, The Mandalorian, The Equalizer, Fire Country, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, The Rookie, Cobra Kai, Virgin River, The Witcher, Leverage: Redemption and School Spirits.  She is looking forward to the season premieres of Hudson & Rex on UPtv and Skymed on Paramount+ as well as the return of fall TV albeit starting in February. Follow her at @ruebenrambling or contact her at rueben@nicegirlstv.com.