Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Nora and Lilla Zuckerman

Nora and Lilla Zuckerman

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is shone on writing and producing partners (and sisters) Nora and Lilla Zuckerman.

In a 2009 interview, Nora and Lilla shared that they had “always been close growing up” and they were both “passionate about film and television” but they “approached it from different angles” – at least in the beginning. Nora’s direction was writing while Lilla was acting and producing.

Nora “had always been an avid reader,” spending hours with her “nose in a book,” and had “always been into movies and television.” She went to USC’s Film School, majoring in Film Writing while Lilla was a “drama geek,” getting her theatre degree at Northwestern.

Eventually they “came together” when Lilla “had an idea for a book (she) wanted to write. The sisters ended up wiring that book together, it got published “with a deal to write a second book as well.”

Nora “got an agent somewhat quickly after film school” and it was that agent who suggested the sister “pitch the book as a television series”. The progress was frustrating with them writing spec scripts, pitching ideas, etc. But it was the Warner Brothers Workshop in 2009 that was “truly (their) career break.”

After the workshop, the sisters landed with their current agency and ended up landing work on the FOX drama Fringe where they worked on the production staff as writers. The following year they worked as story editors on the short-lived FOX drama Human Target.

Nora and Lilla then joined the production staff of the popular Canadian series Haven, serving as executive story editors, writers and eventually consulting producers over the three seasons for which they worked on the show. Currently the sisters are working as supervising producers and writers on the long-running USA Network legal drama Suits.

You can follow Nora on Twitter @NoraZuckerman and follow Lilla @lillazuck.