David E. Kelley Urges Writers to Focus on Work That ‘Matters’ at Variety Showrunners Dinner
10.09.2022 - 02:03
/ variety.com
BreAnna Bell David E. Kelley urged his fellow showrunners and TV writers to be mindful of the privilege they have in the platform that television provides to reach millions of viewers as he accepted the 2022 Creative Conscience Award Thursday night at Variety’s Showrunners Dinner presented by A+E Studios. The kudo was presented to Kelley for his decades-long career of socially conscious work, which includes such series as “The Practice,” “Boston Public,” “Boston Legal,” “Ally McBeal,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “Big Sky,” among others. “If our work matters, even a little, then that’s something,” Kelley said.
Kelley spoke from the heart to a packed room of showrunners, including top Emmy nominees and producers featured in Variety’s 2022 Producers Impact Report, at the dinner, held at Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. Attendees included “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson; Liz Meriwether of “The Dropout”; “Rick and Morty” boss Dan Harmon; “Only Murders in the Building’s” John Hoffman; Julie Plec (“Roswell, N.M.”); “Dopesick’s” Danny Strong; “Winning Time’s” Max Borenstein and Rodney Barnes; the “Hacks” trio of Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs; “Pachinko” and “The Morning Show” EP Michael Ellenberg; Nikki Toscano of “The Offer”; “Severance’s” Dan Erickson; and Sierra Teller Ornelas of “Rutherford Falls.”
Kelley detailed his journey to find a new passion outside of law. “It was challenging work, but I knew whatever this was, it wasn’t it. I practiced the law, when I sort of dug into my core, it just wasn’t it. And the hours are long,” Kelley said. That search led him to Boston’s Colonial Theatre, where he would occasionally sneak into performances