Jane Espenson

Jane Espenson
Role:	Co-Executive Producer Writer
BSG Universe:
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Nationality:	USA
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Jane Espenson was a Co-Executive Producer and writer for the Re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica, and an Executive Producer on its spin-off Caprica. She began writing for Battlestar Galactica in season 3 and joined the production staff in season 4.

Jane Espenson grew up in Ames, Iowa, where she admits she watched too much television. (Starsky and Hutch was reportedly a favorite.) At age 13 she took a stab at writing an episode of M*A*S*H. She attended college at UC Berkeley, studying linguistics as an undergrad and graduate student. While in grad school, she submitted spec episodes to Star Trek: The Next Generation.

After winning a spot in the Walt Disney writers' fellowship (1992-93), Espenson worked in sitcoms for a number of years. She is also a Star Trek alumnus, having written the Deep Space Nine season 4 episode "Accession".

Her first staff job on a drama was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which she joined in the middle of Season 3. Espenson wrote 23 episodes of the show, more than any other writer besides showrunners Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon. During her stint on Buffy, she wrote the Hugo Award-winning episode "Conversations with Dead People." Espenson would go on to write for two other Joss Whedon TV series, Firefly, and the Buffy spinoff, Angel.

Espenson did a year as Co-Executive Producer at Gilmore Girls, and brief stints as Co-Executive Producer of the cancelled FOX dramas Tru Calling and The Inside. Next, she served as Co-Executive Producer of the sitcom Jake in Progress, which was also short-lived.

Along the way, she also wrote an episode of The O.C. as well as several episodes of the animated series "The Batman."

She reportedly often tells people she has the best job in the world.

Galactica and Caprica Showrunner

During the last season of Battlestar Galactica, executive producer Ronald D. Moore began handing greater production and post-production responsibilities to Espenson. She wrote and executive produced the DVD movie The Plan, and as Caprica began to develop from pilot to series in early 2009, Espenson was appointed as that series' showrunner. However, by November 2009, Espenson had handed the showrunner reins to Kevin Murphy, in order to concentrate on writing. Espenson told science fiction blog io9:

"I'm still at Caprica. Running the room was very intensive and took a lot of time away from actually writing this amazing ambitious show. I missed the writing more than I expected and this was my decision to concentrate on that as we put together the big end of season one. Kevin is extremely smart and talented and brings fresh eyes and fresh energy to the project — we're so lucky to have him!"

Espenson continued to serve as an executive producer on Caprica until its cancellation.

Writer credits for "Battlestar Galactica"

• Season 3:
  • "The Passage"
  • "Dirty Hands" (with Anne Cofell Saunders)

• Season 4:
  • "Escape Velocity"
  • "The Hub"
  • "Deadlock"

• Other Media:
  • "Face of the Enemy" (with Seamus Kevin Fahey)
  • "The Plan"

Writer credits for Caprica

• Gravedancing (with Michael Angeli)
• Apotheosis (with Kevin Murphy)

See also: Episodes written by Jane Espenson

External Links

• Jane Espenson website
• Jane Espenson article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki.

• Jane Espenson interview at GALACTICA.TV
• Jane Espenson Interview at AMCtv.com