Todd A. Kessler

Todd A Kessler born 1972 is an American screenwriter playwright television producer and director Kessler wrote and produced the second and third seasons of HBOs The Sopranos Michael Manns Robbery Homicide Division and the first season of NBCs Providence Kessler began his career as a playwright working with David Rabe moving into film and television when Spike Lee hired him as a screenwriter Kessler is credited with cowriting with David Chase the Sopranos season 2 finale Funhouse widely lauded as one of the best episodes of the series Despite his success on The Sopranos HBO did not retain Kessler beyond season 3 an experience Kessler described as painful and formative Kessler and Sopranos actor James Gandolfini became close friends during Kesslers time writing for the show He is the cocreator and head writer of the Golden Globe awardwinning FX drama series Damages along with his older brother Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman He also has a small role in Damages as Perry the Doorman In 2015 his Kyle Chandlerled Netflix series Bloodline premiered In 2016 it was cancelled and ended its run after its third season in 2017 After graduating from Cranbrook Kingswood School Kessler graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in dramatic literature and playwriting and has twice been a visiting artist at Harvard teaching screenwriting seminars Kessler has been nominated for several Primetime Emmy Awards Todd A Kessler Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for their work on the Damages pilot episode Get Me A Lawyer Kessler has been nominated for five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards