# Emily Kapnek

Emily Kapnek (born March 27, 1972) is an American television creator, writer and producer. Kapnek is best known for creating the animated program As Told by Ginger as well as the television series Suburgatory and Selfie. She was a consulting producer on the television series Parks and Recreation and has written the theme songs for several shows.

## Career

In 1999, Kapnek created the Nickelodeon animated series As Told by Ginger which was produced by Eryk Casemiro, Gábor Csupó, and Arlene Klasky. Kapnek also voiced the character of Noelle Sussman. In 2005, Kapnek had two pilots produced. "Wiener Park" starred Donal Logue and Fred Willard for FOX and Emily's Reasons Why Not for ABC, which starred Heather Graham and was based on a novel of the same name. The latter was picked up to series and premiered on January 9, 2006, but was cancelled after the first episode.
In 2007, Kapnek wrote and was a consulting producer for Aliens in America, which aired on The CW. In 2008, Kapnek wrote a pilot for Fox titled The Emancipation of Ernesto, which starred Wilmer Valderrama.
In 2009, Kapnek served as a co-executive producer and wrote two episodes for the HBO show Hung which premiered on June 28, 2009, and ran for three seasons. From 2010 to 2011, Kapnek was a consulting producer on the third season of the NBC series Parks and Recreation, which starred Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman. Kapnek penned the episode "Ron and Tammy Part Two." In January 2011, it was announced ABC had picked up the pilot for Suburgatory, a show which Kapnek created. The series starred Jeremy Sisto and Jane Levy. Suburgatory premiered on September 28, 2011 and ran for three seasons. She had a Warner Bros. Television-affiliated production company called Piece of Pie Productions. In the same year, Kapnek created Selfie, which starred Karen Gillan and John Cho. Selfie ran for just one season but developed a cult following after its cancellation. In 2015, Kapnek was given a pilot commitment for Front Man, a new FOX series created by Kapnek, which would have been produced by Elizabeth Banks, and Max Handelman. However, the pilot did not move to production. In 2018, Kapnek wrote and produced the ABC pilot Splitting Up Together, starring Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson which was picked up to series and ran for two seasons on ABC.
Kapnek's new banner "Specifica Productions" (specificaproductions.com) launched in 2019 as part of her deal with ABC Studios, a three-year contract. Her former production company which worked with Warner Bros. Television was Piece of Pie Productions. In February 2020, an ABC pilot order was signed for a show starring Quintessa Swindell for Wild Child, but there were no further developments on the project. In November 2021, it was reported that Kapnek is working again with Selfie star Gillan and Danny Elfman on a musical animation for Disney+ called Rhona Who Lives by the River.

## Personal life

In December 2008, Emily Kapnek married Dan Lagana. They have two children, Oszkar Nosek and Guy Lagana.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes |
| Year | Title | Creator | Writer | Executive producer | Notes |
| 1998–1999 | Hercules | No | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Rocket Power | No | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Psyko Ferret | No | Teleplay | No | Television short |
| 2000 | The Wild Thornberrys | No | Yes | No | 1 episode ("Monkey See, Monkey Don't") |
| 2000 | Noah Knows Best | No | Yes | No | 3 episodes |
| 2000–2006 | As Told by Ginger | Yes | Yes | Yes | As writer (14 episodes) As co-executive producer (22 episodes) As executive producer (12 episodes) Also consulting producer (23 episodes) Also voiced Noelle Sussman (6 episodes) |
| 2001 | The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald | No | Yes | No | 1 episode ("Have Time, Will Travel") Additional material by ("Birthday World") |
| 2005 | The Legend of Frosty the Snowman | No | Yes | No | Direct-to-video Also creative producer |
| 2005 | Wiener Park | No | Yes | Yes | Pilot |
| 2006 | Emily's Reasons Why Not | Developed by | Yes | Yes | As writer (2 episodes) As executive producer (6 episodes) |
| 2007–2008 | Aliens in America | No | Yes | No | As writer (3 episodes) Also consulting producer (17 episodes) |
| 2008 | The Emancipation of Ernesto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pilot |
| 2009 | Hung | No | Yes | Co-executive | As writer (2 episodes) As co-executive producer (9 episodes) |
| 2010–2011 | Parks and Recreation | No | Yes | No | 1 episode ("Ron & Tammy: Part Two") Also consulting producer (23 episodes) |
| 2011–2014 | Suburgatory | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also director ("Stray Dogs") As writer (10 episodes) As executive producer (11 episodes) |
| 2014 | Selfie | Yes | Yes | Yes | As writer (2 episodes) As executive producer (13 episodes) |
| 2018–2019 | Splitting Up Together | Developed by | Yes | Yes | Based on the Danish series Bedre skilt end aldrig As writer (3 episodes) As executive producer (26 episodes) |
| TBA | Rhona Who Lives by the River † | Yes | Yes | Yes | Post-production |