Quinta Brunson
Quinta Brunson (born December 21, 1989) is an American writer, producer, comedian, and actress. Brunson gained prominence for her self-produced Instagram series "Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date". She went on to produce and act in content for BuzzFeed Video, and developed two streaming series with BuzzFeed Motion Pictures. Since leaving BuzzFeed in 2018, Brunson has acted in the series "iZombie", provided voice work for "Lazor Wulf" and "Magical Girl Friendship Squad", and starred in the first season of the HBO sketch comedy series "A Black Lady Sketch Show". She is the creator, executive  producer, writer, and star of the ABC comedy "Abbott Elementary" (2021–present). Early life and education. Brunson was born and raised in West Philadelphia. Her name means "fifth" in Spanish and signifies that she is youngest of five children. She was raised in the Christian denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses. She has described herself as "obsessed" with comedy from the time she attended the Charter High School for Architecture & Design, and nurtured her interest by taking an improv class. Brunson attended Temple University and took classes at Second City in Chicago her sophomore year. She dropped out of school shortly  after to pursue a career in comedy. Career. 2014–2017: Instagram and Buzzfeed. Brunson originally garnered fans online by posting comedic videos to her Instagram in 2014. In particular, her "Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date" series went viral and grew her digital fan base. She then worked as a video producer for BuzzFeed Video after first freelancing for the company. Her videos primarily focused on problems experienced by twenty-somethings. In 2016, Brunson sold two web series as a development partner with BuzzFeed Motion Pictures: one scripted comedy called "Broke" for Youtube Red, which she wrote, produced , and starred in; the second, "Up for Adoption", was produced by Verizon's go90 video platform, which she also starred in. Brunson's performance in "Broke" was nominated for Best Acting in a Comedy at the Streamy Awards in 2017. 2018–present: "A Black Lady Sketch Show" and "Abbott Elementary". Shortly after Brunson left BuzzFeed in 2018, she co-starred in her first network pilot, the CW pilot "The End of the World as We Know It", but the show was not picked up by the network. She also wrote and produced a series called "Quinta vs. Everything" that streamed  on Facebook Watch from 2017 to 2018. On October 4, 2018, it was announced that a pilot co-produced by Brunson, Larry Wilmore, and Jermaine Fowler would be developed by CBS into a multi-cam comedy called "Quinta & Jermaine". The pilot would star Fowler and Brunson as longtime friends who must deal with an unplanned pregnancy; however, the show was not picked up. In 2019, she appeared as Dr. Charli Collier and her twin sister, Laila, on the supernatural comedy-drama series "iZombie", and also voiced multiple characters in the animated series "Lazor Wulf". That fall, Brunson began to co -star and write in the HBO sketch comedy series "A Black Lady Sketch Show", alongside Robin Thede, Gabrielle Dennis, and Ashley Nicole Black; but she left the second season due to scheduling conflicts. In 2020, Brunson co-starred in the Syfy animated series "Magical Girl Friendship Squad", opposite Anna Akana. In 2021, Brunson appeared in a recurring role on the third season of "Miracle Workers", and in May, Brunson's single-camera pilot (previously titled "Harrity Elementary") was picked up by ABC with the new title "Abbott Elementary". Brunson is also the writer, co-executive producer, and stars with Sheryl  Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Tyler James Williams, and Janelle James. The series premiered on December 7, 2021 and received positive reception. It holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 critics' reviews. Her debut book, "She Memes Well", a collection of essays about her personal life and career, was released June 15, 2021. Personal life. Brunson is engaged to be married as of June 2021.