How Josh Schwartz, Showunner & Producer of The OC and Gossip Girl, Stays Creative
Wed Jan 28 2026
Josh Schwartz is a TV screenwriter and producer best known for creating The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck, Hart of Dixie, and The Carrie Diaries, to name a few. He's launched the careers of superstars and is a superstar himself. At 26, he became one of the youngest showrunners in network history when he launched The O.C. Josh is also Jim's cousin. Two and a half decades after The O.C. changed his career and binge watching as we know it, Jim and Josh are Getting Real about career longevity, mentorship, and how to stay creative. They're diving into juicy tidbits from the days of The O.C. and Gossip Girl, like why Marissa died, and what he'd rewrite if he could. It's not easy to have a hit series, and he's had several. His shows are millennial fodder. Representative of a time, not long ago, when we called on pay phones and then flip phones, sent texts on QWERTY keyboards and when life was just a little less technical. Tune in. You won't want to miss this awesome chat!
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Josh Schwartz is a TV screenwriter and producer best known for creating The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck, Hart of Dixie, and The Carrie Diaries, to name a few. He's launched the careers of superstars and is a superstar himself. At 26, he became one of the youngest showrunners in network history when he launched The O.C. Josh is also Jim's cousin. Two and a half decades after The O.C. changed his career and binge watching as we know it, Jim and Josh are Getting Real about career longevity, mentorship, and how to stay creative. They're diving into juicy tidbits from the days of The O.C. and Gossip Girl, like why Marissa died, and what he'd rewrite if he could. It's not easy to have a hit series, and he's had several. His shows are millennial fodder. Representative of a time, not long ago, when we called on pay phones and then flip phones, sent texts on QWERTY keyboards and when life was just a little less technical. Tune in. You won't want to miss this awesome chat!