Danny Strong

Danny Strong started his career as an actor in numerous classic films and TV shows. He then transitioned into screenwriting, exploding onto the scene with his 2007 script “Recount,” which became an award-winning cable film. Since then, he has become a prolific film and TV writer/director/producer/actor.

In addition to PROVEN INNOCENT, Strong is the co-creator and executive producer of the hit FOX drama EMPIRE, for which he has written and directed numerous episodes. Entering its fifth season, the series has won Best Drama at the NAACP Image Awards, was named TV Program of the Year by the AFI Awards and Outstanding New Program by the Television Critics Association. It has been nominated for six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and two Critics’ Choice Awards.

On the feature side, Strong wrote the screenplay for “The Butler.” Starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, it was the sleeper hit of 2013, grossing more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. He also was a co-writer of the popular films “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2).” Strong made his feature directorial debut of his screenplay, “Rebel In The Rye,” which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was then distributed theatrically.

Strong began his writing career writing and producing the cable films “Recount” and “Game Change,” about the 2000 and 2008 elections. Jay Roach directed both of the highly acclaimed films. “Game Change” aired in 2012 and starred Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson, and was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. Strong also won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing, a Writers Guild Award, a Golden Globe, the Producers Guild Award, a Peabody and the Pen Award for the film. His debut script was “Recount,” which was voted No. 1 on the Hollywood Blacklist. It aired in 2008 with an all-star cast, including Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, Tom Wilkinson and Dennis Leary. The film garnered 11 Emmy Award nominations (including Best Writing), won for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and received five Golden Globe nominations. Strong also received the Writers Guild Award for the screenplay.

In addition to his thriving career as a screenwriter and director, Strong is also an actor with extensive credits in film, television and theater, and has appeared in many of the most famous television shows of the last two decades. He is best known for the five seasons he played “Jonathan” on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the four seasons he played “Doyle” on “Gilmore Girls.” He also appeared in the highly acclaimed “Gilmore Girls” revival. His other credits include such iconic projects as “Pleasantville,” “Seinfeld,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How I Met Your Mother” and many more. He currently can be seen as “Todd Krakow” on the cable drama “Billions.” He also has appeared on “Mad Men,” “Justified” and “Girls.” On stage, he has appeared in more than 50 plays and musicals in regional and Los Angeles theaters.

Strong currently lives in New York City.