Biography
Joel Surnow is an American television writer and producer. He graduated from UCLA film school in 1976 and began his career writing for series including St. Elsewhere and Falcon Crest before his breakthrough on Miami Vice in 1984, where he contributed stories, screenplays and served as executive story consultant.
Surnow co-created the series La Femme Nikita (1997) with Robert Cochran and served as an executive producer. He later co-created 24 (2001) with Cochran, writing multiple episodes and serving as executive producer for the first several seasons. The series earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for the pilot episode.
He has also written for The Equalizer, Nowhere Man and other series, and received additional Emmy recognition for 24 as a producer.
