Corinne Rene Kingsbury, born on July 11, 1981, is an American actress, writer, producer, and television creator. She built her name in Hollywood as the creator and executive producer of The CW’s In the Dark and CBS’s Fam, both premiering in 2019.
Earlier in her career, she wrote for Aaron Sorkin’s acclaimed HBO series The Newsroom.
Who is Corinne Kingsbury?
Corinne Kingsbury is an American television creator, writer, and producer who has worked across some of the most respected networks in Hollywood.
Her career spans over two decades, covering everything from staff writing on prestige drama to creating and showrunning her own series.
She created two television series in the same year, 2019, with Fam on CBS and In the Dark on The CW. That double debut put her among a small group of writers to run concurrent shows on major broadcast networks in the same season.
In the Dark ran for four full seasons on The CW from 2019 to 2022.
Beyond television, Kingsbury contributed script rewrites for the 2020 Paramount film The Lovebirds, starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae and directed by Michael Showalter.
Her work in film and television has made her one of the more active behind-the-scenes creators working in American comedy-drama.
She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son.
Early Life of Corinne Kingsbury
Corinne Kingsbury grew up with a creative drive that pulled her toward storytelling from an early age.
She developed an interest in writing, performance, and the mechanics of television, all of which shaped the career she would build in her twenties and thirties.
Her family background played a direct role in her creative output. When she created Fam in 2019, she drew on her own experience of growing up in a dysfunctional household.
In an interview with TV Insider, she spoke openly about how her background contrasted with that of her husband, describing his upbringing as one of the most stable and loving she had ever encountered.
She has stated that her childhood experiences directly informed the characters and family dynamics in Fam.
That personal lens is a recurring thread in her writing. Her storytelling often centers on women navigating complex family relationships, personal flaws, and emotional growth, themes that appear across multiple projects in her career.
Corinne Kingsbury Age
Corinne Kingsbury is 45 years old as of 2026, born on July 11, 1981. Her zodiac sign is Cancer.
By the time she turned 37, she had already created two network television series in the same calendar year, a milestone that few writers in television reach in an entire career.
Corinne Kingsbury Ethnicity and Nationality
Corinne Kingsbury is American by nationality, born and raised in the United States. Her ethnicity is White.
Her career has been built entirely within the American television and film industry, and she resides in Los Angeles, California.
Corinne Kingsbury Height and Weight
Corinne Kingsbury stands at 5 feet 3 inches tall, which equals approximately 1.60 meters. Her weight is listed at around 58 kg, or approximately 128 pounds.
Her on-screen presence, from her brief acting appearances to her many public interviews as a showrunner, shows a composed and articulate figure in the entertainment world.
Corinne Kingsbury Education
Specific details about Corinne Kingsbury’s university education are not publicly confirmed across major sources. Her path into television writing followed the typical Hollywood trajectory of working her way up through staff writing rooms.
Her earliest notable writing credit came with The Newsroom on HBO, where she worked under Aaron Sorkin, one of the most respected writers in American television.
That training ground in a Sorkin writers’ room gave her direct exposure to high-pressure, dialogue-driven television production at the highest level.
Corinne Kingsbury Career
Early Career and The Newsroom
Kingsbury began her television writing career as a staff writer on The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin’s HBO drama that ran from 2012 to 2014. She served as a staff writer for two episodes in 2012 and then moved up to story editor for eight episodes in 2013.
Working in Sorkin’s writers’ room was a demanding but high-profile introduction to professional television writing.
The Newsroom, which starred Jeff Daniels, tackled the inner workings of a cable news operation and required its writing staff to juggle political content, fast-paced dialogue, and ensemble character dynamics simultaneously.
She also appeared briefly on camera during the show, playing a stripper in the Season 1 episode “Amen.”
After The Newsroom, Kingsbury took on a consulting producer role on the ESPN comedy series Sin City Saints in 2015. She also contributed writing to Back in the Game. These credits, though less prominent than her later work, built her producing experience before she created her own projects.
Breakthrough: Fam and In the Dark
2019 was the year Kingsbury moved from behind-the-scenes contributor to creator. She launched two original series on two different networks in the same season, an unusual achievement in American network television.
Fam premiered on CBS on January 10, 2019. The multi-camera sitcom starred Nina Dobrev as Clem, a young woman whose life is turned upside down when her troubled teenage half-sister Shannon moves in with her.
The cast also included Tone Bell, Odessa Adlon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Gary Cole, and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Kingsbury served as creator, showrunner, and executive producer.
The series drew from her own complicated family background, which she discussed openly in press interviews around the premiere. Fam ran for 13 episodes before CBS canceled it.
In the Dark premiered on The CW just months later, on April 4, 2019. The series followed Murphy Mason, a flawed, irreverent blind woman played by Perry Mattfeld, who becomes the only witness to the murder of her drug-dealing friend and sets out to solve the case herself.
The show also starred Rich Sommer, Brooke Markham, Casey Deidrick, Keston John, and Morgan Krantz.
Kingsbury created the series and served as executive producer alongside Ben Stiller, Nicky Weinstock, and Michael Showalter, who directed the pilot.
In the Dark ran for four full seasons on The CW, concluding on September 5, 2022. Kingsbury wrote or co-wrote 13 episodes across the run and served as creator on all 52 episodes.
The show was renewed multiple times, with Seasons 2, 3, and 4 premiering in 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively.
Recent Work and Film Writing
On the feature film side, Kingsbury rewrote The Lovebirds for Paramount Pictures. The 2020 romantic comedy, directed by Michael Showalter, starred Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae as a couple who stumble into a murder mystery.
The film was released on Netflix after its theatrical release was pulled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her early on-screen acting credits include a small role in the 2003 Todd Phillips comedy Old School. She also played a character named Frankie in the 2017 independent film It Happened in L.A., directed by Michelle Morgan. Both roles are brief, with Kingsbury’s primary focus remaining behind the camera.
The CW press biography for In the Dark also notes two additional unproduced projects in development: a script titled Blue Flame, set to be produced and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, and a feature titled 31 Days of Larry, set up at Lionsgate.
Corinne Kingsbury Filmography
- Old School (2003): film, actress
- The Newsroom (HBO, 2012-2013): staff writer, story editor
- Back in the Game (2013): writer
- Sin City Saints (2015): consulting producer
- Fam (CBS, 2019): creator, executive producer, showrunner
- In the Dark (The CW, 2019-2022): creator, executive producer, writer
- It Happened in L.A. (2017): actress
- The Lovebirds (Paramount, 2020): script rewriter
Corinne Kingsbury Awards and Recognition
Kingsbury has not publicly received major individual awards such as an Emmy or WGA Award, though her work on In the Dark and Fam put her among the more visible creators working in network drama and comedy during the 2019-2022 television cycle.
In 2012, her work on The Newsroom put her in one of HBO’s most closely watched writers’ rooms. Her dual-show launch in 2019 drew industry press attention as an uncommon feat in the network television landscape.
Corinne Kingsbury Husband
Corinne Kingsbury is married to John Francis Daley, the actor and filmmaker best known for playing Dr. Lance Sweets on the Fox crime drama Bones and Sam Weir on the NBC comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks. The two married on February 8, 2016.
They first began dating around 2012 or 2013. Their professional worlds have crossed directly: Daley directed an episode of In the Dark during its second season in 2020, and Kingsbury was mentioned in development materials connected to his collaboration with writing partner Jonathan Goldstein on the film Blue Flame.
Before her marriage to Daley, Kingsbury was married to actor Tate Donovan, known for his roles in The O.C. and Friends. The two married in 2005 and divorced in 2008.
Kingsbury and Daley live in Los Angeles together with their son.
Corinne Kingsbury Children
Corinne Kingsbury and John Francis Daley have one child together, a son. The CW’s official press bio for In the Dark noted that she resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son.
The couple keeps their child out of the public spotlight, and his name has not been publicly confirmed in major reliable sources.
Corinne Kingsbury Net Worth
Corinne Kingsbury’s estimated net worth is $5 million as of 2026. Her income comes from a career that spans acting, writing, and producing across film and television.
Her most substantial earnings come from her work as creator and executive producer on In the Dark, which ran for four seasons on The CW, and Fam, which she created and ran for CBS.
Executive producers on network television series typically earn significant per-episode fees in addition to backend payments. Her script rewrite work on The Lovebirds for Paramount Pictures adds a feature film credit to her income history.
Corinne Kingsbury Social Media
Corinne Kingsbury keeps a largely private profile on social media. Her IMDb profile remains the primary public source for her professional filmography and biography.
She does not maintain a verified public presence on Instagram or Twitter, and no confirmed social media handles are publicly available for her personal accounts.
The Bottom Line
Corinne Kingsbury created two network television series in a single year, with Fam on CBS and In the Dark on The CW both premiering in January and April of 2019, respectively. In the Dark went on to run for four seasons on The CW, concluding its run in September 2022 with 52 total episodes.
Her writing career began in one of television’s most demanding environments, the Aaron Sorkin writers’ room for The Newsroom on HBO.
She drew on her own family background to shape the central dynamics of Fam, and her storytelling consistently centers on female-led narratives in comedy and drama.
Kingsbury continues to develop new projects, including Blue Flame, which involves her husband John Francis Daley as director, and 31 Days of Larry, set up at Lionsgate.
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