The Closer. Fairly Legal. Saving Grace. Century City. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. If this reads like a laundry list of your favorite TV shows, you’re likely a fan of Roger Wolfson’s fast-paced, sharp, and witty writing style.
With an American writing career spanning law, politics, entertainment and public service, Wolfson’s words have been a powerful force in society for more than 20 years. His rise to prominence has spanned a wide range of fields and specialties.
Roger Wolfson’s Diverse and Dynamic Career
While perhaps best known for his incisive writing for the TV world, Roger Wolfson has a great deal of other professional accomplishments to his name. You can find just a few listed below.
- Political Writer and Consultant
- Animal Rights Activist
- Lawyer
- Entertainer and Thought Leader
- Speechwriter and Guest Speaker
- Columnist/Journalist
- Mentor
- Television Writer
Boasting a career that spans politics, social issues, entertainment and law, Roger Wolfson earned early accolades as a TV writer, penning the first episode of Century City, starring Viola Davis, to air after the series pilot. With five television series under his belt, Wolfson has enjoyed tremendous success writing quick, smart, and sophisticated dialogue for the intelligent and often powerful characters who populate his fictional worlds.
While showing an early interest in both writing and political science, Wolfson earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from Vassar with highest academic honors, followed later by both a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University. This well-rounded academic approach, when paired with Wolfson’s unique work experience, serves to shape his perspective on many facets of American cultural life.
Roger Wolfson’s Career Accomplishments
Now we’ll take a deeper dive into the many accomplishments Roger Wolfson has amassed during his illustrious career.
Political Writer and Consultant
Wolfson honed his point of view on government and politics early on, providing staff support for four different U.S. senators and providing speechwriting and legislative counsel for political candidates from liberal, moderate and conservative backgrounds. By the time he left the political world at age 32, Wolfson had served as a staff member for Senator John Kerry, Senator Paul Wellstone, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Senator Lieberman. He also held bragging rights as Senator Kerry’s youngest-ever legislative assistant and his first-ever speechwriter.
As part of his legislative duties, Wolfson helped Senator Kerry write Congress’ first bill to outlaw Teflon-coated bullets, known colloquially as cop-killer bullets. He also helped pen amendments to major pieces of legislation, including the Health Care Reform Act and the Welfare Reform Act. His tenure also included work as a member of Senator Kennedy’s labor committee staff and serving as chief education counsel for Senator Wellstone.
Wolfson’s political influence has extended beyond his time of official service. In 2016 he founded the Writers Action Group, which is comprised of talented writers from both entertainment and politics who put the power of their words behind progressive political candidates, as well as progressive business causes and organizations who are seeking to create meaningful change. The Writers Action Group, since its inception, has helped more than 80 percent of its candidates win office.
Animal Rights Activist
Though perhaps a lesser-known component of hiss professional portfolio, Wolfson has been a vocal advocate for animal rights for some time. Most recently, Wolfson served as commissioner for Los Angeles Animal Services from 2012 to early 2020. In this volunteer capacity, he oversaw animal welfare-oriented programs within the city, including the Los Angeles animal shelter system, the largest in the nation.
Columnist/Journalist
Consistent with his desire to encourage access to important cultural and political information, Wolfson once served as vice president of Channel One News, a daily news show designed for high school students and their teachers. At the time of his tenure with Channel One, it was viewed daily by roughly one third of all American high school students.
Roger Wolfson’s regular column in The Huffington Post was, for years, a regular highlight as the popular website gained traction and notoriety for its unique take on news and politics. Wolfson regularly shared his unique perspective as a thought leader through this column and become one of the Post’s most popular voices.
Lawyer
Wolfson earned a juris doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as editor of the University of Pennsylvania Comparative Labor Law Journal. He also has served as a practicing attorney for the largest labor law firm in the world, Littler, Mendelson; and as a lawyer for a firm founded by his mother in partnership with Senator Joe Lieberman. Wolfson currently holds membership in the bar associations of Washington, D.C., Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court and New York. Wolfson’s particular areas of expertise include criminal justice and civil rights, themes often seen in his other work.
Speechwriter and Guest Speaker
Throughout his career, Wolfson has created enduring words for U.S. senators, political candidates, CEOs and other public figures. With projects ranging from campaign speeches to TED talks, fundraising proposals and more, Wolfson has established himself as a writer whose passion for public issues gives his words lasting power and influence. Wolfson has written for political candidates at every level of government and also for heads of foreign nations. And his writing doesn’t stop at speeches—he also has written policy announcements and participated in the crafting of legislation, including the Health Care Reform Act and the Welfare Reform Act.
As far back as his early days in politics, Wolfson was recognized as both a talented writer and gifted speaker, even serving as a surrogate speaker for Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign. Since then, Wolfson has delivered countless speeches on topics including public policy and politics, entertainment, religion and spirituality, and law and mediation. He also is a highly sought motivational speaker.
Wolfson is often sought for his perspective on a wide range of issues that fall within his expertise. He has appeared as a subject matter expert on AirAmerica, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC, along with providing engaging speeches to major organizations, think tanks, unions and bar associations across the country. You can also read Wolfson’s social commentary on the Roger Wolfson Twitter account.
Writing Instructor
Wolfson often shares his talent and expertise with aspiring writers. Both through his roles as an adjunct professor and through the mentoring of individual writing students. He is especially committed to the Los Angeles community and to the television field, but his expertise isn’t limited to TV writing.
While he’s committed to helping aspiring writers find their authentic voices and deliver spec scripts, pilots, pitches and features that rival the best in Hollywood, Wolfson also offers his expert commentary and professional coaching for writers of nonfiction, novels and short stories. His sessions are known for helping writers move away from bad habits, refine a standout story and, ultimately, deliver a commercially viable product.
Entertainer and Thought Leader
Displaying a natural penchant for showmanship, Wolfson began offering salons, concerts and other performances from a 42-foot catamaran on which he lived after sailing from New York to Los Angeles in 2003. These events were held openly for the Los Angeles community, live from the catamaran, until their move to Wolfson’s new home amphitheater in 2011, where they continued until 2013. At that point, demand grew too great. The guest list for Wolfson’s home has since been dramatically reduced, though some performances take place at alternative venues across Los Angeles.
The subject matter of these discussions and performances reflects Wolfson’s broad taste and expertise, featuring topics like campaign finance reform, handwriting analysis, philosophy of the mind, jazz, Shakespeare, documentary filmmaking and countless others. Besides offering his own commentary, Wolfson also has invited speakers including LA City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, documentarian Robert Greenwald, United States Senators Maria Cantwell and Mark Dayton, and former District Attorney Gil Garcetti. Some gatherings even have included full performances of Shakespearean plays or screenings of new documentary films.
Anyone interested in hosting, performing at or attending one of these cultural gatherings are welcome to complete the contact form on Wolfson’s website for consideration.
Television Writer
Wolfson has not only written for five well-known television series, but he’s also sold to studios eight original series of his own. To say he’s a great writer and storyteller would be an understatement.
Starting with Century City, Wolfson also lent his talents to the writing teams of tv series that include Law & Order: SVU, The Closer, Saving Grace and Fairly Legal. One of his episodes for The Closer helped lead Kyra Sedgewick to her first-ever Emmy nomination.
Wolfson also is a graduate of the renowned showrunners’ training program facilitated by the Writers Guild of America, in partnership with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. He currently serves as showrunner for a television show about the U.S. embassy in Rome, which airs on Crackle. Find out more about Wolfson’s screenwriter career on Roger Wolfson’s LinkedIn profile.
Roger Wolfson: A Man of Many Words and Talents
Roger Wolfson has built a long and illustrious career around the power and worth of words; few of his peers can boast the level of involvement in both politics and entertainment that Wolfson brings to any project. With his passion and enthusiasm for law, politics, entertainment and public service, Wolfson has made a tremendous mark on American society, helping facilitate valuable discussion of society’s most urgent issues. If there’s one thing Wolfson has proven time and time again, words really do matter.