John Marcum Wells (born May 28, 1956) is an American theater, film, and television writer, director, and producer. He is best known for his role as showrunner and executive producer of the television series ER, Third Watch, The West Wing, Southland, Shameless, Animal Kingdom, and American Woman. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California. Wells is also a labor leader, having served as president of the Writers Guild of America, West from 1999 to 2001 and from 2009 to 2011. Wells serves on the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) Board of Governors. In 2011, he developed the series Shameless on Showtime, which ran for eleven seasons ending in 2021. Early life Wells was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Marjorie Elizabeth (née Risberg) and Llewellyn Wallace Wells, Jr., an Episcopalian minister. He has English, Irish, Scottish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry. Wells graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 1979. A studio theatre at Carnegie Mellon University bears his name. While at CMU, he was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre, a prominent fixture of Pittsburgh theatre. Career Television Wells was a producer on the 1987 film Nice Girls Don't Explode. He joined the writing staff of the short-lived CBS drama series Shell Game in 1987. He began writing for television with an episode of CBS Summer Playhouse entitled "Roughhouse" in 1988. His company, John Wells Productions (originally John Wells & Friends), began a longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. in 1986, which was one of the most highly successful television producers in the world. China Beach He was hired as a producer for the second season of ABC drama series China Beach in 1988. The show was created by John Sacret Young and William Broyles, Jr. and focused on combat medics in the Vietnam War. Wells wrote five episodes for the second season and both parts of the two-part season finale "The World". He was promoted to supervising producer for the third season of China Beach in 1989. He wrote three further episodes for that season. He returned as a co-executive producer for the fourth and final season in 1990. He was involved in writing eleven episodes in season four, including the series finale. Wells wrote sixteen episodes of the series in total. He frequently worked with producer/director Mimi Leder on China Beach and she