Alex Raiman
Alex Raiman was firstly Script Coordinator on The Magicians (Netflix/Syfy), then Writers’ Assistant. But then his spec feature caught the attention of the showrunner, and he was hired as a writer.
A writer and director, originally from New Jersey, Alex started out as a graduate in film/video from Penn State. With his writing partner Jay Gard, he moved to LA to work with the writer/director Joe Carnahan where he helped produce the feature Stretch (Netflix) and several television projects like Those Who Kill (A&E), The Blacklist (NBC), and State of Affairs (NBC) where he became Writers’ Assistant.
It was on The Magicians that he broke in as a writer, though. With Jay, he wrote a psychological drama based on an infamous suicide cliff in Australia, and The Magicians showrunners Sera Gamble (You) and John McNamara (Trumbo), quickly offered Alex and Jay the opportunity to write for the series. They wrote there for three years.
Alex has since developed projects from comedy to period and genre. In 2019, he sold an original dramedy called Group to Warner Bros TV based on his life experiences. In 2020, he created a scripted anthology series for TIME Studios based on their iconic Person of the Year brand, which they are currently developing with Likely Story and Sugar 23.
Recently, Alex and Jay were hired by Warner-Discovery to develop their brand strategy and create scripted content for the 2021 upfront presentation, working with talent including Leslie Odom Jr., Henry Winkler and Conan O’Brien. They have also partnered with Trumbo scribe and The Magicians showrunner John McNamara to develop an hour-long alien arrival series with an unexpected twist called The Ambassador.
In his spare time, Alex volunteers as a Crisis Intervention Counselor for the National Suicide Hotline. An avid animal-rights advocate, Alex has two dogs, both named after characters from Game of Thrones.
He is repped by Circle of Confusion and you can find him on Instagram at @alex.raiman.
Testimonials
Alex was wonderful. I can’t say enough about his notes – he went above and beyond in terms of detail, thought and comprehensiveness. Alex was very good at diagnosing the problems and giving the feedback clearly. I always felt like I understood what needs to be worked on and it wasn’t ambiguous. There were times I asked Alex for comps and examples and he went out of his way to provide them which was incredibly helpful. I’ve been writing features for a few years, but came into this cold on TV writing and I felt that the tools were very helpful for me to plot out my idea and see the areas that need more work. The process was manageable in that each week I was pushed to keep re-working / honing my idea and the lectures combined with the assignments were a good amount of focus for each week to make progress but not get overwhelmed.
Alex was the perfect balance of personable yet serious about helping us learn this craft. He presented the material in an entertaining and easily digestible manner and was generous with helping us with his industry experience. Students can tell when an instructor cares about them—Alex was invested in us and cared about our projects being the best they could be. He met each individual where they were at creatively, and guided each project uniquely. A big thank you to Alex!