Joy Gorman Wettels
Why the Executive Producer of 13 Reasons Why left Management to produce YA Content
Joy Gorman Wettels is a Partner at Anonymous Content, where her focus is “YI” content: Youth Impact, Intention & Inclusion.
Born in Yonkers, NY, she was raised by a single mother in a working-class family that sent her very mixed messages about the arts growing up. Her mom was obsessed with the arts and leisure section of the New York Times, which naturally piqued Joy's interest.
Her early years in entertainment were spent at Miramax Films and at her own management and production entity, where she sold the first pitches & scripts of now-longtime collaborators out of her apartment.
While at Barnard College of Columbia University, she sank her teeth into producing the 102nd Columbia Varsity Show, written by fellow students Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. Subsequently, she helped shepherd their Pulitzer & Tony-winning musical Next to Normal to Broadway for over a decade.
Having spent 14 years working closely with the legendary and late Steve Golin at Anonymous Content, Joy approaches filmmaking with the honesty, devotion tenacity he exemplified.
Joy executive-produced all four seasons of the hit Netflix/Paramount series 13 Reasons Why, created by Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright Brian Yorkey and directed by Oscar-winner Tom McCarthy of Spotlight. Released in 2017, 13 Reasons Why started a global conversation around teen suicide, bullying, and sexual violence. The first two seasons are still reported to be in the top ten most-watched Netflix series of all time.
Joy completed two seasons of Home Before Dark on Apple TV+, starring Brooklynn Prince & Jim Sturgess. Inspired by the life of 9-year-old journalist Hilde Lysiak, Gorman developed it from inception with Dana Fox, Dara Resnik, and Jon M. Chu.
She is currently producing a multi-part storytelling ecosystem for Warner Media inspired by Landmark Civil Rights docu-series Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground in partnership with Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors, Melina Matsoukas, Dawn Porter, and original producers Blackside.
The first installment, Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground, is now streaming on HBO Max alongside the original 1987 series with an all-new curriculum & study guide.
Joy is a delightful human who also embodies some of my favorite qualities in a producer: tenacious, persistent, approachable, and very Italian! :)
During this hour, we tackle whether faking it till you make it is good advice, how the death of Joy’s mother altered the course of her career, and the huge risk she took of leaving management behind while at Anonymous to produce.
Tune in!
xx cg
“There are different versions of what people call a producer… You’re an ally to the central voice of the project who makes sure that everyone has the space and resources to do their best work.”
- Joy Gorman Wettels
Episode Transcript
