12/09 JOE CARNAHAN, STATE OF AFFAIRS

JOE CARNAHAN - Executive Producer, “State of Affairs”

Joe Carnahan serves as an executive producer on the NBC drama “State of Affairs.” He also directed the pilot episode.

Carnahan was born a storyteller. As a writer and director, he is known for seamlessly merging action and drama, creating an onscreen intensity that captures the audience.

Carnahan’s first feature film, “Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane,” which he wrote, directed, edited and starred, premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. The independent action-comedy would be the first in a long line of daring, original and smartly written films touching on loss, longing and morality.

Since, he has written and directed films that include the explosive crime drama “Narc,” a nominee for the best director Independent Spirit Award and a competition film at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; the cult classic “Smokin’ Aces”; the 2010 big-budget remake of the classic television series “The A-Team,” which grossed $200 million worldwide; and 2012’s “The Grey,” starring Liam Neeson and which The New York Times hailed as one of the top 10 films that year. Times film critic A.O. Scott described it as a “stripped-down, elemental tale of survival in brutal circumstances, as blunt and effective — and also, at times, as lyrical — as a tale by Jack London or Ernest Hemingway.”

Known for his innovative and character based action storytelling, Carnahan is currently riding a hot streak in television with multiple projects either on the air or being picked up. He wrote, directed the pilot and serves as executive producer on NBC’s hit “The Blacklist,” starring James Spader.

Carnahan is a successful commercial director, having launched his advertising career in 2002 with “The Hire: The Ticker,” which is part of BMW Films’ groundbreaking web series and stars Clive Owen, Don Cheadle, Ray Liotta and F. Murray Abraham. Since, he has directed commercials for brands including Honda, HSBC, Cadillac, Allstate, Coors and Nintendo.

Carnahan is known for his on-set DJ’ing and creating soundtracks for each of his characters. He owns a massive vinyl collection that includes the first album he ever purchased, the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever.”

“STATE OF AFFAIRS” - 10 p.m. Mondays 

Each day the president is faced with dozens of life-and-death decisions, and to prioritize the biggest international crises facing the country, one top CIA analyst — Charleston Tucker (Katherine Heigl, “Grey’s Anatomy”) — assembles the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB). This list of the most vital security issues facing the nation brings with it moral and political judgment calls for Charleston and her trusted group of brilliant analysts at the agency. Aside from the political minefields she has to walk, Charlie has a close personal relationship with President Constance Payton (Alfre Woodard, “Desperate Housewives”) because she was once engaged to her son before a tragic terrorist attack took his life. Charlie survived that attack and is now determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. Navigating a complex personal life and a pressure-cooker profession is, of course, a challenge, and Charlie sometimes engages in boundary-pushing behavior to avoid facing her grief. But when the clock strikes 2 a.m., she is all about her job — protecting her nation, serving her president and still trying to get to the bottom of her fiancé’s murder that will reveal itself as a shocking mystery.

The cast also includes Adam Kaufman, Sheila Vand, Cliff Chamberlain, Tommy Savas and David Harbour.

Writer-director Joe Carnahan (“The Blacklist”) serves as executive producer with Dario Scardapane, Katherine Heigl, Nancy Heigl, Robert Simonds, Sophie Watts, Henry Crumpton, Rodney Faraon and Julia Franz. “State of Affairs is a production of Universal Television, Bob Simonds Company and Abishag Productions.

Please visit the official show site at: http://www.nbc.com/State-of-affairs
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