Carina Adly Mackenzie Explained

Carina Adly Mackenzie is an American producer, young adult novelist, and screenwriter best known for creating the CW TV series Roswell, New Mexico.^[1]

Early life

Mackenzie grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and studied English at the University of Colorado at Boulder before moving to Los Angeles to become a writer.^[2]

Personal life

She's wanted to become a writer since she was six. Mackenzie has been interested in politics since she was thirteen years old.^[3] She likes cowboys and classic sci-fi.^[4]

Career

Before becoming a screenwriter, she was a television critic at Zap2it.com, the Los Angeles Times, and Teen Vogue, writing among other things about the American teen drama TV show Gossip Girl.

Mackenzie spent five years as staff writer on The Originals and also wrote for The Flash.

Eternal Night

She wrote a young adult novel for Paper Lantern Lit, a literary development company, called Eternal Night, about gods living in plain sight of humans and then disappearing, bringing chaos onto the world.^[5] It was published in August 2014.^[6]

Background

Mackenzie notes being frustrated in 2012, wanting to write a novel, but feeling that every publishing house, literary agent, and packaging company she spoke to about that topic was only interested in something like the 50 Shades series, which she personally wasn't interested in writing. An author friend; Rebecca Serle, whom she knew through her work as a television critic, recommended she approach PaperLantern Lit. She submitted a sample of her current work in progress, which led to the eventual creation of Eternal Night.^[7]

Roswell, New Mexico

Mackenzie created the show, a reboot of the original Roswell series that launched in 1999 and also included novels.

In July 2020, it was announced she would no longer be serving as executive producer and co-showrunner starting the third season of the series.^{[8] [9]}

We Were Liars

In January 2023, it was announced that Mackenzie will write the second episode of the new TV Series ordered by Amazon^[10] based on the young adult contemporary novel We Were Liars, an amnesia thriller set on a private island close to Massachusetts, written by E. Lockhart. Mackenzie will also be serving as executive producer along Julie Plec, Emily Cummins, and E. Lockhart.^[11]

Filmography

!Year!Project!Platform!Episodes!Screenwriter!Producer!Showrunner!Creator!Ref

2017	The Flash	The CW	1 episode	Yes	No	No	No
2014-2018	The Originals	The CW	36 episodes	Yes	No	No	No
2019-2022	Roswell, New Mexico	The CW	52 episodes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TBD	We Were Liars	Prime Video/Amazon		Yes	Yes	No	No

Notes and References

1. Web site: Carina Adly MacKenzie Writer, Producer, Additional Crew . 2024-01-11 . IMDb . en-US.
2. Web site: Lit . Paper Lantern . 2014-03-25 . Carina Adly MacKenzie’s Lucky Seven! . 2024-01-11 . Paper Lantern Lit . en.
3. Web site: Radish . Christina . 2019-01-16 . Roswell, New Mexico Creator on Making the Reboot Personal . 2024-01-11 . Collider . en.
4. Web site: Murray . Rebecca . 2019-01-14 . Roswell, New Mexico: Carina Adly MacKenzie Interview on the New Series . 2024-01-11 . ShowbizJunkies . en-US.
5. Web site: Eternal Night . 2024-01-11 . Goodreads . en.
6. Web site: Sellers . John A. . Paper Lantern Lit Gets Into E-Publishing . 2024-01-11 . PublishersWeekly.com . en.
7. Web site: Jaxon . Jenna . 2014-08-15 . Interview with Carina Adly MacKenzie . 2024-01-11 . Nicky Peacock - YA & Horror Author . en.
8. Web site: 2020-07-10 . ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ Creator Carina Adly MacKenzie Out as Co-Showrunner on CW Drama . 2024-01-11 . Yahoo Entertainment . en-US.
9. Web site: Sandberg . Bryn . 2020-07-10 . Carina Adly MacKenzie Out as ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ Showrunner (Exclusive) . 2024-01-11 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.
10. Web site: Otterson . Joe . 2023-03-21 . Amazon Orders ‘We Were Liars’ Series Adaptation From Julie Plec, Carina Adly MacKenzie . 2024-01-11 . Variety . en-US.
11. Web site: White . Peter . 2023-03-21 . ‘We Were Liars’ Series Adaptation From Julie Plec & Carina Adly MacKenzie Lands Series Order At Amazon . 2024-01-11 . Deadline . en-US.