Marion Dayre (born Heather Williams),[1] also known as Heather Marion, is an American television writer and producer. She is best known for her contributions to AMC's Better Call Saul (2015–2023) and as the creator and showrunner of the 2024 Disney+/Marvel miniseries Echo. For her work on Better Call Saul, she has been nominated for six Writers Guild of America Awards and awarded a Peabody Award.
Marion Dayre | |
|---|---|
| Born | Heather Williams |
| Other names | Heather Marion |
| Education | Concordia University Nebraska UCLA |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Notable work | Better Call Saul Echo |
Early life
editDayre grew up in rural Superior, Nebraska.[2] In an interview with Optimum Magazine, Istanbul Technical University's student magazine, Dayre shared, "I grew up in a funeral home in a 2,000-person town. My Dad, Uncle, and Grandpa are all funeral directors. In a small family business that means they do every job: from mowing to painting to sprinklers to driving the monument truck in the cemetery to handling floral arrangements to staffing funerals to the realer, more emotional stuff – moving with thousands of families through transformative experiences like grief and death and celebration of life. As early as grade school I started writing stories about birth and death and religion and spirituality and anatomy and miracles. I didn’t have words for it, but writing was one of my purest connections with higher power. Doing it for a living was the farthest thing from my mind."[3]
As a teenager, she enjoyed creative writing and attended screenwriting workshops at the home of Lew Hunter.[1] She attended Concordia University Nebraska and originally studied biochemistry, aspiring to be a mortician and join the family business or a pediatrician. During an exchange with Concordia College, she studied sketch comedy in New York City.[4] She graduated in 2005 with a BFA in English.[5][2] Her first writing job was as a railroad journalist.[2][5]
Career
editIn 2008, Dayre moved to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting.[5] She worked as an assistant to United States of Tara showrunner Jill Soloway and then as an assistant to actor Jeff Garlin, including on the sets Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Goldbergs. With Garlin, she associate produced his 2013 film Dealin' with Idiots.[4] Dayre also performed in sketch shows at Straitjacket Society and the Upright Citizens Brigade.[4]
Dayre received her MFA in screenwriting from UCLA in 2013.[2] With her original pilot script, Bury Me, based on her childhood in a funeral home, she took part in the 2014 Sundance Institute Writers Lab.[4]
Dayre's big break was the AMC series Better Call Saul, which she joined in its inaugural season as a writers' assistant and rose in rank to executive story editor and writer. For the first two seasons (2015–2016), she worked as a writer's assistant and then script coordinator. She wrote her first episode with Vince Gilligan, the second season finale "Klick".[6] Dayre would go on to write the episodes "Slip" (S3, E9), "Talk" (S4, E4), and "Dedicado a Max" (S5, E5). Dayre also functioned as the fourth season's story editor (2018) and as executive story editor for the fifth season (2020).
In 2021, it was announced Dayre would be head writer of the Disney+ miniseries Echo, the tenth television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[7] It is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and a spin-off from the 2021 series Hawkeye. The show was released in early 2024.
In February 2023, it was announced that Amazon would produce an animated television adaptation of the comic book Wytches, with co-showrunners Scott Snyder and Dayre.[8][9][3]
Dayre also teaches television series development at San Francisco State University.[10]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Dealin' with Idiots | Associate Producer |
Television
editEpisode credits (as writer)
edit| Year | Show | Season | Episode number | Episode title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Better Call Saul | 2 | 10 | "Klick" | Co-written with Vince Gilligan |
| 2017 | 3 | 8 | "Slip" | ||
| 2018 | 4 | 4 | "Talk" | ||
| 2019 | The Act | 1 | 6 | "A Whole New World" | |
| 2020 | Better Call Saul | 5 | 5 | "Dedicado a Max" | |
| 2022 | Shantaram | 1 | 6 | "Dead Man Walking" | |
| 2024 | Echo | 1 | 1 | "Chafa" | |
| 2 | "Lowak" | ||||
| 3 | "Tuklo" |
Production staff
edit| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Better Call Saul | Writers' assistant | Season 1 |
| 2016 | Writer's assistant, script coordinator | Season 2 | |
| 2017 | Staff writer | Season 3 | |
| 2018 | Story editor, staff writer | Season 4 | |
| 2020 | Executive story editor, staff writer | Season 5 | |
| 2022 | Shantaram | Producer | |
| 2024 | Echo | Head writer, executive producer | |
| TBA | Wytches | Co-showrunner |
Awards
edit| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominated work | Results | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Drama Series | Better Call Saul | Nominated | With writers | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Episodic Drama | Nominated | For episode "Klick" (with Vince Gilligan) | |||
| 2017 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Drama Series | Nominated | With writers | [11] | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Episodic Drama | Nominated | For episode "Slip" | |||
| 2018 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Drama Series | Nominated | With writers | [12] | |
| Peabody Awards | Entertainment honorees | Won | With writers | [13] | ||
| 2020 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Drama Series | Nominated | With writers |
References
edit- ^ a b c The Superior Express (October 16, 2023). "Hollywood screenwriter returns home". The Superior Express. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Outstanding Screenplays (August 28, 2021). "An interview with Better Call Saul writer MARION DAYRE". Outstanding Screenpl. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ a b "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Wieland, Mitch (October 31, 2017). "An Interview with Screenwriter Heather Marion". The Idaho Review. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Heather Marion, Class of 2005". Concordia University, Nebraska. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ John, Allen St. ""A Different Way Of Thinking" 'Better Call Saul' Writer Heather Marion On Chuck's Big Season Finale". Forbes. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Murphy, Charles (July 28, 2021). "'Better Call Saul' Writer Marion Dayre Set as Showrunner for Mystery Marvel Studios Series". Murphy's Multiverse. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (February 8, 2023). "Amazon Orders Animated Series Adaptation of Comic Book 'Wytches' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Writer, Graeme McMillan Staff (May 24, 2023). "Scott Snyder talks about a "more meaningful" animated Wytches adaptation". Popverse. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ "Marion Dayre | Department of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts (BECA)". beca.sfsu.edu. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia; McNary, Dave (February 20, 2017). "WGA Awards: 'Moonlight,' 'Arrival' Win for Best Screenplay, 'Atlanta' Wins Twice". Variety. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Marotta, Jenna (February 12, 2018). "2018 Writers Guild Awards: 'Get Out,' 'Call Me by Your Name,' and 'Jane' Win Film Honors". IndieWire. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ "'Handmaid's Tale,' 'American Vandal' win prestigious Peabody Awards". EW.com. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
External links
edit- Marion Dayre at IMDb