Dan Erickson

This article is about the screenwriter. For the fictional Saw character, see List of Saw characters § Dan Erickson.

Daniel Earling Erickson (born January 26, 1984) is an American television screenwriter, showrunner, and producer. He is best known for creating the psychological thriller television series Severance, which premiered on the Apple TV+ streaming service in February 2022.^[1][2][3]

Dan Erickson
Born	Daniel Earling Erickson (1984-01-26) January 26, 1984 (age 41) Olympia, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	Western Washington University (BA) NYU Tisch School of the Arts (MFA)
Occupations	Television screenwriter producer showrunner
Years active	2004-present

Life and career

Erickson is from Olympia, Washington.^[1] His parents are Mark and Lynn Erickson, a lawyer and a teacher, respectively. He is a middle child, with an older brother named Matt and a younger sister named Hayley.^[4] Erickson has stated that he is very close with both siblings, and that they inspired characters on Severance.^[5]

Erickson attended Western Washington University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in English, and subsequently graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dramatic Writing for Television.^[6][7]

He wrote for Spike TV's Lip Sync Battle Pre-Show and worked in series development for the now-defunct entertainment company Super Deluxe.^[8]

In 2016, Erickson's pilot script for Severance was recognized by the Blood List.^[8][9] He later submitted the script as a writing sample to Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Productions, and Stiller produced the project.^[10][11] In 2019, Apple TV+ picked up Severance for a straight-to-series order with Endeavor Content serving as co-financer and producer.^[12] Season 1 of Severance premiered on February 18, 2022, on Apple's streaming service to acclaim.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]} Season 2 premiered on January 17, 2025. It also received acclaim, with an initial score of 100% on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes based on 43 critic reviews.^[20]

In September 2022, Erickson was included in the Time 100 Next list, which features "100 emerging leaders from around the world who are shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership".^[21] He and the writers of Severance won twice at the 2023 Writers Guild of America Awards, winning Best New Series and Best Drama Series.^[22]

Filmography

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Notes
2011	League of Wonder	Yes	No	Short film
2016–2018	Lip Sync Battle Preshow	Yes	No
2022–present	Severance	Yes	Yes	Creator, wrote 7 episodes, executive producer

Awards and honors

Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2022	Severance (for "The We We Are")	Best Writing in a Streaming Series	Won	[23]

Primetime Emmy Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	Outstanding Drama Series	Severance	Nominated	[24]
	Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for “The We We Are”)		Nominated
2025	Outstanding Drama Series	Severance	Pending
	Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for Cold Harbor)		Pending

Peabody Award

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2022	Peabody Awards	Entertainment	Severance	Won	[25]

Writers Guild of America Award

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	Best Drama Series	Severance	Won	[26]
	Best New Series		Won