Principals Linda Bloodworth-Thomason Linda Bloodworth is the writer/creator of Designing Women and Evening Shade, two of CBS Television's most successful comedy series.  She also created and served as Executive Producer, along with her husband, director Harry Thomason, on three other series, Hearts Afire, Women Of The House and Emeril.  She is currently in pre-production on the pilot of her new series for HBO called 12 Miles of Bad Road. A native of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Bloodworth graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Missouri and moved to Los Angeles to work for The Wall Street Journal in advertising.   She later worked for the legal newspaper The Los Angeles Daily Journal as a reporter covering the L.A. Superior Court.  She then turned to teaching, serving two years as an instructor of English Literature at Jordan High School in Watts, California, before embarking on her career as a freelance writer.  Her early credits include being the first woman writer on MASH (for which she was nominated for an Emmy), as well as episodes for One Day at a Time and Rhoda. Bloodworth is the first American writer in television history to write 35 consecutive episodes of a series. Married in 1983, Bloodworth and Thomason formed Mozark Productions for the development of quality entertainment.  The name of the company is derived from the combination of Missouri and Arkansas, their home states. Linda Bloodworth has received many awards, numerous Emmy and Writers Guild nominations, including notably several for the Designing Women episode, "Killing All the Right People" which was written for and dedicated to her mother who died of transfused AIDS.  Her shows have also received a number of civic and cultural awards which include the Nancy Susan Reynolds Award for Sexual Responsibility in the Media from the Center For Population Options; the Humanitarian Award from Funders Concerned About AIDS; the first Eleanor Roosevelt Freedom of Speech Award from Americans for Democratic Action; the Trend Setter Award from the National Health Council in honor of her dedication to women's health issues; and the National Silver Satellite Award for outstanding achievement in the field of broadcast communications from American Women In Radio and Television as well as numerous awards from the Viewers for Quality Television.  She has also been honored by the Women's Legal Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. for her contribution to the advancement of women and families. In 1990, Ladies Home Journal named Linda Bloodworth one of America's Fifty Most Powerful Women.  In July of 1992, Bloodworth produced the acclaimed documentary, The Man From Hope, which introduced Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in New York.  In 1993, Bloodworth and Thomason served as Co-chairs of the Presidential Inauguration.   In 1996, she directed and produced A Place Called America, which introduced President Clinton at the 1996 Democratic National Convention.  She also directed and produced the President's farewell film for the 2000 Democratic National Convention entitled Legacy. Linda released her debut novel, Liberating Paris, a national bestseller, from William Morrow in September of 2004.  She will soon direct her first feature film (which she also wrote) based on the award-winning documentary Southern Comfort about the lives of five transgendered people.  To honor her late mother, Bloodworth created The Claudia Foundation, which provides scholarships for qualified girls in Arkansas and Missouri who would otherwise not be able to attend college.  Bloodworth has donated over one million dollars to these scholarships, which have put 105 young women through colleges and universities across the country.  Harry Thomason A native of Hampton, Arkansas, Harry Thomason attended Southern Arkansas University and continued graduate studies in education at the University of Arkansas. A college scholarship athlete, Thomason was a football coach and art teacher in secondary schools for six years before he decided to pursue filmmaking as a career. He has produced award winning television movies including A SHINING SEASON and the mini-series THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.   He produced or directed several popular television series including THE FALL GUY.    In 1983 he married writer Linda Bloodworth and together they formed Mozark Productions.  She created and wrote and he produced and directed television series such as DESIGNING WOMEN, EVENING SHADE, HEARTS A’FIRE and many others. Thomason has been nominated for numerous awards including the Emmy (Designing Women), the Directors Guild award (Designing Women), the Christopher Award (A Shining Season) and The People’s Choice Award (The Blue and The Gray) He was nominated for the Writer’s Guild Best Documentary Screenplay for the critically acclaimed THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT.  He has also been awarded the National Women’s Political Caucus, GOOD GUY AWARD. In addition, he has been named as the Entertainment Publicists’ Guild as Man of the Year. Thomason was Strategic Director of the 1992 and 1996 Democratic Conventions. He and his wife Linda Bloodworth-Thomason were chairman of the 1993 Presidential Inauguration which he directed.  It became the first Inauguration in the history of the United States to make a profit. That profit  was used to help fund the 1997 Inaugural. Thomason also produced and directed the SUMMIT OF EIGHT, a gathering of the top world leaders, in Denver Colorado. Harry is currently involved in the series Linda has created for HBO, TWELVE MILES OF BAD ROAD.