Chapel Hill Native Now Writing for ABC’s “black-ish”

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Screen Shot 2016-05-03 at 2.56.02 PMHere’s what The Atlantic has said of ABC’s “black-ish,” which stars Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross and Laurence Fishburne: “What makes it exceptional is how it tackles cultural issues in a deceptively casual way, never sacrificing humor. The show’s explored guns, religion, health, class and the n-word, but it’s done so with irreverence and honesty.”

Lindsey Shockley, 34, is a graduate of East Chapel Hill High and a supervising producer on the show. She says passionate debates take place in the writers’ room.

“People get into real fights,” she says. “It gets personal because how could it not when we’re talking about issues that affect all of us, like gun control, or religious upbringing or racial slurs.”

Lindsey credits her hometown – and East Chapel Hill High’s improv group – with a lot of her success. “I can think of no better place to grow up than Chapel Hill,” she says. “There’s just something about Chapel Hill that makes you feel like anything’s possible. There’s a collective energy, an optimism that’s truly infectious. Everyone who lives there has a passion that they’re going after wholeheartedly. I definitely think the Chapel Hill can-do spirit allowed me to explore my love of comedy from a very early age. And it also didn’t hurt that I had really, really supportive parents.” Lindsey is the daughter of Bill and Linda Shockley, who still live in The Oaks.

Lindsey is married to another TV writer, Steven Edell, who is currently working on “The Art of More” on Crackle, Sony’s streaming channel. They have a 1-year-old daughter, Lucy.

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Andrea Griffith Cash

Andrea Cash is the former Senior VP of Content for Chapel Hill Magazine.
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