Speaker Sharon Horgan

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Sharon Horgan

Co-Founder

Merman

Sharon Horgan is a dynamic, witty, and talented multihyphenate whose exceptional storytelling skills has brought her international recognition. She is an award-winning creator, writer, producer, and actor who portrays the experiences of strong, female-driven stories.    

Sharon is the writer, co-creator, executive producer, and star of the ten-part comedy thriller series Bad Sisters with Apple TV+, where she has an overall deal. The series, which premiered on August 18, follows a group of five sisters (the Garveys) and the promise they make to always protect each other after their parents’ premature death. The series stars Sharon alongside Eve Hewson, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Anne-Marie Duff, and Claes Bang. Bad Sisters is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% critic score and Time has called the series “wickedly funny” and “genuinely poignant.”  It has received 29 nominations, some of which include five Baftas, two Critics’ Choice Awards, two WGAs, and12 IFTAs.  She's currently in production on Season 2. 

Up next, she will star in the drama series, Best Interests, written by Jack Thorne. It is a story about a family driven to make choices no parent would ever want to make, as well as highlighting the troubled relationship the UK has with disability. The show will air next year on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Sharon stars opposite Michael Sheen who will play her husband.   

Sharon is best known for her multiple award-winning sitcom Catastrophe, which she co-wrote and starred in with Rob Delaney. She won the BAFTA TV Craft Award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series in 2016 and also gained three BAFTA nominations for her extraordinary performance in the show, alongside a Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. The final season of Catastrophe aired in January 2019 (UK) and in spring 2019 (USA).    

She is also the co-founder, alongside Clelia Mountford, of the TV and Film production company Merman. Under the Merman banner, it was just announced that ABC ordered to pilot Drop Off, the American adaptation of the award-winning British hit Motherland.  Ellie Kemper and Judy Greer will star in the pilot which is currently in production.  Sharon co-created Shining Vale, an eight-part horror comedy series starring Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear, which premiered on Starz and is currently in production on its third season. Sharon’s other credits for Merman include executive producing and starring in the animated comedy Housebroken on Fox, which stars Lisa Kudrow and was co-created by Clea Duvall, Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan. Season 2 just premiered in March 2023.  Sharon also executive produced Frank Of Ireland (Channel 4/Amazon) and co-wrote and executive produced the BAFTA winning Motherland on BBC. She was also an executive producer of  Frayed (Sky/ABC), There She Goes (BBC/Britbox) and  This Way Up (Ch4/Hulu), which she also starred in alongside creator Aisling Bea.    

Sharon’s further recognition includes the BAFTA TV Award for Best Short Form Programme (2018) for Morgana Robinson's Summer: Dreamland and an Outstanding Achievement Award for her debut short film The Week Before Christmas.  At the National Comedy Awards, Sharon was awarded the Caroline Ahearne Outstanding Achievement Award. She has also received two BAFTA Award nominations and two British Comedy Awards for her iconic BBC show Pulling which she co-wrote and starred in. She also wrote and directed an episode of Amazon’s anthology Modern Love, Rallying to Keep the Game Alive and starring Tina Fey and John Slattery.   

On the film side, Sharon can be seen most recently starring opposite Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent,  which is currently sitting on 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and was released in April. She also starred opposite James McAvoy in the Stephen Daldry directed film Together for BBC Two and BBC Film. In 2021, she took on the role of Miss Hedge in the BAFTA nominated feature film adaptation of the West End musical Everybdy's Talking About Jamie. She also starred alongside Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Kyle Chandler in the critical and commercial hit feature film GAME NIGHT. In 2020, she starred in Military Wives opposite Kristin Scott Thomas and the Irish comedy-drama film Dating Amber, for which she won an IFTA for Best Supporting Actress.   

Sharon’s further acting credits include Criminal Uk (Netflix), Bob's Burgers (Fox), Bojack Horseman (Netflix),  The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret (IFC),  Adventure Time (CARTOON NETWORK), Psycobitches (Sky Arts), The Borrowers (BBC), Free Agents (C4), Dead Boss (BBC) and Bad Sugar (C4), as well as the films Run and Jump,  Death of A Superhero, and Man Up. Sharon also voices Queen Dagmar in the Matt Groening Netflix series  Disenchantment.   

She currently resides in London with her two daughters.    

Speaking on: Rockies Gala (Van Horne Ballroom); Summit Series: Sharon Horgan, award-winning actress, writer, producer, director; co-founder, Merman

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