Julie Plec

As the co-creator and executive producer of "The Vampire Diaries" (The CW, 2009-17), Julie Plec turned a tale of supernatural romance into one of the most addictive and action-packed shows on television. Before hitting paydirt, she initially rose up the ranks in Hollywood after working alongside renowned master of horror Wes Craven and in the process, met his protégée Kevin Williamson.

Plec and Williamson formed a lifelong friendship and professional partnership that resulted in developing the fantasy TV drama based on author L.J. Smith's series of young adult books. "The Vampire Diaries" premiered in 2009 at the peak of the "Twilight" craze and quickly gained a cult following for its epic storytelling, gothic romance, and impossibly good-looking and talented cast. In a field once dominated by men, Plec delivered a series with consistently stellar ratings for the network and established her career as a Hollywood power player with a strong and loyal fan base all her own.

Plec grew up watching soap operas with her cousin, even religiously taping daily episodes of "General Hospital" (ABC, 1963- ) from the age of nine. Over time, her viewing taste expanded to other primetime dramas, including the ones produced by her influences Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, such as with their "My So-Called Life" (ABC, 1994-95), and David E. Kelley. One of Plec's closest college friends was Greg Berlanti, whom she worked with while he wrote for the popular teen drama "Dawson's Creek" (The WB, 1998-2003).

Early on in her career, Plec worked as associate producer on Craven's hit feature film sequels "Scream 2" (1997) and "Scream 3" (2000), both of which were written by her future collaborator Kevin Williamson. In 2006, she eventually made her foray into writing for the small screen when she was hired as a writer on the mystery drama "Kyle XY" (ABC Family, 2006-09), a series that starred Matt Dallas as a young man who awakens in a forest with no recollection of his past. Although the series only lasted three seasons, but was ABC Family's highest-rated show for two years in a row.

In 2009, Plec and Williamson co-created and co-executive produced an even bigger fan favorite, "The Vampire Diaries," which was based on the novel series of the same name by L.J. Smith. Set in the fictional small town of Mystic Falls, VA, The CW staple focused on the love triangle between a beautiful teenager named Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and vampire siblings Stefan and Damon Salvatore (Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, respectively). "The Vampire Diaries" also featured a colorful array of characters, both human and supernatural, and won over viewers with its perfect balance of romance, intrigue, action and horror.

The show not only made stars out of its three leads and continued to dominate the ratings and social media - "TVD" often led trending topics on Twitter around the world - but also turned Plec into one of the most sought after television executives, even finding herself on The Hollywood Reporter's annual list of the Top 50 Showrunners in 2012.

In 2013, fans rejoiced after hearing news that Plec was creating a spin-off series titled "The Originals," based on the original vampire clan (Joseph Morgan, Claire Holt, Daniel Gilles, etc.) heavily featured on "The Vampire Diaries." That same year, The CW announced plans to revive "The Tomorrow People," based on the 1970s British sci-fi series (ITV, 1973-79) about humans with telekinetic and telepathic abilities. The planned reboot would reunite Plec with longtime pal Greg Berlanti, her co-executive producer.

By Candy Cuenco