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Steven Canals (born September 14, 1980)[1][2] is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-creating and executive-producing the FX television show Pose.[2]
Canals grew up in the Housing Projects in Castle Hill, Bronx.[3] He began practicing filmmaking at the Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice after school program. He co-produced his first documentary about gang violence with other classmates when he was 15.[2][3][4]
Canals graduated with a BA in cinema and MA in student affairs from Binghamton University in 2005 and 2008 respectively.[5] Canals received his MFA in screenwriting from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2015.[3][5]
Prior to working in entertainment, Canals worked in university administration. He worked as an LGBT resource coordinator at SUNY-Cortland while completing his master's degree part time, where he was also residence hall director of Shea Hall and advisor to the university's gay-straight alliance for six years.[2][6][7] Allegheny College appointed Canals as associate director for gender and sexual orientation initiatives in June 2011.[6]
Canals was a staff writer on Freeform's Dead of Summer in 2016. His short film Afuera premiered at the LA Film Festival that same year.[8]
Canals developed the pilot script for television show Pose while studying at UCLA in 2014.[2][3] He was initially inspired by the story in Paris Is Burning.[9] He however found it difficult to get the script developed as industry executives found the subject matter about LGBT people of color and ball culture to be "too niche".[3][9][10] Ryan Murphy, co-creator of Glee and American Horror Story, would later come on as a producer in 2016, along with his producing partner Brad Falchuk.[3][11] The first season premiered in June 2018 on FX.[10] The show is noted to have the largest transgender cast in television history.[10][11]
He was named a "writer to watch" by Variety in 2018.[4]
Canals signed an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television in January 2020.[12]
He is of African American and Puerto Rican heritage.[3]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||
| 2016 | Dead of Summer | No | Yes | No | Co-wrote "The Devil Inside" with Richard Naing |
| 2018–2021 | Pose | Yes | Yes | Executive | Co-creator, directed 5 episodes and wrote 15 |
| 2022 | Love, Victor | Yes | No | No | Episode: "The Setup" |
| 2023 | Class of '09 | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
| Neon | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes | |
| 2024 | American Sports Story | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
| The Sex Lives of College Girls | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Halloween & Oat Milk" | |
| 2025 | Doctor Odyssey | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Spring Break" |
