Liz Feldman

Photo by Netflix

“Being out has definitely helped me,” says Liz Feldman, who is both the creator as well as the executive producer for Netflix’s newest hit, “Dead to Me.” “When I began being myself fully and openly, my career started taking off,” she says. Starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as friends who meet at a grief group, “Dead to Me” been praised for its dark humor, as well as its spotlight on two strong, nuanced, female leads. “Since the show deals with universal themes like grief and loss, it seems to have resonated with a lot of people,” Feldman says. An outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights, Feldman is also well known as the host of “This Just Out,” a “gay positive” YouTube talk show featuring many LGBTQ artists that’s filmed at her own kitchen table. Feldman got her start in show-business doing stand-up comedy at the age of 16. Since then, the Second City alum has racked up television credits both as a writer and a producer. She wore both hats for “Hot in Cleveland,” “Two Broke Girls,” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (for which she won four Emmys). She also wrote for the 79th, 86th, and 87th Academy Awards and created the NBC sitcom “One Big Happy.” The most rewarding aspect of her work, she tells GO, is “getting to connect with a wide, international audience.” Further, she says, “My goal as a writer is to uplift, entertain and when possible, to heal people through the stories I tell.”—JDG