Keli Goff
Born (1979-07-20) July 20, 1979
Houston, Texas, U.S.
EducationNYU (BA)
Columbia University (MS)
Occupation(s)Journalist, screenwriter
Years active2008-present
Awards2016 NAACP Image Award (Won), 2019 News & Documentary Emmys (Nominated-2)
Websitewww.keligoff.com

Keli Goff (born July 20, 1979) is an American producer, playwright, screenwriter and journalist. She is a contributor to various news outlets and has written for a number of popular television shows, including And Just Like That..., the reboot of the television series Sex and the City,[1] and Mayor of Kingstown.

She is a contributor and fill-in guest host for public radio's Left, Right & Center. In 2023, Goff began writing a column for The Hollywood Reporter interviewing political leaders about Hollywood.[2]

Early life

A native of Missouri City, Texas, Goff graduated from Elkins High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from New York University and a master's degree in strategic communications from Columbia University.

Early career as a journalist and author

Goff first came to prominence with the publication of her first book, Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence, which examined the perspectives and impact of younger voters and members of the Post Civil Rights Generation on the political process, with particular focus on the 2008 election. The book was notable for containing interviews with younger black voters as well as leaders like Colin Powell and Rev. Al Sharpton.[3] The book resulted in Goff becoming a regular presence on cable news (MSNBC, CNN, FOX) during the 2008 presidential election.[4] She also became a Contributor, covering major events of the election cycle such as the Democratic Convention and election night, on air for BET.[5]

Goff also became a blogger for The Huffington Post. She then became a regular Contributor or Correspondent for various outlets including The Root, The Washington Post blog, "She the People,"[6] and eventually The Daily Beast, where she remains a Contributor as of 2021.[7] Her writing was also published in a variety of magazines, including Time,[8] Essence and Cosmopolitan.

Her essay "Living the Dream" is featured in the collection The Speech: Race and Barack Obama's A More Perfect Union in 2009.[9]

In 2011 her first novel, The GQ Candidate, about a group of friends rocked by the decision of one of them to run for president, was published.[10]

Transition to playwriting, screenwriting and producing

In 2013 Goff began working on her first documentary, interviewing pro-life and pro-choice activists about the history of reproductive policy in America. That film would eventually become Reversing Roe, released on Netflix (along with a brief theatrical run) in September 2018. In 2019 Goff, along with directors/fellow producers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, would go on to be nominated for two News/Documentary Emmy Awards for their work on the film.

In 2014, Goff was named one of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group fellows.[11] She wrote her first full length play and performed readings of it at various theaters. Later, she had plays workshopped at Crossroads Theater and LAByrinth Theater Company.

In 2014, she was hired to work as a writer on the drama series Being Mary Jane, about a black female cable news anchor.[12] She won a 2016 NAACP Image Award for her writing for the series.[13]

In 2017, Goff began writing for The CW television series Black Lightning based on the DC Comics superhero.

In 2019, she served as a writer and producer for the television series Twenties, produced by Emmy winner Lena Waithe.

Recent career

In 2016, she hosted Political Party, a series of specials covering the 2016 election for NPR affiliate, WNYC.[14]

From 2019 to 2021, Goff's columns, articles, and essays have appeared in The Guardian, Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, The Nation and Town & Country.

In 2020, Goff served as a writer and producer on Joe vs. Carole, the miniseries inspired by The Tiger King, starring Kate McKinnon.

In 2021, Center Stage in Baltimore produced (via streaming, due to the pandemic) Goff's play, The Glorious World of Crowns, Kinks & Curls a collection of scenes and monologues about the relationship between black women and their hair.[15]

In 2021, Goff was also announced as a writer and producer on And Just Like That..., the reboot of the series, Sex and the City. Goff worked as a co-executive producer on the second season of the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown.

During winter 2023, she was an artist-in-residence at Yaddo.

Goff and her work have been covered in publications such as USA Today, Politico and Vanity Fair. Early in her journalism career Goff made hundreds of TV appearances on MSNBC, FOX News Channel, CNN and the BBC among others, and even appeared in a cameo as a political pundit on Being Mary Jane before becoming a writer for the show. During a May 2021 appearance as a storyteller at The Moth, Goff disclosed that she prefers screenwriting and appearing on radio versus appearing on television, because she did not enjoy the overemphasis on her appearance, including her hair, during her TV career. (She also touched upon this in an April 2021 piece for Vogue.[16]). An October 9, 2020 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher[17] marked a rare on camera appearance for Goff, though she continues to appear on air as a Contributor to various NPR affiliates, including KCRW's Left, Right & Center where she also serves as an occasional guest host.

Though best known for covering politics, Goff has written about fashion for various publications including New York magazine [18] and Town & Country. She is known for her interest in vintage clothing, particularly pieces by historically significant designers of color. A 2023 profile in The Hollywood Reporter[19] noted Goff's emergence as a major collector of vintage clothing and African American fashion memorabilia, with pieces by Ann Lowe, the designer of Jackie Kennedy's famed wedding gown, and Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave turned dressmaker for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, represented among her extensive collection. Some pieces from Goff's vintage collection are housed at the Fashion Institute of Technology as well as the Texas Fashion Collection.[20]

Goff is also known for her devotion to using a Blackberry, which she has referenced in interviews and on social media.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Sex and the City Revival Assembles Writers Room". www.variety.com. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Senator Tammy Duckworth on Hollywood Touchstones and Oscar Favorites". www.hollywoodreporter.com. March 10, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ Goff, Keli (February 26, 2008). Party Crashing: How the Hip-hop Generation Declared Political Independence. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465003327.
  4. ↑ "Journalist".
  5. ↑ "BET News Provides Extensive, Up-to-the-Minute Election Coverage". www.betpressroom.com. October 31, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  6. ↑ Goff, Keli (November 30, 2021) [2013-07-24]. "The not so 'Good Wife'". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  7. ↑ Daily Beast bio
  8. ↑ Goff, Keli (August 4, 2009). "Fond Farwells: Naomi Sims". Time. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  9. ↑ Denean Sharpley-Whiting, T. (August 18, 2009). The Speech: Race and Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union". Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1596916678.
  10. ↑ "GQ Candidate Launch Party Campaigns in The West Village". www.observer.com. July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  11. ↑ "The Root's Keli Goff Named New Emerging Playwright". www.theroot.com. January 1, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Keli Goff Leaves The Root to Join the Writing Staff of BET's Being Mary Jane". The Root. September 3, 2014. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  13. ↑ "NAACP Image Awards: The Complete Winners List". www.billboard.com. February 6, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Political Party with Keli Goff".
  15. ↑ "How Keli Goff's Latest Venture Normalizes The Glorious World Of Crowns, Kinks, And Curls". www.essence.com. April 14, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  16. ↑ Goff, Keli (April 13, 2021). "How My Hair Drove Me From Cable News to My Dream Career". Vogue. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Guest Lists: October 9, 2020". October 7, 2020.
  18. ↑ Goff, Keli (July 10, 2013). "The First Black Supermodel, Whom History Forgot". Vogue. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Black Fashion History, in a TV Writer's Closet". www.hollywoodreporter.com. December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Texas Fashion Collection". May 18, 2023.
  21. ↑ @keligoff (February 21, 2019). "Almost never take or share solo selfies but mom reminded me I wore a @KarlLagerfeld piece to @studiomuseum gala onc…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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