Rather underrated, Scott Frank is one of Hollywood’s unsung heroes, responsible for such underappreciated films as The Lookout (2007) and A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014). He wrote and directed both of those motion pictures, while some other screenplays by Scott Frank include those for Get Shorty (1995), Out of Sight (1998), Minority Report (2002), and Logan (2017).
Pretty impressive resume, and get this: Scott's resume in television gives his cinematic output a serious run for its money. He wrote one-off episodes of such shows as The Wonder Years and Fallen Angels in the nineties, and he directed one of the early episodes of Shameless (2011-2021).
What makes Scott Frank's television output so particularly impressive would be his credits as a showrunner, starting with a show called Godless. One of the finest westerns its medium's ever seen, it came out in 2017 as a Netflix exclusive, starting a long-lasting partnership between Frank and the popular streaming service.
Scott Frank's first work for Netflix
Originally conceived as a film, Godless revolves around protagonist Alice Fletcher, a widower who runs a ranch on the outskirts of La Belle while taking care of her stepmother Iyovi and teenage son Truckee. She finds a man named Roy Goode stowed away in her barn, this character revealed as a fugitive on the run from his former gang.
Thrilling plot points ensue, but on top of providing consistent action and mystery, Godless is also comedic. Poignant too, running the perfect gamut of emotion in each of its seven episodes.
Showing up as lead character Alice is famous actress Michelle Dockery, while Jack O'Connell appears as Roy the runaway outlaw. These two endearing leads develop a wonderful rapport as their characters traverse a compelling romantic subplot, one that takes a backseat to the looming threat of Roy's former gang closing in on La Belle.
On top of Dockery and O'Connell, such famous performers as Jeff Bridges and Scoot McNairy appear among the cast, a star-studded collection of actors who each garnered praise for their impressive work on Godless.
Even against their efforts, the star of Godless was showrunner Scott Frank, the touted Hollywood screenwriter. He wrote and directed all seven episodes, and while his western came up short with regard to household name value, its praise from critics rendered Scott Frank something of a commodity for Netflix. Over the following years, he'd become more of an asset.
Another critical darling with The Queen's Gambit
Thanks to The Queen's Gambit (2020), showrunner Scott Frank continued to garner acclaim for himself and a team of collaborators: talented editor Michelle Tesoro, underrated cinematographer Steven Meizler, and lauded composer Carlos Rafael Rivera. Each of those names were attached to the crew of Godless, reuniting with Frank for another Netflix miniseries here with The Queen's Gambit.
In terms of Frank collaborators: There are also such actors as Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who appears in The Queen's Gambit as supporting character Benny Watts, the reigning United States Chess Champion. He becomes a mentor and eventual love interest to Beth Harmon, the story's troubled protagonist who's played to a famous extent by Anya Taylor-Joy.
Harboring a longtime dream of becoming the world champion, Beth's relationship with chess represents her outward journey in this wonderful Scott Frank miniseries. The lead is an orphan, and what makes her journey all the more tragic is that she experiences the travails of addiction.
Compelling plot on paper, and one that flourishes thanks to a collection of wonderful performances in tandem with the wit of Scott Frank's well-written dialogue.
This is far and away the most famous television show that Frank has made for Netflix, and at this point, Godless had been attracting more attention through word of mouth. He was becoming an asset for the service, and while he made another show in Monsieur Spade (2024) for AMC in the interim, Scott Frank teamed back up with Netflix to create Dept. Q.
Scott Frank's most recent series for Netflix
Scott Frank's most recent Netflix contribution is a show called Dept. Q, the first season of which came out in 2025. It's based on the Department Q novel series as it was written by Jussi Adler-Olsen, revolving around a detective by the name of Carl Morck.
The lead returns to work after a near-death experience in which his colleague James was killed, these characters being played by Matthew Goode and Jamie Sives, respectively. Great performances from those two talented thespians, with other names in Dept. Q including Chloe Prince, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, and Kelly Macdonald.
Everyone performs to perfection in a consistently thrilling plot, one that proved resonant with critics just as it did with fans. Renewed for a second season just a few months after it aired, Dept. Q proved to be another critical hit for the Netflix-Frank collaboration.
Thanks to Godless in 2017 and The Queen's Gambit in 2020, showrunner Scott Frank became a recurring figure for Netflix, and here with Dept. Q, he stamped his place as the undisputed master of Netflix. Nobody has contributed more efforts to their exclusive lineup of shows, especially work that has reached the critical heights of Frank's impressive output.