SU Alumna Continues Long Run As Executive with 'Criminal Minds'

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University alumna Erica (Cramer) Messer ’95 has made a lasting mark on Hollywood, continuing her success with the hit television series Criminal Minds.

Messer has been part of the show since early in its run, which began in 2005, and has held many roles, now listed as an executive producer, showrunner and writer for the show during its return to television on the Paramount+ network.

The program went off the air from its original home on CBS in 2019, but returned to the Paramount Network’s streaming service with new episodes in 2022.

Messer first connected with Criminal Minds when she wrote the third episode of the second season, titled “The Perfect Storm.” She has writing credits for 52 episodes of the series’ run.

Classes during her time as a communication student at SU help flame her passion for the medium.

“I enjoyed every step of it,” she said. “I loved writing, directing, editing - I was truly happiest when I was involved in a project like that.”

While she has been connected to Criminal Minds over the long run, she also has been attached to a few other projects, including as executive producer of 2018’s The Biggest Little Farm, a feature-length documentary, and Triage, a pilot for a television medical drama.

The Biggest Little Farm won best documentary awards at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, Gasparilla International Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival and more.

Before Criminal Minds, Messer wrote episodes of Alias and Charmed. The Ocean City-area native was also a writer for FOX’s The O.C.

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