Close-up: Josh Schwartz

At 26, Josh Schwartz created a teen sensation, The OC – "guilty pleasure" TV on both sides of the Atlantic. Five years on and Schwartz has turned his writerly gaze from California's jet-set to a group of New York prep-schoolers, with his latest cult hit, Gossip Girl.

An East-Coaster from Rhode Island, Schwartz studied film at the University of Southern California and admits that the geeky, witty Seth Cohen character in The OC was partly autobiographical. "Seth's outsider status and moderately sarcastic point of view rings true for a lot of people who go through life guarded by their wits," he says.

Schwartz hasn't always been able to rely on his own wit – he tried stand-up at college but says: "I thought I would enjoy it but you won't see me perform any time soon and comedy is better off for it."

So with comedy out of the equation and hit TV shows seemingly a breeze (he also has Chuck, a spy-spoof, running in the US), Schwartz is now looking beyond the small screen – his first feature film, Looking for Alaska, is in the pipeline – and finding inspiration in some unexpected places.

A big fan of British culture, Schwartz name-checked Shaun of the Dead in The OC and describes Life on Mars as a "clever show pulling off a tricky concept". He is also a close watcher of the work of Keira Knightley, though mostly, it transpires, for "aesthetic reasons".

Closer to home, Schwartz's earliest cultural influences range from "the golden age of teen cinema" (namely the work of John Hughes and Cameron Crowe) to the music of Huey Lewis. Seth Cohen would not be impressed.

'Gossip Girl' is on ITV2 at 10pm on Thursday