Senter was born in Plato, Missouri, and his firstHollywood ambition was to become a Disney animator. After he sent his portfolio of drawings to Disney at the age of seventeen, the company called to tell him they were impressed but were not currently hiring, and he should resubmit in another six months. During those six months, he decided to pursue film directing, his other passion, and sent a collection of homemade films to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He was one of fifteen film students selected that year, and one of the only students to have not already graduated from college. Senter redirected his pursuit of directing to writing, working on spec scripts, both feature length and for television. He soon landed his first job on the iconic lesbian drama The L Word. He followed up that incredible experience with a position as a writer on the ABC drama series Desperate Housewives. He wrote six episodes spanning the series' first, second and third seasons, debuting with the episode "Goodbye for Now". He wrote many of Bree, Lynette and Mary Alice's storylines, for which he drew much inspiration from his own mother. In 2006 Senter was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for the episode "Don't Look at Me". In 2014 Joshua helped write and produce a new series for ABC Family called Chasing Life. Joshua's debut novel Daisies, about the evolution of love in America over the last 70 years, was released by Diversion Books on July 22, 2014. And in 2015 he began work as a writer and producer for the critically acclaimed MTV series Finding Carter. In 2015 Joshua was placed on the Tracking Board’s Young and Hungry List as one of the top 100 writer’s working in Hollywood. In 2016, 2017, and 2018 Josh wrote pilots for ABC, FOX, and NBC respectively. He recently completed work on his sophomore novel The Tightrope of Desire. And a Valentine’s Day movie he co-wrote for Freeform, called The Thing About Harry, will air in February of 2020.
Personal life
Senter grew up on a farm in Fort Leonard Wood near Plato, Missouri and was homeschooled with his four sisters by his mother Brenda. Before the age of thirteen, his parents' fundamental Christian beliefs did not allow him to watch or their family to own a television, so instead he spent his time alone drawing, painting, throwing pottery and sewing: "Being alone so much probably helped me become a better writer since it’s just you and the computer when you write," he says of his childhood. He recalls in particular his first viewing of Jurassic Park, which he says inspired him to become a filmmaker. Before heading for Hollywood, he and his youngest sister used his father's home video camera to make short films and music videos.
