Female screenwriters: 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
A list of female screenwriters who wrote screen plays in 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s
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Raised in Texas and Kentucky by her doctor father and mother. Went to Purdue University to study landscape architecture but switched to drama. Moved to Nashville after college to be with her family before heading to Los Angeles in 1982 to study at the Strasburg Institute. Worked for a commercials production company as a receptionist before taking a position with them as a music video production assistant. While working at the office, she began work on what would eventually become Thelma & Louise (1991), writing the script in longhand at home and then retyping it on the job.- Writer
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Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, and a BA, with a painting major, at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979, she began filmmaking in the early 1980s, attending the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Her first short film, Peel (1982) won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986. Her other short films include A Girl's Own Story (1984), Passionless Moments (1983), After Hours (1985) and the tele-feature 2 Friends (1986), all of which won Australian and international awards. She co-wrote and directed her first feature film, Sweetie (1989), which won the Georges Sadoul prize in 1989 for Best Foreign Film, as well as the LA Film Critics' New Generation Award in 1990, the American Independant Spirit Award for Best Foreign Feature, and the Australian Critics' Award for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress. She followed this with An Angel at My Table (1990), a dramatization based on the autobiographies of Janet Frame which won some seven prizes, including the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1990. It was also awarded prizes at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals, again winning the American Independent Spirit Award, and was voted the most popular film at the 1990 Sydney Film Festival. The Piano (1993) won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, making her the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. She also captured an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1993 Oscars, while also being nominated for Best Director.- Writer
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Amy Heckerling studied Film and TV at New York University and got a Masters Degree in Film from The American Film Institute. Despite this education she couldn't get a break in Hollywood. However, in 1982, she made Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and people started to take notice. In 1985, while Amy was pregnant, she got the idea for Look Who's Talking (1989). In 1994, Amy wrote Clueless (1995). Amy is a liberal and also an environmentalist and helps environmental charities whenever she can.- Writer
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Nora Ephron was educated at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. She was an acclaimed essayist (Crazy Salad 1975), novelist (Heartburn 1983), and had written screenplays for several popular films, all featuring strong female characters, such as anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood (Silkwood (1983), co-written with Alice Arlen) and a mobster's feisty independent daughter Cookie Voltecki (Cookie (1989), also co-written with Arlen). Ephron's hard-headed sensibilities helped make Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally... (1989) a clear-eyed view of modern romance, and she earned an Oscar nomination for her original screenplay.
Ephron made her directorial debut with the comedy This Is My Life (1992), co-scripted by her sister Delia Ephron, which starred Julie Kavner as a single mother who struggles to establish herself as a stand-up comedienne. Ephron followed up by helming and co-writing Sleepless in Seattle (1993), a romantic comedy in which lovers Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are separated for most of the film. Less about love than about love in the movies, the film drew inspiration from the beloved shipboard romance An Affair to Remember (1957), starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.
Ephron was born in New York City, the daughter of stage and screen writing team Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron, who used her infancy as the subject of their play "Three's a Family" and based their comedy Take Her, She's Mine (1963) on letters their daughter wrote them from college. Their screenplays include There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), Carousel (1956) and Desk Set (1957). Formerly married to novelist Dan Greenburg and investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, Ephron was wed to crime journalist and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, at the time of her passing, who wrote such films as Goodfellas (1990). She was of Russian Jewish descent.- Writer
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Delia Ephron is a bestselling author, screenwriter, and playwright. Her movies include You've Got Mail (1998), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), Hanging Up (2000) (based on her novel), and Michael (1996). She has written novels for adults and teenagers, books of humor, including "How to Eat Like a Child", and essays. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, O the Oprah Magazine, Vogue and MORE, and The Huffington Post. Recently, she collaborated with her sister, Nora Ephron on a play, "Love, Loss, and What I Wore", which ran for two years off-Broadway, and has been performed in cities across the US as well as in cities around the world, including Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney.- Writer
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Karen McCullah is known for The House Bunny (2008), The Ugly Truth (2009) and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).- Writer
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Kirsten Smith was born on 12 August 1970 in Contra Costa County, California, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Trinkets (2019), The House Bunny (2008) and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).- Director
- Actress
- Writer
Sofia Coppola was born on May 14, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA as Sofia Carmina Coppola. She is a director, known for Somewhere (2010), Lost in Translation (2003), and Marie Antoinette (2006). She has been married to Thomas Mars since August 27, 2011. They have two daughters, Romy and Cosima. She was previously married to Spike Jonze.- Writer
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Olivia Hetreed is known for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022), Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) and Wuthering Heights (2011).- Writer
- Actress
Deborah Moggach was born on 28 June 1948. She is a writer and actress, known for Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and Tulip Fever (2017).- Producer
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Aline Brosh McKenna was born on 2 August 1967 in France. She is a producer and writer, known for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015), The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and Your Place or Mine (2023). She is married to Will McKenna. They have two children.- Music Artist
- Actress
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The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops re-inventing herself, Madonna has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide. Her film career, however, is another story. Her performances have consistently drawn scathing or laughable reviews from film critics, and the films have usually had tepid, if any, success at the box office. Born Madonna Louise Ciccone in August 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York in 1978 and studied with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey, joined up with the Patrick Hernandez Revue, formed a pop/dance band called Breakfast Club and began working with then-boyfriend Stephen Bray on recording several disco-oriented songs. New York producer/D.J. Mark Kamins passed her demo tapes to Sire Records in early 1982 and the rest is history. The 1980s was Madonna's boom decade, and she dominated the music charts with a succession of multimillion-selling albums, and her musical and fashion influence on young women was felt around the globe. Madonna first appeared on screen in two low-budget films marketed to an adolescent audience: A Certain Sacrifice (1979) and Vision Quest (1985). However, she scored a minor cult hit with Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) starring alongside spunky Rosanna Arquette. Madonna's next effort with then husband Sean Penn, Shanghai Surprise (1986), was savaged by critics, although the resilient star managed to somewhat improve her standing with her next two films, the offbeat Who's That Girl (1987) (although she did receive decidedly mixed reviews, they weren't as negative as those of her previous effort) and the quirky Damon Runyon-inspired Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989). The big-budget and star-filled Dick Tracy (1990) had her playing bad girl "Breathless Mahoney" flirting with Warren Beatty, but the epic failed to catch fire at the box office. Taking an earthier role, Madonna was much more entertaining alongside Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in A League of Their Own (1992), a story about female baseball players during W.W.II. However, she again drew the wrath of critics with the sexy whodunit Body of Evidence (1992). Several other minor screen roles followed, then Madonna starred as Eva Perón in Evita (1996), a fairly well received screen adaptation of the hugely successful Broadway musical, for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Material Girl stayed away from the movie cameras for several years, returning to co-star in the lukewarm romantic comedy The Next Best Thing (2000), followed by the painful Swept Away (2002). If those films weren't bad enough, she was woefully miscast as a vampish fencing instructor in the James Bond adventure Die Another Day (2002). After finally admitting that her acting days were over, Madonna began a directing career in 2008 with the barely remembered Filth and Wisdom (2008) and a year later she reunited with Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) director Alek Keshishian to develop a script about the relationship between the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess of Windsor that led to his abdication in 1936: the result, a movie named W.E. (2011), starring James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough as the infernal but still royal couple, was released in 2011 to lukewarm critics but it gathered one Oscar nomination for costumes and won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Masterpiece".- Writer
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Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and novelist, author of the bestselling series The Underland Chronicles and the wildly successful Hunger Games trilogy that spawned the Lionsgate film The Hunger Games (2012) and the three subsequently announced sequels, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015). Born in Hartford, Connecticut on August 10, 1962, Collins is the daughter of a U.S. Air Force officer and was a successful television writer before turning her talents to writing novels. Currently residing in Sandy Hook, Connecticut with her husband and their two children, Suzanne Collins is Amazon.com's best-selling author of all time.
Collins began her television writing career in 1991 after earning a degree from Indiana University with a double major in drama and telecommunications. She worked on a number of television productions for Nickelodeon such as Clarissa Explains It All (1991), Little Bear (1995) and Oswald (2001). She was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for her work in co-writing Santa, Baby! (2001), a well-received animated Christmas special. Said to be inspired in part by Alice in Wonderland, Collins' first book for middle schoolers, Gregor the Overlander (2003), was nominated for a Nutmeg Children's Book Award. Between 2003 and 2007, Collins added 4 more titles to the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles series before turning her attention to Katniss Everdeen and The Hunger Games.
One of the most successful written works in history, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy has found an audience with readers of all ages - publisher Scholastic announced there were over 50 million Hunger Games books in print by the time the first film was released in 2012. The first Hunger Games film, The Hunger Games (2012) was adapted for the screen by director Gary Ross and Collins herself, and starred Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. The second film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) is scheduled for release in late 2013 and the third novel of the trilogy will be split into two films: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), scheduled to be released in 2014 and 2015 respectively.- Writer
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Jojo Moyes was born on 4 August 1969 in London, England, UK. She is a writer and producer, known for Me Before You (2016), The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021) and The Giver of Stars.- Actress
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Greta Gerwig is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and director. She has collaborated with Noah Baumbach on several films, including Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination, and Mistress America (2015). Gerwig made her solo directorial debut with the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Lady Bird (2017), which she also wrote, and has also had starring roles in the films Damsels in Distress (2011), Jackie (2016), and 20th Century Women (2016).
Greta Celeste Gerwig was born in Sacramento, California, to Christine Gerwig (née Sauer), a nurse, and Gordon Gerwig, a financial consultant and computer programmer. She has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Gerwig was raised as a Unitarian Universalist, but also attended an all-girls Catholic school. She has described herself as "an intense child". With an early interest in dance, she intended to get a degree in musical theatre in New York. She graduated from Barnard College in NY, where she studied English and philosophy, instead. Originally intending to become a playwright, after meeting young film director Joe Swanberg, she became the star of a series of intellectual low budget movies made by first-time filmmakers, a trend dubbed "mumblecore".
Gerwig was cast in a minor role in Swanberg's LOL (2006) in 2006, while still studying at Barnard. She then appeared in many of Swanberg's films, and personally co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced one entitled Nights and Weekends (2008). She has worked with good quality directors such as Ti West (The House of the Devil (2009)), Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress (2011)), or Woody Allen (To Rome with Love (2012)) but success and (international) recognition did not come until Frances Ha (2012), directed by Noah Baumbach, a film she also co-wrote. Both tall and immature, awkward and graceful, blundering and candid, annoying and engaging, Greta has won all hearts in the title role of Frances Ha(liday).
In 2017, she wrote and directed the highly acclaimed, semi-autobiographical teen movie Lady Bird (2017), set in 2002-2003, and starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Timothée Chalamet.
In 2011, Gerwig received an award for Acting from the Athena Film Festival for her artistry as one of Hollywood's definitive screen actresses of her generation.- Writer
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Eleanor Catton was born on 24 September 1985 in London, Ontario, Canada. She is a writer and producer, known for Emma. (2020), The Luminaries (2020) and Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema (2015). She has been married to Steven Toussaint since 3 January 2016. They have one child.- Writer
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- Actress
- Producer
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- Actress
Jane Goldman was born on 11 June 1970 in England, UK. She is a producer and writer, known for Kick-Ass (2010), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Stardust (2007). She has been married to Jonathan Ross since August 1988. They have three children.- Writer
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Since graduating from Queens' College, Cambridge University with a master's degree in English Literature Anna Waterhouse has been a producer and screenwriter.
She has produced numerous plays in the West End including Anthony Minghella's Whale Music (King's Head Theatre); Shelagh Stephenson's Five Kinds of Silence (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith) starring Tim Pigott-Smith, Gina McKee, Linda Bassett and Lizzy McInnerny; Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth (Garrick Theatre) starring over four casts Jake Gyllenhaal, Hayden Christensen, Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Summer Phoenix, Kieran Culkin, Colin Hanks, Alison Lohman, Freddie Prinze Jr, Chris Klein and Heather Burns; David Mamet's Oleanna (Garrick Theatre) starring Julia Stiles and Aaron Eckhart; Mamet's A Life In The Theatre (Apollo Theatre) starring Patrick Stewart and Joshua Jackson; Neil Labute's Some Girl(s) (Gielgud Theatre) starring David Schwimmer, Saffron Burrows, Catherine Tate, Leslie Manville and Sara Powell; Sam Shepard's Fool For Love (Apollo Theatre) starring Juliette Lewis, Martin Henderson, Larry Lamb and Joe Duttine and Neil LaBute's Fat Pig (Trafalgar Studio 1/ Comedy Theatre) starring over two casts Robert Webb, Kris Marshall, Joanna Page, Ella Smith, Kevin Bishop, Kelly Brook, Nicolas Burns and Katie Kerr.
She often writes screenplays in collaboration with Joe Shrapnel.- Writer
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Céline Sciamma was born on 12 November 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Petite Maman (2021) and Tomboy (2011).- Writer
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- Producer
Jessica Ashworth was born on 23 December 1987 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK. She is a writer and actress, known for Becoming Jane (2007), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007) and Killing Eve (2018).- Writer
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Phyllis Nagy was born on 7 November 1962 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a writer and director, known for Call Jane (2022), Carol (2015) and Mrs. Harris (2005).- Writer
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Nancy Jane Meyers is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically and commercially successful films including Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent Trap (1998), What Women Want (2000), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006), It's Complicated (2009), and The Intern (2015).- Writer
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Anne Fontaine was born on 15 July 1959 in Luxembourg. She is an actress and writer, known for The Innocents (2016), Coco Before Chanel (2009) and Reinventing Marvin (2017). She is married to Philippe Carcassonne. They have one child.- Writer
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Shauna Cross is known for If I Stay (2014), What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012) and Whip It (2009).- Actress
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Actress and screenwriter Nicole Houston Reed was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Cheryl Houston, a hairdresser and beautician, and Seth Reed, a set designer. She has two brothers. Her ancestry includes Ashkenazi Jewish, German, British Isles, and one eighth Italian. Reed's parents divorced when she was two and she lived with her mother. She attended Alexander Hamilton High School, but dropped out and was home-schooled. As she entered her teenage years, Reed began a difficult period in her life, resulting in her moving out of home at 14 years old.
Reed first met Catherine Hardwicke when Hardwicke was dating her father. They kept in touch and in 2002 began scripting Thirteen (2003), based on Reed's writing from her early teens. When Hardwicke was unable to find the right actress for the character of Evie, a reluctant Reed was persuaded to take the role. She received critical acclaim for the part.
Various roles followed including a stint in the popular TV series The O.C. (2003). She collaborated again with Catherine Hardwicke in 2008 when she appeared as Rosalie in Twilight (2008). Reed also appeared in the film's sequels - The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012).
Nikki is married to actor and model Ian Somerhalder.