Kirsten Smith (writer)
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Kirsten M. "Kiwi" Smith (born August 12, 1970) is an American
screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...
and
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
whose credits include ''
Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his List of directorial debuts, feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (writer), Kirsten Smith from ...
''and ''
Ella Enchanted ''Ella Enchanted'' is a Newbery HonorKaren McCullah Karen McCullah (born December 5, 1967) is an American screenwriter and novelist most known for co-writing comedies such as ''10 Things I Hate About You'', ''Legally Blonde'', ''Ella Enchanted (film), Ella Enchanted'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Ug ...
.


Early life

Kirsten M. Smith was born, 12 August 1970, in
Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and grew up in
San Pedro, Los Angeles San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
, on a sailboat, without TV, and spent much of her childhood writing. After her family moved to
Port Ludlow, Washington Port Ludlow is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. It is also the name of the marine inlet on which the community is located. The CDP's population was 2,603 at the 2010 ce ...
, she worked as a clerk at a video store before moving to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 1988 to attend
Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...
, studying English and Film, and getting a degree in 1992, then attended NYU's film program. While in college, she often submitted poems to local magazines, and after graduation, she received a scholarship to attend the
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1926, it has been called by ''The New Yorker'' "the oldest and most ...
in Vermont and was a resident writer at MacDowell, after which she realized she could only advance her poetry career by getting a MFA and going into academia. She then decided to screenwrite for a living to support her poetry.


Career

While in college, Smith got an internship at CineTel Films, an independent film company; after she began working for CineTel reading scripts and writing coverage for them. This led to a full-time job there as a Director of Development in 1995, and then she began pursuing screenwriting in earnest. One of the scripts she happened to read and cover was written by
Karen McCullah Karen McCullah (born December 5, 1967) is an American screenwriter and novelist most known for co-writing comedies such as ''10 Things I Hate About You'', ''Legally Blonde'', ''Ella Enchanted (film), Ella Enchanted'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Ug ...
, an aspiring writer living in Denver, Colorado. The two women formed a friendship over the phone, and when McCullah came to Los Angeles, they met in person, and began writing their first script on cocktail napkins that night. That script never sold, but it inspired the women to write together again, and they embarked on a teen comedy called ''
10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten ...
'', a twist on
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
'' partially inspired by the recent teen comedy ''
Clueless ''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone with supporting roles by Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd. It was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert La ...
.'' In 1997, Smith made her first sale as a screenwriter, with ''
10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten ...
'', a
speculative screenplay A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
. Shortly thereafter, the movie was
green-lit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
, starring the-then-unknown
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
and
Julia Stiles Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at the age of 11 as part of New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Her film debut was a small role in ''I'' ''Love Yo ...
It was shot in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
, near Smith's hometown. In the writing process for ''10 Things'', Smith was eager to add feminism and post-feminism from her women's studies classes into the movie's context and had wanted more of a
riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...
sound for the soundtrack. Smith went on to co-write ''
Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his List of directorial debuts, feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (writer), Kirsten Smith from ...
'', which was nominated for two Golden Globes. Costing only $18M to produce, the movie was a surprise hit, grossing $20M in its opening weekend in July 2001, and going on to make over $140M worldwide. It also spawned a sequel and a successful
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical, which was a based on Smith and Lutz’s screenplay. Smith followed that with ''
Ella Enchanted ''Ella Enchanted'' is a Newbery HonorAnne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...
, and ''
She's the Man ''She's the Man'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy teen sports film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, and David Cross. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Twelfth Night,'' the f ...
'', a
DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
update of Shakespeare's ''
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'', starring
Amanda Bynes Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress, known for her work in television and film throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Bynes began her career as a child actress, working on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''All That'' ...
. In 2006, Smith published a
verse novel A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voice ...
, '' The Geography of Girlhood'', having published more than 40 poems in various literary magazines in the 1990s. The coming-of-age story of a teenage girl growing up in the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
, it contains a smattering of the poems Smith wrote and published in her early twenties. In 2008, she wrote and directed a short film, ''The Spleenectomy'', which starred
Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number o ...
and was financed and produced by ''Glamour'' magazine's Reel Moments. She also co-wrote and executive produced ''
The House Bunny ''The House Bunny'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Fred Wolf, written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, and starring Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, and Emma Stone. It tells the story of a former Playboy bunny who signs up to be t ...
'', starring Anna Faris, and produced by
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...
’s
Happy Madison Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and ''Billy Madison'', two ...
Productions. It grossed almost $50M domestically. In 2009, she co-wrote '' The Ugly Truth'', directed by ''Legally Blonde'' collaborator
Robert Luketic Robert Luketic (born 1 November 1973) is an Australian film director. His films include ''Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''Monster-in-Law'' (2005), ''21 (2008 film), 21'' (2008), ''Killers (2010 film), Killers'' (2010), and ''Paranoia (2013 film), Pa ...
and starring
Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...
and
Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as ''Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Di ...
. Her first film as a non-writing producer, ''
Whip It! ''Whip It'' is a 2009 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Drew Barrymore in her directorial debut and written by Shauna Cross, based on her 2007 novel '' Derby Girl''. The film is co-produced by Barrymore and Barry Mendel. It stars Ellio ...
'', starred
Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, tw ...
and was directed by
Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...
, and she also produced '' American Virgin'' in 2009, starring
Jenna Dewan Jenna Lee Dewan (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and later worked with artists including Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her ...
and
Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider (; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', he went on to a career in feature films, including starri ...
. Her 2013 novel, ''Trinkets'', was adapted into a streaming television series in 2019. The series has received several Daytime Emmy nominations and wins. It received the award in the Outstanding Writing for a Children's or Young Adult Program category in 2020, as well as the Outstanding Young Adult Drama category in 2020 and 2021. Smith has also created the graphic novel series ''Misfit City'' alongside fellow writer Kurt Lustgarten and illustrator Naomi Franquiz''.'' The narrative follows a group of four small-town girls who set off on an adventure after they find an ancient pirate map. In October 2021, it was announced that HBO Max had started to develop an animated television series based on the comics. On September 2022, it was announced that Smith and longtime screenwriting partner McCullah were writing a new romantic comedy, titled ''I Do... Not''. The movie is being produced by
Mark Vahradian Mark Vahradian is an Armenian-American film producer.https://swimswam.com/movie-producer-mark-vahradian-life-swimming-hollywood/ SS Filmography References American film producers {{US-film-producer-stub ...
and
Lorenzo di Bonaventura Lorenzo di Bonaventura (; born January 13, 1957) is an American film producer and founder and owner of Di Bonaventura Pictures. He is best known for producing the G.I. Joe and ''Transformers'' film series. The films he produced have earned over ...
for Amazon. The Smith-McCullah duo worked on a rewrite for ''K-Pop: Lost in America''. The movie will focus on a K-pop band who is about to do their US debut in New York's Madison Square Garden, but accidentally end up in Waco, Texas. Charles Melton and Rebel Wilson are reported to headline the film.


Credits


Novels

*''The Geography of Girlhood'' (2006) – *''Trinkets'' (2013) – *''Misfit City: Volume One'' (2018) – *''Misfit City: Volume Two'' (2018) –


Feature films

*''
10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten ...
'' (1999) - an adaptation of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
'' set in a modern American high school *''
Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his List of directorial debuts, feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (writer), Kirsten Smith from ...
'' (2001) - screen adaptation of Amanda Brown's novel ''Legally Blonde'' *''
Ella Enchanted ''Ella Enchanted'' is a Newbery HonorGail Carson Levine Gail Carson Levine (born September 17, 1947) is an American author of young adult books. Her second novel, ''Ella Enchanted'', received a Newbery Honor in 1998.
's 1997 novel
Ella Enchanted ''Ella Enchanted'' is a Newbery HonorShe's the Man ''She's the Man'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy teen sports film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, and David Cross. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Twelfth Night,'' the f ...
'' (2006) - an adaptation of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
Twelfth Night, or What You Will ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
''. *''
The House Bunny ''The House Bunny'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Fred Wolf, written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, and starring Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, and Emma Stone. It tells the story of a former Playboy bunny who signs up to be t ...
'' (2008) *'' The Ugly Truth'' (2009) * ''
One for the Money "One for the Money" is an English-language children's rhyme. Children have used it as early as the 1820s to count before starting a race or other activity. The full rhyme reads as: One for the money, Two for the show; Three to make ready, And f ...
'' (2012) - film adaptation of
Janet Evanovich Janet Evanovich (née Schneider; April 22, 1943) is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Steph ...
's 1994 novel ''
One for the Money "One for the Money" is an English-language children's rhyme. Children have used it as early as the 1820s to count before starting a race or other activity. The full rhyme reads as: One for the money, Two for the show; Three to make ready, And f ...
''.


Short films

*The Spleenectomy (2008) ( Reel Moments) *The Multi-Hyphenate (2009) (
Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a reg ...
)


Television

*''
Trinkets A trinket may refer to: * A small showy piece of jewellery, such as a jewel or a ring. * Trinket Island, an island of the Nicobar Islands ** Trinket (village), a village on the island * Trinket snake, common name for '' Elaphe helena'', a species ...
'' (2019)


Screenplays (unproduced)

*a remake of '' Nine to Five''


References


External links

*
kiwilovesyou.com
the personal homepage {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kirsten 1970 births Living people Screenwriters from Washington (state) American women film directors American women screenwriters People from Port Ludlow, Washington People from San Pedro, Los Angeles Screenwriters from California 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers