Caroline Thompson (born April 23, 1956) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. She wrote the screenplays for the

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

-directed films ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American gothic romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as the title ...

'' and ''

Corpse Bride ''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film, directed by Mike Johnson (in his directorial debut) and Tim Burton from a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson, and ...

'' and the Burton-produced ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

''. She co-wrote the story for ''Edward Scissorhands'' and co-adapted a new stage version of the film with director and choreographer

Matthew Bourne Sir Matthew Christopher Bourne (born 13 January 1960) is a British choreographer. His productions contain many classic cinema and popular culture references and draw thematic inspiration from musicals, film noir and popular culture. Popular ...

. Thompson also adapted the screenplay for the film version of ''

Wicked Lovely ''Wicked Lovely'' is a young adult fiction, young adult/urban fantasy novel by author Melissa Marr (author), Melissa Marr. The story follows protagonist Aislinn, who has the Sight (the ability to see faeries), and whose life begins to unravel wh ...

'', a bestselling fantasy series, in 2011, but the production was put into turnaround. She directed ''

Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was written from a horse as main character's perspective. She wrote it in the last years of her life, during which s ...

'' (1994); ''

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) * Buddy Cage (1946–2020), American pedal steel guitarist, member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage *Buddy Holly (1936–1959), artistic ...

'' (1997), which she also wrote; and the television film '' Snow White: The Fairest of Them All'' (2001), also as producer and co-writer.

Personal life

Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Bettie Marshall (née Warner), a teacher, and Thomas Carlton Thompson, Jr., a lawyer. She received her early education in Washington. She later moved to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

to attend

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

, and eventually graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

in 1978 with a degree in English and classic literature.Biography
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Her first marriage was to Henry Bromell, a fellow novelist and screenwriter. She later married Steve Nicolaides, a film and TV producer.

Career

Thompson moved to Los Angeles, supporting herself as a freelance book reviewer and writer. In 1983, she published a novel ''First Born'' which director

Penelope Spheeris Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945) is an American film director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary film, documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decl ...

chose to adapt into a film, and from whom she started learning scriptwriting while writing the drafts of the film's screenplay. Though the movie was never made, the project inspired her to pursue a career as a screenwriter. Tim Burton was impressed with the novel, which was "about a monster fetus". He felt ''First Born'' had the same psychological elements he wanted to showcase in ''

'', and hired her to write its screenplay as a

spec script 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 ...

. Her other works include '' Snow White: The Fairest of Them All'', ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'', ''

,'' '' Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey,'' and ''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

''. Though she is best known for having written the screenplays for ''Edward Scissorhands'' and ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', she has had more than a dozen movies made, including ''City of Ember'' and ''The Addams Family''. From the above, she directed ''

'' (1994) as her directorial debut, followed by ''Snow White'' in 2001 for TV and ''Buddy''. She was the producer for ''Snow White'' and the associate producer for ''The Secret Garden'' and ''Edward Scissorhands''. Her screenplay for ''

'', intended to be directed by

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She co-wrote the screenplay and directed ''American Psycho'', '' The Notorious Bettie Page' and I Shot Andy Warhol.'' Early life Born in Bracebridge, Ontar ...

, was in turnaround in 2011. Thompson was the first woman to be presented with the ''Distinguished Screenwriter Award'' at the 2011

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...

Filmography

As herself * '' Prop Culture'' (2020) episode: "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" * '' The Holiday Movies That Made Us '' (2020) episode: "Nightmare Before Christmas"

Bibliography

* ''First born'', Published by Coward-McCann, 1983. . * ''Edward Scissorhands'', by Thompson & Tim Burton. Published by distributed by Cinestore, 1990. * ''The Secret Garden'', Adapted by Thompson. Published by s.n., 1991. * ''The Addams Family: A Novelization'', by Elizabeth Faucher, Thompson, & Larry Wilson. Published by Scholastic Inc., 1991. . * ''Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: A Novel'', by Daphne Skinner, Thompson, Michael McDowell, & Tim Burton. Published by Puffin Books, 1994. . * ''Snow White'', by Thompson & Julie Hickson. Published by s.n, 2000. * ''Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision'', by Frank Thompson, Tim Burton. Published by Disney Editions, 2002. . ''Caroline Thompson – Page 179''. *

References

External links

*
Caroline Thompson Video Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Caroline 1956 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American women novelists American women screenwriters Amherst College alumni Hugo Award–winning writers Living people Radcliffe College alumni Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.