Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Laeta Kalogridis

Laeta Kalogridis

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is shone on Executive Producer, TV Writer and Film Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis.

Laeta is not only a graduate of Davidson College (North Carolina) but also the University of Texas (in Austin). Additionally, she attended the UCLA’s prestigious film school and is the founder of the pro-union website Hollywood United after her involvement as a peacemaker in the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

Her first big break in television came as Executive Producer and Writer for the short-lived series Birds of Prey, which was based on the comic book series of the same name from DC Comics that aired on the WB in 2002. Two years later, she was one of the writers for the box office film Alexander, which starred Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie.

In 2007, she was the writer for the box office film Pathfinder that starred Karl Urban and Moon Bloodgood. Of note regarding this film is that a graphic novel was adapted from this film with Laeta doing the writing. The novel was published by Dark Horse Comics and released at the same time as the film. It was also during this year that she worked on the ill-fated NBC remake of Bionic Woman, as Executive Producer and Writer.

Two years later, she hit pay-dirt working as Executive Producer on the box office megahit Avatar and then the following year (2010) she was the Screenwriter and Executive Producer for the Leonardo DiCaprio film Shutter Island.

It should also be noted that Laeta was asked to write a script for the long-in-the-works Wonder Woman box office feature (prior to Joss Whedon taking over and then leaving the same project), but to date that feature has still not come about.