Kirsten Smith (writer)

For the New Zealand track and field athlete, seeKirsten Smith (athlete).

Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith
Smith in 2011
Born	(1970-08-12)August 12, 1970 Contra Costa County,California
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter Novelist
Website	kiwilovesyou.com

Kirsten M. "Kiwi" Smith(born August 12, 1970) is an Americanscreenwriterandnovelistwhose credits includeLegally BlondeandElla Enchanted.She has written most of her screenplays with her screenwriter partnerKaren McCullah.

Early life

Kirsten M. Smithwas born, 12 August 1970, inContra Costa County,Californiaand grew up inSan Pedro, Los Angeles,on a sailboat, without TV, and spent much of her childhood writing.After her family moved toPort Ludlow, Washington,she worked as a clerk at a video store before moving toLos Angelesin 1988 to attendOccidental College,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 theBread Loaf Writers' Conferencein Vermont and was a resident writer atMacDowell,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 byKaren McCullah,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 called10 Things I Hate About You,a twist onWilliam Shakespeare'sTaming of the Shrewpartially inspired by the recent teen comedyClueless.

In 1997, Smith made her first sale as a screenwriter, with10 Things I Hate About You,aspeculative screenplay.Shortly thereafter, the movie wasgreen-lit,starring the-then-unknownHeath LedgerandJulia StilesIt was shot inTacoma, Washington,near Smith's hometown. In the writing process for10 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 ariot grrrlsound for the soundtrack.

Smith went on to co-writeLegally Blonde,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 successfulBroadwaymusical, which was based on Smith and Lutz's screenplay.

Smith followed that withElla Enchanted,starringAnne Hathaway,andShe's the Man,aDreamWorksupdate of Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night,starringAmanda Bynes.

In 2006, Smith published averse novel,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 thePacific Northwest,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 starredAnna Farisand was financed and produced byGlamourmagazine'sReel Moments.She also co-wrote and executive producedThe House Bunny,starring Anna Faris, and produced byAdam Sandler’sHappy MadisonProductions. It grossed almost $50M domestically.

In 2009, she co-wroteThe Ugly Truth,directed byLegally BlondecollaboratorRobert Luketicand starringKatherine HeiglandGerard Butler.Her first film as a non-writing producer,Whip It!,starredElliot Pageand was directed byDrew Barrymore,and she also producedAmerican Virginin 2009, starringJenna DewanandRob Schneider.

Her 2013 novel,Trinkets,was adapted into astreaming television seriesin 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 seriesMisfit Cityalongside 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.

In September 2022, it was announced that Smith and longtime screenwriting partner McCullah were writing a new romantic comedy, titledI Do... Not.The movie is being produced byMark VahradianandLorenzo di Bonaventurafor Amazon.

The Smith-McCullah duo worked on a rewrite forK-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) –ISBN978-0-316-01735-0
• Trinkets(2013) –ISBN978-0316457620
• Misfit City: Volume One(2018) –ISBN978-1-68415-027-4
• Misfit City: Volume Two(2018) –ISBN978-1-68415-172-1

Feature films

• 10 Things I Hate About You(1999) - an adaptation ofWilliam Shakespeare'sThe Taming of the Shrewset in a modern American high school
• Legally Blonde(2001) - screen adaptation ofAmanda Brown's novelLegally Blonde
• Ella Enchanted(2004) - screen adaptation ofGail Carson Levine's 1997 novelElla Enchanted
• She's the Man(2006) - an adaptation ofWilliam Shakespeare's playTwelfth Night, or What You Will.
• The House Bunny(2008)
• The Ugly Truth(2009)
• One for the Money(2012) - film adaptation ofJanet Evanovich's 1994 novelOne for the Money.

Short films

• The Spleenectomy (2008)(Reel Moments)
• The Multi-Hyphenate (2009)(Funny or Die)

Television

• Trinkets(2019)

Screenplays (unproduced)

• a remake ofNine to Five

External links

• Kirsten SmithatIMDb
• kiwilovesyou.com,the personal homepage