Quick Facts
Biography
Caroline Thompson (born April 23, 1956) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. She wrote the screenplays for Tim Burton's films Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride. She co-wrote the story for Edward Scissorhands and co-adapted a new stage version of the film with director and choreographer Matthew Bourne. Thompson also adapted the screenplay for the film version of Wicked Lovely, a bestselling fantasy series, in 2011, but the production was put into turnaround. Shedirected Black Beauty (1994); Buddy (1997), which she also wrote; and the television film Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001), also as producer and co-writer.
Early 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 Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend Radcliffe College, and eventually graduated from Amherst College in 1978 with a degree in English and classic literature.
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 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.
Her other works include Snow White: The Fairest of Them All for Hallmark, starring Miranda Richardson and Kristin Kreuk, The Secret Garden, Buddy, Black Beauty, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and The Addams Family.
From the above, she directed Black Beauty (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 recent screenplay for Wicked Lovely, intended to be directed by Mary Harron, was in turnaround in 2011.
Thompson was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2011 Austin Film Festival.