Caroline Thompson

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. She directed 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.

• Name — Caroline Thompson • Born — 23 April 1956 • Birthplace — Washington, D.C., U.S. • Education — Radcliffe College Amherst College • Occupation — * Novelist • Screenwriter • Director • Producer • Spouse — * Henry Bromell (1982–85) • Steve Nicolaides (?–present)

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, to attend Radcliffe College, and eventually graduated from Amherst College in 1978 with a degree in English and classic literature.

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. 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 Edward Scissorhands, and hired her to write its screenplay as a spec script. Her other works include Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, The Secret Garden, Buddy, Black Beauty, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and The Addams Family. 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 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 screenplay for Wicked Lovely, intended to be directed by Mary Harron, was in turnaround in 2011. Thompson was the first woman to be presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2011 Austin Film Festival.

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

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer • 1990 — Edward Scissorhands — Associate • 1991 — The Addams Family • 1993 — Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey • The Secret Garden — Associate • The Nightmare Before Christmas • 1994 — Black Beauty • 1997 — Buddy • 2001 — Snow White: The Fairest of Them All • 2005 — Corpse Bride • 2008 — City of Ember • 2018 — Welcome to Marwen As herself • Prop Culture (2020) episode: "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" • The Holiday Movies That Made Us (2020) episode: "Nightmare Before Christmas"