Kelly Fremon Craig
Kelly Fremon Craig (née Fremon; born 1981) is an American screenwriter, producer, and film director. She is known for directing, writing, and co-producing the 2016 coming-of-age comedy-drama The Edge of Seventeen.
Kelly Fremon Craig | |
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Fremon Craig in 2016 | |
Born | Kelly Fremon 1981 (age 38–39) |
Alma mater | University of California, Irvine |
Occupation | Film director, screenwriter, producer |
Years active | 2000s–present |
Notable work |
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Children | 1 |
Early life
Fremon Craig was born in Whittier, California and graduated from UC Irvine with an English degree.
Career
2000s
Fremon Craig started out writing sketch comedy and spoken word poetry in college, then landed an internship in the film division of Immortal Entertainment, where she read her first film script and began to pursue screenwriting. She developed several screenplays during the 2000s, including a modern high school retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac and a comedic remake of the 2004 French drama Intimate Strangers for Paramount Pictures. One of her scripts, Ticket to Ride, caught the attention of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman. He bought the script under his The Montecito Picture Company as a directing vehicle for Reitman. According to Reitman, the script was rewritten at least 15 times. The film was released, under the new title Post Grad. The film was instead directed by Shrek director Vicky Jenson and was released in 2009 to critical and commercial disappointment.
2010s
In 2011, Fremon Craig completed another script titled Besties and sent the script over to James L. Brooks. Brooks bought the script and it was announced that Fremon Craig would direct the film and Brooks would serve as a producer and mentor for her first film.[1] No updates were issued for the feature until August 2015, when Hailee Steinfeld was announced to star in the film. Casting continued until October that same year, with filming commencing that same month. The film was released by STX Entertainment in Fall 2016 under its new title The Edge of Seventeen to critical praise and it was a modest financial hit. Fremon Craig also provided uncredited rewrites (and was briefly attached as co-screenwriter[2]) for the 2018 Transformers spin-off film Bumblebee, also starring Steinfeld.
2020s
Fremon Craig was attached as sole screenwriter for an animated film adaptation of Scooby-Doo for Warner Animation Group.[3] The film, released as Scoob! in 2020, was instead rewritten by Adam Sztykiel, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott, Matt Lieberman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart.
Upcoming projects
- Wild Game, a film adaptation of the memoir Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me for Chernin Entertainment[4]
- A web series adaptation of The Edge of Seventeen for YouTube Premium[5]
- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, a film adaptation of the classic novel for Gracie Films[6]
Influences
Craig has cited writer-director John Hughes as an influence on writing The Edge of Seventeen,[7][8] and has mentioned Christopher Guest, Alexander Payne, Nick Hornby, and David Sedaris as inspirations.[9]
Unrealized projects
- Intimate Strangers for Paramount Pictures[9]
- A modern day high school retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac for Level 1[9]
- The Good Life for Fox Searchlight Pictures[1]
- The Best Mistakes for Level 1[1]
- Lovehampton for The CW and Alloy Entertainment[1]
- An untitled pilot for CBS Television Studios and Uppity TV[1]
- Scoob! rewrites for Warner Animation Group and Warner Bros.
Personal life
Fremon Craig now resides in Los Angeles with her husband and young son.[10] She is a represented by UTA and Kaplan/Perrone.[6]
Filmography
Title | Year | Role |
---|---|---|
Streak | 2008 | Writer, story |
Post Grad | 2009 | Screenwriter |
The Edge of Seventeen[11][12][13] | 2016 | Director, screenwriter |
Bumblebee[14] | 2018 | Uncredited rewrites |
Scoob![3] | 2020 | Wrote previous draft |
Wild Game[4] | TBA | Director, screenwriter |
Untitled The Edge of Seventeen web series[5] | Pilot; executive producer | |
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret[6] | Director, screenwriter, executive producer |
Accolades
List of awards and nominations | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Award | Category | Film(s) | Result | Notes |
2016 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Comedy | The Edge of Seventeen | Nominated | [15] |
New York Film Critics Circle | Best First Film | Won[lower-alpha 1] | [17] | ||
Chicago Film Critics Association | Most Promising Filmmaker | Nominated | [18] | ||
Toronto Film Critics Association | Best First Feature | Runner-up | [19] | ||
Detroit Film Critics Society | Best Film | Nominated | [20] | ||
Best Breakthrough | Won | ||||
Austin Film Critics Association | Best First Film | Nominated | [21][22] | ||
Indiewire Critics' Poll | Best First Feature | 3rd place | |||
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Breakout Filmmaker of the Year | Nominated | |||
2017 | Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards | OFCC Award for Best First Film | 2nd place | [23] | |
Directors Guild of America Awards | First-Time Feature Film | Nominated | [24] | ||
Golden Tomato Awards | Best Comedy Movie 2016 | 5th place | |||
Online Film & Television Association | Best Feature Debut | Nominated | |||
2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Movie | Nominated | [25] | ||
Note
- Tied with Trey Edward Shults for Krisha.
References
- "James L. Brooks' Gracie Films Buys 'Besties' Spec". Deadline Hollywood. March 30, 2011. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
- https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/attachments/credit-png.28062283/
- Kroll, Justin (October 15, 2018). "'Tom and Jerry,' 'Scooby-Doo' Movies Land Top Talent at Warner Animation Group (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
- Borys Kit (January 25, 2018). "'Edge of Seventeen' Filmmaker, Chernin Entertainment Team for 'Wild Game'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
- "'Edge of Seventeen' TV Spinoff Set at YouTube (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- Mike Fleming, Jr. (October 17, 2018). "Judy Blume Grants 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' Screen Rights To James L. Brooks & Kelly Fremon Craig". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- "Hailee Steinfeld Talks Making Coming-of-Age Film 'Edge of Seventeen' at TIFF". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
- "Review: The Edge of Seventeen is a Modern Day Tribute to John Hughes". We Live Entertainment. 2016-09-25. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
- "10 Screenwriters to Watch". Variety. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
- "The Edge Of Seventeen, a coming-of-age comedy with a refreshingly authentic voice". Writing Studio.
- Zacharias, Ramona (November 18, 2016). "James L. Brooks and Kelly Fremon Craig on The Edge of Seventeen". Creative Screenwriting. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- A. Lincoln, Ross (October 6, 2015). "Blake Jenner Joins Hailee Steinfeld In STX Coming-Of-Age Drama". Deadline. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- Fleming Jr, Mike (March 30, 2011). "James L. Brooks' Gracie Films Buys 'Besties' Spec". Deadline. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- "Hailee Steinfeld Gets Surprise Birthday Party at 'Bumblebee' Premiere". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
Christina Hodson wrote an amazing script, which drew me into this world... Kelly Fremon Craig, who wrote and directed me in Edge of Seventeen, did the rewrite, and we had wonderful conversations about developing Charlie’s voice into what you see now.
- "La La Land Leads with 12 Nominations for the 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards". Critics' Choice. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- "Golden Globes 2017 Film Surprises and Snubs: 'Deadpool,' Aaron Taylor-Johnson and 7 More Sudden Twists". Indiewire. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- "New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2016". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- "The 2016 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nominees". Chicago Film Critics Association. December 11, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
- Vlessing, Etan (December 12, 2016). "'Moonlight' Named Best Film by Toronto Film Critics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
- Graham, Adam (December 14, 2016). "Local critics: 'Moonlight', 'Manchester' best of 2016". The Detroit News. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- Anderson, Erik (December 15, 2016). "Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) Nominations: The Handmaiden Lands Top Mentions, Trevante Rhodes Double Nominated". AwardsWatch.com. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- Miller, Neil (December 15, 2016). "2016 Austin Film Critics Awards Nominees, 'Moonlight' and 'Arrival' lead the way in AFCA's 2016 nominations". Medium.com. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- "Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards". imbd.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- Hipes, Patrick. "DGA TV Awards Nominations: 'Stranger Things', 'Westworld' & 'Atlanta' On List; Docus Include 'OJ: Made In America'". Deadline. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- Schwartz, Ryan (March 2, 2017). "2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards Nominations List — 'This Is Us,' 'Stranger Things'". TVLine. Archived from the original on 2017-04-07. Retrieved April 6, 2017.