Malia Scotch Marmo
Malia Scotch Marmo is an American screenwriter. She wrote the screenplays for Lasse Hallström's first American film, Once Around, Steven Spielberg's Hook, Daisy von Scherler Mayer's Madeline and wrote the first draft of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park for the Steven Spielberg film.
Early life
Scotch Marmo was born and raised in Wakefield, Massachusetts.[1] After receiving an associates degree from Bunker Hill Community College,[2] she went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree as a double major in English Language and Literature and Spanish Language and Literature at Boston University.[3] Scotch Marmo received her Master of Fine Arts from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1988.[4]
Career
While Scotch Marmo was still enrolled in Columbia University's graduate film program, her thesis screenplay was acquired by producers Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne. Robinson and Dunne brought the script to Swedish director Lasse Hallström and, in 1991, Once Around became his first American film, starring Richard Dreyfus and Holly Hunter.[5] Also while at Columbia, Scotch Marmo directed an award-winning short film entitled A Secret Thing.[6]
During pre-production for Once Around, Scotch Marmo came to the attention of acclaimed film director Steven Spielberg, who hired her to write Hook, also released in 1991. Hook starred Robin Williams as an adult Peter Pan, Dustin Hoffman as Captain James V. Hook, and Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell. Scotch Marmo also served as associate producer on the film.[7] While Hook was being shot, Scotch Marmo began working on her next Spielberg project, Jurassic Park, released in 1993. Jurassic Park, which has had four sequels to date, starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough.[8] Scotch Marmo wrote the second draft of Jurassic Park, between the drafts of novelist Michael Crichton and David Koepp.[9]
Scotch Marmo was next recruited to rewrite Norman Jewison's Only You while on location in Pittsburgh and Rome.[10] Released in 1994, Only You starred Robert Downey, Jr. and Marisa Tomei as star-crossed lovers.[11] From 1994 to 1997, Scotch Marmo focused on developing twoprojects that never made it to the screen. For director Alfonso Arau, Scotch Marmo adapted Michael Golding's Simple Prayers, a novel set on a small Venetian island in the fourteenth century,[12] and for director Alfonso Cuaron, Scotch Marmo re-wrote Donald Westlake's Love in the Attic, based on the true story of a 1920s housewife who fell in love with a sewing machine repairman and hid him in the attic while her husband was at home.[13] Scotch Marmo next adapted Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline book series into Madeline, released in 1998, directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer, starring Frances MacDormand.[14] In 1998, Garry Marshall brought in Scotch Marmo to do a production rewrite on The Other Sister.[15] Released in 1999, the film starred Juliette Lewis and Diane Keaton.[16]
From 1998 to 2002, Scotch Marmo attempted to get an original screenwriting project off the ground as her first feature-length directorial project. When Fritz Left Kate was developed by various producers, including James L. Brooks, who saw it as a vehicle for Woody Harrelson and Tea Leoni, but the film was not realized.[17] In 2000, Castle Rock Entertainment and Playtone Company hired Scotch-Marmo to adapt Chris Van Allsburg's childrens' classic Polar Express, to be directed by Rob Reiner and to star Tom Hanks.[18] Polar Express, released in 2004, was ultimately directed by Robert Zemeckis.[19] Scotch Marmo was engaged in 2005 to rewrite Bill Kelly's Enchanted.[20] The film, which was released in 2007, was directed by Kevin Lima, and starred Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey.[21]
In 2009-2010, Scotch Marmo collaborated with leading Pakistani director Sabiha Sumar (Khamosh Pani) to write a screenplay originally entitled Rafina. Set against the backdrop of the Benazir Bhutto assassination, Rafina is a young woman from the Karachi slums who dreams of becoming a model.[22] The film was shot on location in Pakistan in 2010 with real-life model Amna Ilyas in the lead role, and released internationally in 2013 as Good Morning Karachi.[23]
In 2013, Scotch Marmo returned to Hollywood, and was enrolled by the Joe Roth Company and Universal Pictures, as part of a team with her former student Soman Chainani, to adapt Chainani's debut novel, The School for Good and Evil.[24]
External links
In progress
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (February 1, 1991). "At the Movies". The New York Times.
- ^ Wolkovich-Valkavicius, William. "The Lithuanian Angle in a Hollywood Movie: An Analysis of 'Once Around'". Lituanus: Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences.
- ^ "Malia Scotch Marmo". All Movie Guide. New York Times.
- ^ "Columbia University School of the Arts Film, Featured Alumni".
- ^ "Once Around". IMDB.
- ^ Travers, Peter (January 18, 1991). "Once Around". Rolling Stone.
- ^ "Hook". IMDB.
- ^ "Jurassic Park". IMDB.
- ^ Taylor, Drew (June 11, 2013). "5 Versions of 'Jurassic Park' You Never Saw". Indiewire.
- ^ Hart, Marion (January 17, 2015). "'Only You': Love Among the Ruins". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "Only You". IMDB.
- ^ Moerk, Christian (February 2, 1994). "'Prayers' comes true in Witt-Thomas buy". Variety.
- ^ Ayscough, Suzan (May 6, 1993). "'Dave' delivers message". Variety.
- ^ "Madeline". IMDB.
- ^ "The Other Sister". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Other Sister". IMDB.
- ^ "Madeline Details". Sony Movie Channel.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (October 30, 2000). "Rock rolls Reiner into 'Polar' helm". Variety.
- ^ "Polar Express". IMDB.
- ^ Kelly, Bill; Marmo, Malia Scotch (2005). Enchanted.
- ^ "Enchanted". IMDB.
- ^ "Good Morning Karachi". Vidhi Films.
- ^ "Good Morning Karachi". IMDB.
- ^ Fleming, Jr., Mike (May 23, 2013). "Universal Makes Seven-Figure Deal For 'The School For Good And Evil'". Deadline.