Karen Leigh Hopkins
Karen Leigh Hopkins is an American screenwriter, director, and producer known for her work in film and television. She wrote the screenplays for Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, Stepmom, and Because I Said So. Hopkins also wrote and directed Miss Meadows, a dark comedy starring Katie Holmes that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Early life
Hopkins grew up in Sandusky, Ohio.Career
While working as an actress, Hopkins was cast in The Breakfast Club but her scenes were cut from the final film. Her first screenplay,The Kindness of Strangers, was written in 12 days and sold to Paramount Pictures by an executive who recognized her name from The Breakfast Club, creating an unexpected bridge from her acting to her screenwriting career.Film and television
Hopkins' first produced feature was Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, directed by Jim Abrahams and starring Winona Ryder and Jeff Daniels. She later co-wrote the screenplay for Stepmom, a drama about blended families starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. She also wrote the romantic comedy Because I Said So, featuring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore.In 2014, Hopkins wrote and directed Miss Meadows, a film about a prim schoolteacher who leads a secret life as a vigilante. Miss Meadows was Hopkins’s directorial debut and was filmed in and around Cleveland, Ohio in just under three weeks. The movie starred Katie Holmes and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
She served as a consulting producer and co-wrote two episodes of the Apple TV+ series Little Voice, which was created by her Stepmom co-writer Jessie Nelson with original music by Sara Bareilles.