Olivia Hetreed is a British screenwriter and editor, and the current president of the
Writers' Guild of Great Britain
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG).
History
The un ...
. In 2003, she received a
BAFTA nomination for
Best Adapted Screenplay
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
for adapting
Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Rose Chevalier (born 19 October 1962) is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'', which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.
Personal backgr ...
's best-selling novel ''
Girl with a Pearl Earring'' into the
film of the same name.
Early life
Olivia Hetreed studied English at university.
She first worked as an editor of documentaries and films. Later, she began her writing career by working on family films such as ''
The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) and ''
The Canterville Ghost
"The Canterville Ghost" is a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in '' The Court and Society Review'', 23 February and 2 March 1887. The story is about an American fa ...
'' (1996).
[
]
Career
In 1998, she wrote the short film ''Candy'', but found wider fame when she adapted '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' into the 2003 film of the same name. Hetreed had gained access to the novel shortly before its publication, as she and Chevalier shared the same agent. Her husband Andy Paterson
Andy Paterson is a British film producer and former second unit director. He is married to Olivia Hetreed. He was educated at Bolton School and Oriel College, Oxford.
Filmography
* ''Tigers'' (2014) (Screenplay)
*'' The Railway Man'' (2013)
* '' ...
convinced the author to sell the film rights
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, and he co-produced the film with his production company Archer Films. For her work in the film, she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
Later in 2003, Hetreed wrote an adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
's story "The Man of Law's Tale
"The Man of Law's Tale" is the fifth of the ''Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer, written around 1387. John Gower's "Tale of Constance" in '' Confessio Amantis'' tells the same story and may have been a source for Chaucer. Nicholas Trive ...
" from his work ''The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opus ...
'', for the miniseries of the same name. Hetreed's contribution to the series starred Andrew Lincoln
Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), known professionally as Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama '' This Life'' (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey ...
and Nikki Amuka-Bird, with direction overseen by Julian Jarrold
Julian Edward Peter Jarrold (born 15 May 1960 in Norwich, Norfolk) is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television director.
Early life
Jarrold was born into the family which founded Jarrolds of Norwich in 1823. He was educated at Gresha ...
.[ The children's television series '']Roman Mysteries
''The Roman Mysteries'' is a series of historical novels for children by Caroline Lawrence. The first book, '' The Thieves of Ostia'', was published in 2001, finishing with '' The Man from Pomegranate Street'', published in 2009, and totaling ...
'' was Hetreed's next project, which she adapted from Caroline Lawrence
Caroline Lawrence (born 1954) is an English American author, best known for '' The Roman Mysteries'' series of historical novels for children. The series is about a Roman girl called Flavia and her three friends: Nubia (a freed slave girl), Jo ...
's work
Work may refer to:
* Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community
** Manual labour, physical work done by humans
** House work, housework, or homemaking
** Working animal, an animal t ...
in 2006. In 2011, she co-wrote ''Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
'' with Andrea Arnold, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Emily Brontë. As a result of these writing credits, she has been called an "expert in literary adaptations."[
In 2013, Hetreed was named the new president of the ]Writers' Guild of Great Britain
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG).
History
The un ...
. She announced, "Most of the Guild's efforts remain unseen and unknown to members or the outside world. My focus as President will be to make the work of the Guild and its members more visible, both internally and externally."
In 2016, Hetreed co-wrote the Spanish historical drama ''Altamira
Altamira may refer to:
People
*Altamira (surname)
Places
* Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving
*Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará
* Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...
'', directed by Hugh Hudson, and in 2017, ventured into animation for the children's film '' Birds Like Us'', the first Bosnian full-length computer animated film. She was one of several writers on '' Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris'' for Anthony Fabian.
Hetreed, together with Keith Thompson, Carroll Cartwright, and Anthony Fabian won best feature adaption for their work on Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris at the AWGIE Awards
The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967.
The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...
2022.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetreed, Olivia
21st-century British women writers
British women screenwriters
British television writers
British women television writers
Living people
1960 births