Nancy Meyers
Encyclopedia
Nancy Jane Meyers is an American
film director
, producer
and screenwriter
. She is the writer, producer and director of several big-screen successes, including The Parent Trap
(1998), Something's Gotta Give
(2003), The Holiday
(2006), and It's Complicated
(2009). Her second solo venture, What Women Want
(2000), was at one point the most successful film ever directed by a woman, taking in $183 million in the United States.
. The younger of two daughters, she was raised in a Jewish
household in the Drexel Hill area
, a largely Catholic
neighborhood. Her father, Irving, worked as an executive at a voting machines manufacturer, while her mother, Patricia (née Lemisch), was a homemaker
and volunteer, who was also engaged in the Head Start Program and the Home for the Blind. After reading the Moss Hart
biography Act One at the age of twelve, Meyers became interested in theater and started to act in local stage productions. Her interest in screenwriting did not emerge until she saw Mike Nichols
' film The Graduate
in 1967.
In 1972, after graduating from American University
in Washington, D.C.
with a degree in journalism
and spending a year working in public television in Philadelphia, Meyers moved to her sister Sally's in Los Angeles, California
to try her luck in Hollywood. Without any connections, she landed a job as a production assistant on the CBS
game show The Price Is Right
three days after her arrival. Two years later, Meyers quit the job to focus on a career in screenwriting
and took film-making classes where she connected with directors such as Martin Scorsese
. To support herself, she started a small cheesecake
business after seeing the reactions to a cake she made for a dinner party. She was eventually hired as a story editor
by film producer Ray Stark
, who later fired her after she objected to the fact that two writers were working on the same script without the other knowing.
when she was a story editor in the film division at Motown. The pair became friends and, along with Harvey Miller
, created the script for the comedy Private Benjamin
(1980) together, a film about a JAP
who joins the U.S. Army after her second husband dies on their wedding night during sex. Starring actress Goldie Hawn
, who along with Meyers and Shyer executive produced the project, it was Hawn's agent who made Warner Brothers executive Robert Shapiro
buy the script after practically "everybody [had] turned it down. Everybody. More than once," according to Meyers. Contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time, that a female lead with no male star was box office poison, Private Benjamin became one of the biggest box office hits of the year 1980, grossing nearly $70 million in total. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing
, as were Hawn and her co-star, Eileen Brennan
, for her performances, and won the team a Writers Guild of America Award
for Best Original Screenplay. In addition, the film spawned a same-titled short-lived but Golden Globe-winning television series that aired from 1981 until 1983.
Meyers and Shyer's next project, Irreconcilable Differences
(1984), marked Shyer's directorial debut. Shelley Long
and Ryan O'Neal
played a Hollywood couple whose obsession with success destroys their relationship with their daughter, played by then eight-year-old Drew Barrymore
. Released to a mixed reception by critics, the collaboration became a moderate box office with a gross of $12.4 million, but received multiple Golden Globe nominations, including Best Actress nods for Shelley Long
and Drew Barrymore
. Also in 1984, Meyers, Shyer and Miller penned Protocol
, another comedy starring Goldie Hawn in which she portrayed a cocktail waitress who prevents the assassination of a visiting Arab Emir, and thus is offered a job with the United States Department of State
as a protocol official. Hawn reportedly disliked their screenplay and hired Buck Henry
for a major overhaul, prompting the trio to go into arbitration to settle their differences. While neither Meyers nor Shyer became involved in producing or directing the film, it fared slightly better at the box office than Irreconcilable Differences, garnering $26.3 million in total.
Meyers eventually returned to producing with Baby Boom
(1987), a film about a New York City female executive, who out of the blue becomes the guardian of her distant cousin's 14-month-old daughter. Her debut collaboration with Diane Keaton
, who appeared in her first commercial vehicle with the film, the catalyst for the project was a series of situations that Meyers and Shyer and their friends had experienced while managing a life with a successful career and a growing family. Baby Boom was favorably received by critics and audiences alike. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and earned a respectable $1.6 million in its opening weekend in the U.S.
alone and approximately $26.7 million during in its entire run. As with Private Benjamin the film was followed by a short-living television series starring Kate Jackson
.
film Father of the Bride
(1991). Starring Steve Martin
as a father losing his daughter and his bank account at the same time, their version
was released to generally positive critics in 1991, and became another hit among audiences, resulting in the pair's biggest financial success yet at a worldwide gross of $90 million. A sequel to the film which centered around the expansion of the family, entitled Father of the Bride Part II
, was produced in 1995. Loosely based on the original's 1951 sequel Father's Little Dividend
, it largely reprised the success of its predecessor at the box offices. A third installment, also penned by Meyers and Shyer, failed to materialize.
Also in 1991, Meyers contributed to the script for the ensemble comedy Once Upon a Crime
(1992), directed by Eugene Levy
, and became one out of several script doctor
s consulted to work on the Whoopi Goldberg
comedy Sister Act
(1992). Her next project with Shyer was I Love Trouble (1994), a comedy thriller about a cub reporter and a seasonsed columnist who go after the same story, that was inspired by screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s such as His Girl Friday
and Woman of the Year
. Written for and starring Julia Roberts
and Nick Nolte
, the film was not well-received by critics but grossed over $30 million in box-office receipts in the United States. While the script for Toast of the Town, another Meyers/Shyer collaboration, that Meyers described as "a Depression
-era comedy about a small-town girl who comes to the big city, loses her values and then finds them again," found no buyers, another project called Love Crazy failed to materialize after lead actor Hugh Grant
dropped out of the project after months of negotiations.
Having refused Paramount
CEO Sherry Lansing
's offer to direct the 1996 comedy blockbuster The First Wives Club
, Meyers eventually agreed on making her directional debut with The Parent Trap
(1998) following the signing of a development deal with Walt Disney Pictures
in 1997. A remake of the same-titled 1961 original based on Erich Kästner
's novel Lottie and Lisa
, it starred Lindsay Lohan
in her motion picture debut in a dual role of estranged twin sisters who try to reunite their long-divorced parents, played by Dennis Quaid
and Natasha Richardson
. Lohan's cast forced Meyers to shoot the film in motion control
, a requirement she considered rather complicated. "I really didn’t know how to do it," she said. "We had a prep day to go over the process, and by the end of the day I had a little better understanding. But I approached the movie like it wasn’t an effects film; I just tried to make it authentic." Released to mixed critics, The Parent Trap brought in $92 million worldwide.
chairman Joe Roth asked Meyers to reconstruct an original script named Head Games about a man who gains the power to hear everything women are thinking, an idea originally conceived by The King of Queens
producers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. Subsequently, Meyers penned two drafts of the script before agreeing to direct, but as Roth left the studio in January 1999, Disney dismissed the film and the project eventually went to Paramount. By the following year, Mel Gibson
and Helen Hunt
had signed on to star in leading roles and the project had been retitled What Women Want
. Released in 2000 to mixed reviews, it became the then-most successful film ever directed by a woman, taking in $183 million in the United States, and grossing upward of $370 million worldwide.
Following her divorce, Meyers wrote and directed the post-divorce comedy Something's Gotta Give
(2003), starring Diane Keaton
and Jack Nicholson
as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life, despite being complete opposites. Nicholson and Keaton, aged 63 and 57 respectively, were seen as bold casting choices for leads in a romantic comedy, and Twentieth Century Fox, the film's original studio, reportedly declined to produce the film, fearing that the lead characters were too old to be bankable.
While critical reaction to the film as a whole was more measured, Something's Gotta Give received generally favorable notice and became a surprise box-office hit following its North American release, eventually grossing US$266,600,000 worldwide, mostly from its international run.
It's Complicated
earned Meyers a Golden Globe nomination for Best Screenplay and Meryl Streep
a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a comedy as well. Both films domestically grossed more than $100 million each in their initial release alone.
in 1999, and subsequently divorced. They have two daughters, Annie Meyers-Shyer and Hallie Meyers-Shyer, both of whom have had minor roles in their films. Meyers currently resides in Brentwood
, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. She is the writer, producer and director of several big-screen successes, including The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
(1998), Something's Gotta Give
Something's Gotta Give (film)
Something's Gotta Give is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers for both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. It stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life,...
(2003), The Holiday
The Holiday
The Holiday is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios, it stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who temporarily exchange homes to...
(2006), and It's Complicated
It's Complicated (film)
It's Complicated is a 2009 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nancy Meyers, starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.-Plot:...
(2009). Her second solo venture, What Women Want
What Women Want
What Women Want is a 2000 American romantic comedy film, directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The movie was a box office success with a domestic gross of $182,811,707 and a worldwide gross of $374,111,707, against a budget of $70 million.-Plot:Nick Marshall, a Chicago...
(2000), was at one point the most successful film ever directed by a woman, taking in $183 million in the United States.
Early life
Meyers was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The younger of two daughters, she was raised in a Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
household in the Drexel Hill area
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Drexel Hill is a census-designated place in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel Hill is located southwest of Center City, Philadelphia and is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area...
, a largely Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
neighborhood. Her father, Irving, worked as an executive at a voting machines manufacturer, while her mother, Patricia (née Lemisch), was a homemaker
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
and volunteer, who was also engaged in the Head Start Program and the Home for the Blind. After reading the Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
biography Act One at the age of twelve, Meyers became interested in theater and started to act in local stage productions. Her interest in screenwriting did not emerge until she saw Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
' film The Graduate
The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder...
in 1967.
In 1972, after graduating from American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
with a degree in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and spending a year working in public television in Philadelphia, Meyers moved to her sister Sally's in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to try her luck in Hollywood. Without any connections, she landed a job as a production assistant on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
game show The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
three days after her arrival. Two years later, Meyers quit the job to focus on a career in screenwriting
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
and took film-making classes where she connected with directors such as Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
. To support herself, she started a small cheesecake
Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a dessert consisting of a topping made of soft, fresh cheese, usually on a crust or base made from biscuit , pastry or sponge cake. They may be baked or unbaked...
business after seeing the reactions to a cake she made for a dinner party. She was eventually hired as a story editor
Story editor
Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". A story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits stories for screenplays....
by film producer Ray Stark
Ray Stark
Ray Stark was an American film producer and powerbroker known for his Machiavellian ways.While putting together the Broadway musical Funny Girl - the highly fictionalized account of the life of his mother-in-law, Fanny Brice - its producer David Merrick took Stark and his wife to see an unknown...
, who later fired her after she objected to the fact that two writers were working on the same script without the other knowing.
1980s
In the late 1970s, Meyers started work with Charles ShyerCharles Shyer
Charles Richard Shyer is an American film director, writer and producer. Shyer's films are predominantly comedies, often with a romantic-comedy overtone...
when she was a story editor in the film division at Motown. The pair became friends and, along with Harvey Miller
Harvey Miller
Harvey Miller may refer to:* Harvey R. Miller, New York lawyer* SS Harvey C. Miller, a Liberty ship, see List of Liberty ships: G-Je* A character from the TV show "Baywatch" played by Tom McTigue* The main character of the film The Caddy-See also:...
, created the script for the comedy Private Benjamin
Private Benjamin
Private Benjamin is a 1980 American comedy film starring Goldie Hawn. The film was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980, and also spawned a short-lived television series. The film is ranked 82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" poll, and 59 on Bravo's "100 Funniest...
(1980) together, a film about a JAP
Jewish-American princess
Jewish-American Princess or JAP is a pejorative stereotype of a subtype of Jewish-American female. The term implies materialistic and selfish tendencies, attributed to a pampered or wealthy background.-Origins:...
who joins the U.S. Army after her second husband dies on their wedding night during sex. Starring actress Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
, who along with Meyers and Shyer executive produced the project, it was Hawn's agent who made Warner Brothers executive Robert Shapiro
Robert Shapiro
Robert Leslie Shapiro is an American civil litigator and senior partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen & Shapiro, LLP. Shapiro is most recognized for being part of the defense team which successfully defended O.J. Simpson in 1995 from the charges that he...
buy the script after practically "everybody [had] turned it down. Everybody. More than once," according to Meyers. Contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time, that a female lead with no male star was box office poison, Private Benjamin became one of the biggest box office hits of the year 1980, grossing nearly $70 million in total. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing
Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. Before 1940, there was an Academy Award for Best Story for writing. For 1940, it and the award in this article were separated into two awards. Beginning with the...
, as were Hawn and her co-star, Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
, for her performances, and won the team a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for Best Original Screenplay. In addition, the film spawned a same-titled short-lived but Golden Globe-winning television series that aired from 1981 until 1983.
Meyers and Shyer's next project, Irreconcilable Differences
Irreconcilable differences
The concept of irreconcilable differences provides a possible ground for divorce in a number of jurisdictions.In Australian family law with no-fault divorce it is the sole ground, adequate proof being that the estranged couple have been separated more than 12 months.In the United States it can be...
(1984), marked Shyer's directorial debut. Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
and Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
played a Hollywood couple whose obsession with success destroys their relationship with their daughter, played by then eight-year-old Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
. Released to a mixed reception by critics, the collaboration became a moderate box office with a gross of $12.4 million, but received multiple Golden Globe nominations, including Best Actress nods for Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
and Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
. Also in 1984, Meyers, Shyer and Miller penned Protocol
Protocol (film)
Protocol is a 1984 comedy film that starred Goldie Hawn and Chris Sarandon. The screenplay was by Buck Henry and it was directed by Herbert Ross....
, another comedy starring Goldie Hawn in which she portrayed a cocktail waitress who prevents the assassination of a visiting Arab Emir, and thus is offered a job with the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
as a protocol official. Hawn reportedly disliked their screenplay and hired Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
for a major overhaul, prompting the trio to go into arbitration to settle their differences. While neither Meyers nor Shyer became involved in producing or directing the film, it fared slightly better at the box office than Irreconcilable Differences, garnering $26.3 million in total.
Meyers eventually returned to producing with Baby Boom
Baby Boom (film)
Baby Boom is a 1987 comedy film starring Diane Keaton. The film also launched a subsequent television show starring Kate Jackson, running from 1988 to 1989. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti and the cinematography was by William A. Fraker....
(1987), a film about a New York City female executive, who out of the blue becomes the guardian of her distant cousin's 14-month-old daughter. Her debut collaboration with Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, who appeared in her first commercial vehicle with the film, the catalyst for the project was a series of situations that Meyers and Shyer and their friends had experienced while managing a life with a successful career and a growing family. Baby Boom was favorably received by critics and audiences alike. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and earned a respectable $1.6 million in its opening weekend in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alone and approximately $26.7 million during in its entire run. As with Private Benjamin the film was followed by a short-living television series starring Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer, perhaps best known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels...
.
1990s
In 1990, Meyers and Shyer, working from earlier material for the first time, re-teamed with Keaton to remake the 1950 Vincente MinnelliVincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
film Father of the Bride
Father of the Bride (1950 film)
Father of the Bride is a 1950 American comedy film about a man trying to cope with preparations for his daughter's upcoming wedding. The movie stars Spencer Tracy in the titular role, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, and Leo G. Carroll. It was adapted by Frances Goodrich...
(1991). Starring Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
as a father losing his daughter and his bank account at the same time, their version
Father of the Bride (1991 film)
Father of the Bride is a 1991 American comedy film starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, George Newbern, Martin Short, B.D. Wong and Kieran Culkin. It is a remake of the 1950 movie of the same name...
was released to generally positive critics in 1991, and became another hit among audiences, resulting in the pair's biggest financial success yet at a worldwide gross of $90 million. A sequel to the film which centered around the expansion of the family, entitled Father of the Bride Part II
Father of the Bride Part II
Father of the Bride Part II is a 1995 comedy film starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short. The movie is a sequel to Father of the Bride and a re-make of the sequel to the original version, Father's Little Dividend.-Synopsis:...
, was produced in 1995. Loosely based on the original's 1951 sequel Father's Little Dividend
Father's Little Dividend
Father's Little Dividend is a 1951 comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie is the sequel to Father of the Bride ....
, it largely reprised the success of its predecessor at the box offices. A third installment, also penned by Meyers and Shyer, failed to materialize.
Also in 1991, Meyers contributed to the script for the ensemble comedy Once Upon a Crime
Once Upon A Crime
Once Upon a Crime is a 1992 ensemble comedy film starring, among others; Richard Lewis, John Candy, James Belushi, Cybill Shepherd, Sean Young and Ornella Muti. The film was directed by Eugene Levy.- Plot :...
(1992), directed by Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
, and became one out of several script doctor
Script doctor
A script doctor, also called script consultant, is a highly-skilled screenwriter, hired by a film or television production, to rewrite or polish specific aspects of an existing screenplay, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, theme, and other elements...
s consulted to work on the Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
comedy Sister Act
Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...
(1992). Her next project with Shyer was I Love Trouble (1994), a comedy thriller about a cub reporter and a seasonsed columnist who go after the same story, that was inspired by screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s such as His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday is a 1940 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of the play The Front Page by Hecht and MacArthur...
and Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss....
. Written for and starring Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
and Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, the film was not well-received by critics but grossed over $30 million in box-office receipts in the United States. While the script for Toast of the Town, another Meyers/Shyer collaboration, that Meyers described as "a Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-era comedy about a small-town girl who comes to the big city, loses her values and then finds them again," found no buyers, another project called Love Crazy failed to materialize after lead actor Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
dropped out of the project after months of negotiations.
Having refused Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
CEO Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing is a former actress and American film studio executive. She is former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and when president of production at 20th Century Fox was the first woman to head a Hollywood studio In 1996, she became the first woman named Pioneer of the Year by the Foundation of...
's offer to direct the 1996 comedy blockbuster The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club is a 1996 comedy film, based on the best-selling 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. Narrated by Diane Keaton, it stars Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler as three divorced women who seek revenge on their husbands who left them for younger women...
, Meyers eventually agreed on making her directional debut with The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
(1998) following the signing of a development deal with Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
in 1997. A remake of the same-titled 1961 original based on Erich Kästner
Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner was a German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known for his humorous, socially astute poetry and children's literature.-Dresden 1899–1919:...
's novel Lottie and Lisa
Lottie and Lisa
Lisa and Lottie is a 1949 novel by Erich Kästner, which originally started out during WWII as an aborted movie scenario, about twin girls separated at birth who meet at summer camp. It has been adapted into film many times .-Plot summary:Two nine-year-old girls—rude Lisa Palfy Lisa and...
, it starred Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
in her motion picture debut in a dual role of estranged twin sisters who try to reunite their long-divorced parents, played by Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
and Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson
Natasha Jane Richardson was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson...
. Lohan's cast forced Meyers to shoot the film in motion control
Motion control
Motion control is a sub-field of automation, in which the position or velocity of machines are controlled using some type of device such as a hydraulic pump, linear actuator, or an electric motor, generally a servo...
, a requirement she considered rather complicated. "I really didn’t know how to do it," she said. "We had a prep day to go over the process, and by the end of the day I had a little better understanding. But I approached the movie like it wasn’t an effects film; I just tried to make it authentic." Released to mixed critics, The Parent Trap brought in $92 million worldwide.
2000s
In 1998, following the succes of The Parent Trap and her separation from Shyer, Disney's Touchstone PicturesTouchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
chairman Joe Roth asked Meyers to reconstruct an original script named Head Games about a man who gains the power to hear everything women are thinking, an idea originally conceived by The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
producers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. Subsequently, Meyers penned two drafts of the script before agreeing to direct, but as Roth left the studio in January 1999, Disney dismissed the film and the project eventually went to Paramount. By the following year, Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
and Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
had signed on to star in leading roles and the project had been retitled What Women Want
What Women Want
What Women Want is a 2000 American romantic comedy film, directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The movie was a box office success with a domestic gross of $182,811,707 and a worldwide gross of $374,111,707, against a budget of $70 million.-Plot:Nick Marshall, a Chicago...
. Released in 2000 to mixed reviews, it became the then-most successful film ever directed by a woman, taking in $183 million in the United States, and grossing upward of $370 million worldwide.
Following her divorce, Meyers wrote and directed the post-divorce comedy Something's Gotta Give
Something's Gotta Give (film)
Something's Gotta Give is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers for both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. It stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life,...
(2003), starring Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
and Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life, despite being complete opposites. Nicholson and Keaton, aged 63 and 57 respectively, were seen as bold casting choices for leads in a romantic comedy, and Twentieth Century Fox, the film's original studio, reportedly declined to produce the film, fearing that the lead characters were too old to be bankable.
While critical reaction to the film as a whole was more measured, Something's Gotta Give received generally favorable notice and became a surprise box-office hit following its North American release, eventually grossing US$266,600,000 worldwide, mostly from its international run.
It's Complicated
It's Complicated (film)
It's Complicated is a 2009 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nancy Meyers, starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.-Plot:...
earned Meyers a Golden Globe nomination for Best Screenplay and Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a comedy as well. Both films domestically grossed more than $100 million each in their initial release alone.
Personal life
Meyers separated from Charles ShyerCharles Shyer
Charles Richard Shyer is an American film director, writer and producer. Shyer's films are predominantly comedies, often with a romantic-comedy overtone...
in 1999, and subsequently divorced. They have two daughters, Annie Meyers-Shyer and Hallie Meyers-Shyer, both of whom have had minor roles in their films. Meyers currently resides in Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | |||
| 1980 | Private Benjamin Private Benjamin Private Benjamin is a 1980 American comedy film starring Goldie Hawn. The film was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980, and also spawned a short-lived television series. The film is ranked 82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" poll, and 59 on Bravo's "100 Funniest... |
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award.... Nominated – Academy Award for Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. Before 1940, there was an Academy Award for Best Story for writing. For 1940, it and the award in this article were separated into two awards. Beginning with the... |
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| 1984 | Irreconcilable Differences Irreconcilable differences The concept of irreconcilable differences provides a possible ground for divorce in a number of jurisdictions.In Australian family law with no-fault divorce it is the sole ground, adequate proof being that the estranged couple have been separated more than 12 months.In the United States it can be... |
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| Protocol Protocol (film) Protocol is a 1984 comedy film that starred Goldie Hawn and Chris Sarandon. The screenplay was by Buck Henry and it was directed by Herbert Ross.... |
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| 1987 | Baby Boom Baby Boom (film) Baby Boom is a 1987 comedy film starring Diane Keaton. The film also launched a subsequent television show starring Kate Jackson, running from 1988 to 1989. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti and the cinematography was by William A. Fraker.... |
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | |||
| 1991 | Father of the Bride Father of the Bride (1991 film) Father of the Bride is a 1991 American comedy film starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, George Newbern, Martin Short, B.D. Wong and Kieran Culkin. It is a remake of the 1950 movie of the same name... |
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| 1992 | Once Upon a Crime Once Upon A Crime Once Upon a Crime is a 1992 ensemble comedy film starring, among others; Richard Lewis, John Candy, James Belushi, Cybill Shepherd, Sean Young and Ornella Muti. The film was directed by Eugene Levy.- Plot :... |
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| 1994 | I Love Trouble | ||||
| 1995 | Father of the Bride Part II Father of the Bride Part II Father of the Bride Part II is a 1995 comedy film starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short. The movie is a sequel to Father of the Bride and a re-make of the sequel to the original version, Father's Little Dividend.-Synopsis:... |
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| 1998 | The Parent Trap The Parent Trap (1998 film) The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their... |
Nominated – Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature - Comedy | |||
| 2000 | What Women Want What Women Want What Women Want is a 2000 American romantic comedy film, directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The movie was a box office success with a domestic gross of $182,811,707 and a worldwide gross of $374,111,707, against a budget of $70 million.-Plot:Nick Marshall, a Chicago... |
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| 2003 | Something's Gotta Give Something's Gotta Give (film) Something's Gotta Give is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers for both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. It stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life,... |
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| 2006 | The Holiday The Holiday The Holiday is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios, it stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who temporarily exchange homes to... |
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| 2009 | It's Complicated It's Complicated (film) It's Complicated is a 2009 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nancy Meyers, starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.-Plot:... |
Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Comedy Film Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award... Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Film – Musical or Comedy |