Robin Swicord
Writing
Biography
Robin Stender Swicord (born October 23, 1952) is an American screenwriter, film director, and playwright best known for literary adaptations. Her notable screenplays include Little Women (1994), Matilda (1996), Practical Magic (1998), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), the latter of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. She wrote and directed the 2007 film The Jane Austen Book Club. Swicord is the wife of screenwriter Nicholas Kazan and the mother of actresses Zoe Kazan and Maya Kazan. She is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Directors member. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robin Swicord, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Little Women
Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.
Matilda
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.
When They See Us
Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian's vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, dies unexpectedly, the Owens sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. With policeman Gary Hallet growing suspicious, the girls struggle to resurrect Angelov -- and unwittingly inject his corpse with an evil spirit that threatens to end their family line.
Practical Magic
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Little Women
Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, a love triangle develops between Mikael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated artist Ana, and Chris, a renowned American journalist based in Paris.
The Promise
The Owens sisters must confront the dark curse that threatens to unravel their family once and for all.
Practical Magic 2
Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen. As they delve into Austen's literature, the club members find themselves dealing with life experiences that parallel the themes of the books they are reading.
The Jane Austen Book Club
A man's nervous breakdown causes him to leave his wife and live in his attic for several months.
Wakefield
In the midst of the Mariel boat lift -- a hurried exodus of refugees from Cuba going to America -- an immigration clerk accidentally presumes that dissident Juan Raul Perez and Dorita Evita Perez are married. United by their last name and a mutual resolve to emigrate, Dorita and Juan agree to play along. But it gets complicated when the two begin falling for each other just as Juan reunites with his wife, Carmela, whom he hasn't seen in decades.
The Perez Family
Summer of 1963. Carson is getting married to her boyfriend so her friends Melaina, Pudge and Luanne take her to Myrtle Beach for one last irresponsible weekend.
Shag
"You Ruined My Life" was a cute TV movie (from the Wonderful World of Disney movies that they show on Saturday or Sunday nights) starring Soleil Moon Frye as Minerva, a spoiled girl who lived in a Las Vegas casino with her Uncle Howie who lets her do whatever she wants. Minerva gets into trouble a lot, and her Aunt Hermione threatens to take her away from Uncle Howie. Paul Reiser plays Dexter, a professor who figures out a way to win every time at blackjack. Dexter gets caught at cheating, and Uncle Howie works out a deal for Dexter to tutor Minerva so she can get into a private school back east. This is easier said than done, because Minerva has never been interested in school.
You Ruined My Life
An adventurer gets caught up in a plot to kill Fidel Castro.
Cuba Crossing
The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy, the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years. Frances Marion wrote screenplays for the Hollywood Star Mary Pickford and won two Oscars, Dorothy Arzner was the most powerful film director in Hollywood. And what do all of them have in common? They are all women and they have all been forgotten. Incredibly, it also took until 2010 for the first woman, Kathryn Bigelow, to win the Oscar for Best Director. Even if underrepresented women have always played a big part in Hollywood and it is this part of the film history left untold that this documentary sets out to uncover.