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 (1998), and Because I Said So (2007). Hopkins also wrote and directed Miss Meadows (2014), 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 (1990), directed by Jim Abrahams and starring Winona Ryder and Jeff Daniels. She later co-wrote the screenplay for Stepmom (1998), a drama about blended families starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. She also wrote the romantic comedy Because I Said So (2007), 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.

Awards Hopkins received a Humanitas Prize in the Children's Live-Action category for co-writing the teleplay Searching for David's Heart, which aired on ABC Family in 2005. She also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Special for the Showtime TV movie What Girls Learn.

Current projects According to interviews, Hopkins is developing multiple original projects, including a horror feature titled lil holly o, a film for Sony called Twisted Sister, and a series with Netflix titled Aqua Tofana.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role(s) Notes 1990 Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael Writer, Executive Producer 1998 Stepmom Screenwriter Co-writer 2007 Because I Said So Screenwriter 2014 Miss Meadows Writer, Director, Executive Producer Premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2020 Love Is Love Is Love Screenwriter Segment: "Late Lunch"

Television Year Title Role(s) Notes 2001 What Girls Learn Teleplay Lifetime TV movie 2001 A Woman's a Helluva Thing Writer, Director Made-for-TV movie starring Penelope Ann Miller 2004 Searching for David's Heart Co-writer Won Humanitas Prize (Children's Live-Action) 2020 You Can't Take My Daughter Writer, Producer Lifetime TV movie 2020 Little Voice Writer, Consulting Producer Apple TV+ – 2 episodes written, 9 episodes produced

Acting Roles Year Title Role Notes 1983 Going Berserk Aerobics Leader 1984 Cloak & Dagger Receptionist 1987 The Running Man Brenda 1994 Corrina, Corrina Liala Sheffield 1995 Dillinger and Capone Ragtop Blonde 2007 Because I Said So Milly's Staff #2 Cameo

In Development Title Role(s) Notes Aqua Tofana Creator, Writer Netflix series based on a 17th-century Italian poisoner Twisted Sister Writer Feature film in development with Sony Pictures lil holly o Writer, Director Horror feature in development