Sarah Gertrude Shapiro

Sarah Gertrude Shapiro is an American filmmaker and television writer best known for co-creating the Lifetime television series UnREAL with Marti Noxon.

Early life Shapiro was born in Santa Barbara, California, to mother Diane Wolf (née Wallace) and father Perry Shapiro, a professor. She has a sister, Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza, who is an academic. Shapiro is Jewish and grew up celebrating the High Holidays and Passover.

Shapiro said she started writing when she was five years old, a book called Ergant Cries Ignored. At the age of 16, after attending a film class at Santa Barbara City College, Shapiro decided she wanted to be a director.

Career After college, Shapiro interned at Christine Vachon's production company, Killer Films, and then worked for photographer David LaChapelle as a studio manager. In 2002, affected by the events of September 11 attacks and wanting to be closer to family, Shapiro moved to Los Angeles, California. where she worked at the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy.

In 2012, she was one of eight women selected for the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women (DWW), where she wrote and directed the short film Sequin Raze, starring Anna Camp, Ashley Williams, and Frances Conroy. The film went on to win Honorable Mention at South by Southwest Film Festival's Short Film Jury Awards as well as screenings at the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York (MoMA/Lincoln Center) and Palm Springs International film festival.

UnREAL A mentor at the ad agency in Portland, Sally DeSipio, connected Shapiro with Lifetime, where she pitched the show without an agent, and was paired with writer Marti Noxon. and premiered in June 2015.

Shapiro is credited as co-creator, writer, and supervising producer on the show. On July 6, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season of 10 episodes, to premiere in 2016. She spoke about the creation of the series in a lengthy 2016 profile with The New Yorker writer D.T. Max.

Shapiro's previous job working as a field producer on the American reality dating series The Bachelor was the inspiration behind both the short film as well as the Lifetime series. She talked about her journey navigating the world of Hollywood in an independent Tedx TED Conference. During her time while working on The Bachelor, Shapiro was in a band called Mean Streak. which was released on Doggpony Records.

Filmography 2015–2016: UnREAL - TV series (executive producer, created by, written by, teleplay by) 2013: Sequin Raze - TV short (producer, director, writer) 2012: 2nd Best - short (director, writer) 2005: Battlegrounds: King of the Court - TV series documentary (story producer) 2002–2004: The Bachelor - TV show (associate producer, segment producer, field producer) 2003: High School Reunion - TV show (associate producer)