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Karey Kirkpatrick
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Karey Kirkpatrick

Karey Kirkpatrick made his directorial debut on DreamWorks Animation's summer hit Over the Hedge. Kirkpatrick's writing credits encompass both live-action and animated features. Together with his writing partner, Chris Poche, he also wrote an original comedy entitled Flakes, which Kirkpatrick also produced. The film stars Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Lloyd and Aaron Stanford. He is currently serving as a writer/producer of Paramount's and Nickelodeon's The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Kirkpatrick attended a performing arts high school and started out as an actor. His career pursuits eventually landed him on the streets of Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center, where he performed improvisational audience-participation street theater. As his artistic focus turned to writing, he was accepted to the USC School of Cinema-Television's Filmic Writing Program, where he won the Robert Riskin Screenwriting Award and the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award.

Immediately out of film school, Kirkpatrick landed a job as a staff writer at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he worked for more than three years. During that time, he earned his first screenwriting credit as a co-writer on The Rescuers Down Under. Since then, Kirkpatrick has been working almost non-stop as a freelance screenwriter. He co-wrote the comedy Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, which, together with his animation experience, led to his co-writing the acclaimed stop-motion animated feature James and the Giant Peach. In addition, he adapted the film's script into a children's storybook, featuring illustrations and conceptual designs by award-winning illustrator Lane Smith.

Kirkpatrick went on to write the screenplay for DreamWorks' and Aardman's award-winning clay-animated comedy Chicken Run, which was named the best-reviewed movie of 2000. On the live-action side, he co-wrote the screenplay for the family comedy fantasy The Little Vampire. He more recently collaborated with author Douglas Adams on the screenplay for the sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based on Adams' enduring bestseller.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.

Karey Kirkpatrick Facts

OccupationScreenwriter, Director

Selected Filmography

Not available.