Elizabeth Meriwether

{{for|the early 20th century suffrage figure|Elizabeth Avery Meriwether}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Elizabeth Meriwether

| image = Flickr - Genevieve719 - Elizabeth Meriwether (cropped).jpg

| birth_name = Elizabeth Hughes Meriwether

| birth_date = {{birth date and age |1981|10|11}}

| birth_place = Miami, Florida, U.S.

| occupation = Playwright, screenwriter, television producer, showrunner

| years_active = 2000–present

| education = Yale University {{small|(BA)}}
Juilliard School {{small|(GrDip)}}

| notable_works = New Girl
No Strings Attached

| children = 3{{cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwqs1qYx9ws/?igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg== |website=www.instagram.com |access-date=3 September 2023}}

}}

Elizabeth Hughes Meriwether (born October 11, 1981) is an American writer, producer and television showrunner.{{cite news | last = Bello | first = Grace | url = http://bitchmagazine.org/post/womans-work-when-women-run-the-show-draft | title = When Women Run the Show | date = January 10, 2013 | access-date = January 29, 2013 | archive-date = January 16, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130116131203/http://bitchmagazine.org/post/womans-work-when-women-run-the-show-draft | url-status = live }} She is known for creating the Fox sitcom New Girl, and for writing the play Oliver Parker! (2010) and the romantic comedy film No Strings Attached (2011). She also created the ABC sitcoms Single Parents and Bless This Mess and the Hulu drama The Dropout.

Early life

Meriwether was born on October 11, 1981, in Miami, Florida. Her family moved from Miami to Detroit, Michigan, when she was five years old, and then to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when she was 10. Her father, Heath J. Meriwether, was the publisher of the newspaper Detroit Free Press, and her mother, Patricia Hughes Meriweather{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}, was a painter.

Meriwether grew up aspiring to be an actress, but when she wrote her first play, she realized she wanted to be a playwright instead. Meriwether graduated from Greenhills High School in Ann Arbor.{{cite web | url=https://www.greenhillsschool.org/knowledge-base/liz-meriwether-00-debuts-new-comedy-new-girl/ | title=Liz Meriwether '00 Debuts New Comedy "New Girl" | date=20 September 2011 | access-date=7 March 2022 | archive-date=7 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307190355/https://www.greenhillsschool.org/knowledge-base/liz-meriwether-00-debuts-new-comedy-new-girl/ | url-status=live }} in 2000.

Education

Meriwether graduated from Yale University in 2005. She double-majored in English and theater studies.{{cite news|last=Hinds |first=Julie |title=Former Detroiter aimed to craft a modern look at young love |page=54|work=Detroit Free Press |date=January 16, 2011 }}

Career

Meriwether wrote the plays Heddatron (2006), The Mistakes Madeline Made (2006) and Oliver Parker! (2010).

She held a showcase of her plays in Los Angeles, in which a young Emma Stone was cast. Meriwether has credited the showcase and Stone's participation as an important point in her career trajectory.{{Cite news|url=http://ew.com/article/2016/04/20/liz-meriwether-emma-stone-tribeca-panel/|title=New Girl creator Liz Meriwether: I owe my career to Emma Stone|work=EW.com|access-date=2018-01-11|language=en|archive-date=2018-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111224151/http://ew.com/article/2016/04/20/liz-meriwether-emma-stone-tribeca-panel/|url-status=live}}

Upon moving to Los Angeles, Meriwether developed a play called Sluts. As part of a program to help aspiring playwrights adapt their scripts for television, she turned the idea into a television pilot. The pilot, described as "a raunchy, honest look at the messy dating lives of twentysomething women" was filmed for 20th Century Fox Television, but ultimately not picked up. However, it succeeded in establishing Meriwether as a distinctive comedic voice.{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/113170/liz-meriwether-new-girl-creator-anti-lena-dunham|title=Not That Kind of Girl|magazine=New Republic|access-date=2018-01-11|language=en-US|archive-date=2013-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111150707/http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113170/liz-meriwether-new-girl-creator-anti-lena-dunham|url-status=live}}

In 2010, she wrote an episode of Adult Swim's Childrens Hospital.{{Cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/06/a-guide-to-your-favorite-showrunners-first-shows/carter-bays-and-craig-thomas-late-show-with-david|title=A Guide to Your Favorite Showrunners' First ShowsCarter Bays and Craig Thomas, Late Show with David Letterman|website=Complex|language=en|access-date=2018-01-11|archive-date=2018-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111231215/http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/06/a-guide-to-your-favorite-showrunners-first-shows/carter-bays-and-craig-thomas-late-show-with-david|url-status=live}}

Meriwether wrote the 2011 romantic comedy film No Strings Attached, directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. The film's working title was Fuckbuddies.

After her success with No Strings Attached, 20th Century Fox Television approached Meriwether about developing another television series.{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/new-girl-creator-liz-meriwether-in-overall-deal-with-20th-tv-exclusive-1200563392/|title='New Girl' Creator Liz Meriwether in Overall Deal with 20th TV (EXCLUSIVE)|last=Littleton|first=Cynthia|date=2013-07-16|work=Variety|access-date=2018-01-11|language=en-US|archive-date=2013-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203075912/http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/new-girl-creator-liz-meriwether-in-overall-deal-with-20th-tv-exclusive-1200563392/|url-status=live}} Meriwether pitched an idea about an "offbeat girl moving in with three single guys",{{Cite web|url=http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=4787|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130910094600/http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=4787|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-09-10|title=New Girl's Elizabeth Meriwether|date=2013-09-10|website=archive.is|access-date=2018-01-11}} inspired by her experience of "bouncing from Craigslist sublet to Craigslist sublet, for four years in L.A." when she was in her twenties.{{Cite news|url=http://collider.com/zooey-deschanel-liz-meriwether-new-girl-interview/|title=Zooey Deschanel and Liz Meriwether NEW GIRL Interview|date=2012-01-15|work=Collider|access-date=2018-01-11|language=en-US|archive-date=2013-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005035135/http://collider.com/zooey-deschanel-liz-meriwether-new-girl-interview/|url-status=live}}

The show, New Girl, was greenlit in 2011 with an initial order of 13 episodes and Zooey Deschanel in the title role. It aired 146 episodes over seven seasons. It was well received by critics and nominated for a number of awards, including five Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards.

In 2013, she signed a multi-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television, to develop additional projects for the studio. Her deal was renewed in 2019.{{Cite web|last=Thorne|first=Will|date=2019-04-30|title=Liz Meriwether Inks New 20th Century Fox TV Deal|url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/liz-meriwether-20th-century-fox-tv-deal-1203201244/|access-date=2021-03-14|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225110334/https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/liz-meriwether-20th-century-fox-tv-deal-1203201244/|url-status=live}}

Meriwether received put pilot commitment from ABC for the show Woman Up. She worked on the project with Zoe Lister-Jones, and Jason Winer.{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=2018-10-08 |title=ABC Nabs 'Woman Up' Comedy From Zoe Lister-Jones, Liz Meriwether & Jason Winer As Put Pilot |url=https://deadline.com/2018/10/abc-comedy-woman-up-zoe-lister-jones-liz-meriwether-jason-winer-put-pilot-1202478865/ |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927185356/https://deadline.com/2018/10/abc-comedy-woman-up-zoe-lister-jones-liz-meriwether-jason-winer-put-pilot-1202478865/ |url-status=live }}

= The Fempire =

Meriwether is part of "The Fempire", a group of female screenwriters that includes Dana Fox, Diablo Cody and Lorene Scafaria.{{cite news | last = Branch | first = Kate | url = http://www.interviewmagazine.com/blogs/culture/2010-05-17/liz-meriwether/ | title = Liz Meriwether: Beginning and End of the Fempire | work = Interview | date = May 17, 2010 | access-date = 2011-01-20 | archive-date = 2010-05-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100526045818/http://www.interviewmagazine.com/blogs/culture/2010-05-17/liz-meriwether/ | url-status = live }} In 2012, the Fempire received the Athena Film Festival Award for Creativity and Sisterhood at Barnard College in New York City.The Athena Film Festival: http://athenafilmfestival.com/

Meriwether is also a well-known feminist, who has done stand-up comedy, and performed for The Vagina Monologues in Las Vegas.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}

Filmography

Film

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Title

! Writer

! Co-producer

2011

| No Strings Attached

| {{yes}}

Television

class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" \|Year ! rowspan="2" \|Title ! colspan="4" \|Credited as ! rowspan="2" \|Network
Creator !Writer !Executive Producer !Director
2011–2018 \|New Girl \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|Fox
2018–2020 \|Single Parents \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{no}} \|rowspan="2"\|ABC
2019–2020 \|Bless This Mess \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{no}}
2019 \|Woman Up \|{{No}} \|{{Yes}} \|{{Yes}} \|{{No}} \|ABC
2022 \|The Dropout \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{yes}} \|{{no}} \|Hulu
2025 \|Dying for Sex \|{{No}} \|{{Yes}} \|{{Yes}} \|{{No}} \|FX

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! rowspan="2" |Title

! colspan="4" |Credited as

! rowspan="2" |Network

Creator

!Writer

!Executive
Producer

!Director

2011–2018

|New Girl

|{{yes}}