Laeta Kalogridis is a Greek American screenwriter and executive producer who has worked on some of this year’s biggest blockbuster films.
She helped James Cameron write the script for his epic Avatar and also contributed to Scorsese’s spine-tingling Shutter Island.
At a recent press junket for Shutter Island, Kalogridis talked to Greek Hollywood Reporter about her adoration for the novel on which the film is based and how ancient Greek tragedy has shaped her work.
Shutter Island is a psychological mystery that keeps the viewer guessing literally until its end.
There is a massive twist to the story; some people figure it out from the get-go, some people discover it once it is revealed.
No matter which category you fall into, I guarantee you will still be trying to figure out the meaning for days after the credits have run. It truly is a remarkable picture.
Kalogridis wrote the screenplay after reading the novel, “When I read it, I thought it was an amazing book.” After auctioning the rights to the story by Dennis Lehane, the script was moved through the chain and eventually landed in Scorsese’s’ lap, “We were very lucky that the material itself became available when it did.” On discussing the story’s content, Kalogridis expressed that she felt it possessed many elements of a Greek tragedy, “He is in a situation that is beyond his control. There is no escape for him and in that way, to me, it’s a very mythological tale”.
Collaborating with such an awe-inspiring talent as Martin Scorsese is definitely something her admirers marvel at, including me.
In her eyes, Scorsese is an incredible human being, “To work with him was an incredible experience and it continues to be. It’s the kind of thing that writers dream about getting to do; to work with him all the way through the process was incredible”.
Gorgeous Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead in Shutter Island, and of course the interviewee questioned Kalogiridis on his abilities, “He’s an amazing actor in a way that is almost scary”.
The talented screenwriter is very proud of her Greek heritage. As the interviews goes on, she details her adoration for Greek content in the stories being told today, “All stories come back to Greek routes. I really mean that.
“Everything I do has been informed by Greek mythology. I grew up with Medusa and Perseus, not your typical childhood fairytales.”
Avatar is the other blockbuster Kalogridis can be proud to put her name to as executive producer.
The science fiction epic film was written and directed by James Cameron and stars Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriquez and Aussie actor Sam Worthington.
Production for the feature began more than a decade ago, and it is officially budgeted at $237 million. Avatar is considered a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras specifically designed for its production.
The film premiered in London at the end of last year and grossed $27 million on opening day in the United States and Canada. Due to such success, Avatar was released internationally two days earlier than originally planned and grossed $232 million worldwide during its first five days of global release. This result only exceeded the success of one other film in history, Cameron’s epic Titanic.
Kalogridis is also the founder of the pro-union website Hollywood United and played an active role as a peacemaker in the 2007 to 2008 Writers Guild of America strike.