Nancy Meyers
NANCY MEYERS is a trailblazing writer, director, and producer who has created a body of work focusing on the female experience with her exceptionally literate and sophisticated comedies. Tapping into the very heart of modern relationships, she chronicles women and men, at work and in love, in a singular fashion that makes each film instantly recognizable as a Nancy Meyers movie. In 2020, Meyers was the recipient of the Writers Guild of America’s highest honor, The Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.
As a writer/producer, Meyers’ first film was the groundbreaking Private Benjamin (1980) starring Goldie Hawn, which Meyers produced and co-wrote with Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller. Released in 1980, the film bucked conventional wisdom at the time, which dictated that a female lead could not open a movie without a male star. The story of a pampered young woman who joins the Army, Private Benjamin became a huge hit domestically and internationally. The screenplay earned Meyers the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen, and the film earned three Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Goldie Hawn was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy. After the success of Private Benjamin, Meyers co-wrote and produced the critically acclaimed Irreconcilable Differences (1984), followed by Baby Boom (1987) starring Diane Keaton; and the box-office hits Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride Part II (1995), both of which starred Steve Martin and Keaton.
Following two decades of successful screenwriting and producing, Meyers made an auspicious directorial debut with the highly popular Disney picture The Parent Trap (1998), an update of the 1961 classic. Meyers also co-wrote the film, which starred Dennis Quaid and Lindsay Lohan.
Meyers then directed the blockbuster romantic comedy What Women Want (2000), starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, which enjoyed critical acclaim and an international box-office success. For his role, Gibson received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor—Musical or Comedy.
In 2003, Meyers wrote, directed and produced Something’s Gotta Give starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, along with Keanu Reeves, Frances McDormand, and Amanda Peet. Both Nicholson and Keaton received Golden Globe nominations for their performances and Keaton won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy. Keaton was also nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Erica Barry in the film.
In 2004, Meyers received the ShoWest Director of the Year Award. She is the first woman ever to receive this prestigious honor.
In 2006, Meyers wrote, directed and produced The Holiday starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and Jack Black. The comedy was another hit at the worldwide box office.
With 2009’s It’s Complicated, Meyers wrote, produced and directed an all-star cast in a comedy about love, divorce and everything in between. Starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, It’s Complicated earned three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Picture. The film was a box office hit worldwide.
In 2015, Meyers wrote, directed, and produced The Intern, a comedy about a new kind of bond between men and women—friendship. The film stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway along with a multi-generational cast and was a hit at the worldwide box office.
Most recently, Meyers joined forces with her daughter, Hallie Meyers-Shyer, to write, produce, and direct Home Again (2017), a sophisticated and modern romantic comedy starring Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon.