No Boys Club In ‘Transformers’ Writers Room: Christina Hodson, Lindsey Beer Join Brain Trust
EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay have added the first two female screenwriters to the brain trust of writers who’ll hatch Transformers sequels, prequels and spinoffs under the supervision of Akiva Goldsman. Christina Hodson and Lindsey Beer have both joined the group that will help craft ideas to expand the universe of the Hasbro toy line, then go off and write them. Hodson most recently got hired to write a new version of The Fugitive for Warner Bros and producer Arnold Kopelson. She previously scripted the spec The Eden Project, which Sony bought for Material Pictures, and her script Shut In just wrapped with Naomi Watts starring and BAFTA-winner Farren Blackburn directing for Lava Bear and Europacorp. The CAA and Kaplan/Perrone-repped scribe also scripted Unforgettable for Warner Bros and is developing a pilot for FX. She has hit the Black List with her scripts three different times.
WME-repped Beer writes in multiple genres, but most frequently comedy and fantasy drama. She has several features set up around town, including a live-action family adventure story at Disney called Dig, which she sold on spec with Whitaker Entertainment producing. She did work on Short Circuit for The Weinstein Company and her rated-R genre-bending comedy How To Nail An Alien is being developed at Atlas, and her script Electric is also with Whitaker. She’s currently working on a re-imagined The Wizard Of Oz for Warner Bros. with Vertigo. Black Label Media is producing and financing her project Sierra Burgess Is A Loser. Beer is the daughter of Sundance co-founder Gary Beer, and has the necessary background if Paramount wants to blind them with science in these Transformers films: she studied neuroscience and the intersection of technology and society at Stanford.
They join a growing crop of heavyweight writers who’ll expand the Transformers universe. Ant-Man scribes Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari were the latest to join, with deals to write an origin story for an animated feature, and another live-action film. The first members of the group were Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Iron Man scribes Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, Pacific Rim 2‘s Zak Penn and Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Lost’s Jeff Pinkner.
The studio’s goal is to have a sequel ready for when Bay completes directing the Benghazi drama 13 Hours and other projects to come right behind that one.
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