Malia Scotch Marmo

Malia Scotch Marmo is an American screenwriter, best known for writing Lasse Hallstrom's Once Around and Steven Spielberg's Hook. Most recently, Scotch Marmo collaborated with Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar on Good Morning Karachi. Scotch Marmo also teaches screenwriting and, through the Sundance Institute and other organizations, mentors aspiring filmmakers.

Scotch Marmo was born and raised in Wakefield, Massachusetts. After receiving an associate degree from Bunker Hill Community College, she went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree as a double major in English Literature and Spanish Language and Literature at Boston University, and her Master of Fine Arts from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1988. In 2012, Scotch Marmo received the Andrew Sarris award, which honors outstanding service and artistic achievement by distinguished Columbia Film Program alumni.

While Scotch Marmo was still enrolled in Columbia University's graduate film program, her thesis screenplay was acquired by producers Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne. Robinson and Dunne brought the script to Swedish director Lasse Hallström and, in 1991, Once Around became his first American film, starring Richard Dreyfus and Holly Hunter. Also while at Columbia, Scotch Marmo directed an award-winning short film entitled A Secret Thing.

During pre-production for Once Around, Scotch Marmo came to the attention of acclaimed film director Steven Spielberg, who hired her to write Hook, also released in 1991. Hook starred Robin Williams as an adult Peter Pan, Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, and Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell. Scotch Marmo shared writing credit with James V. Hart and also served as associate producer on the film. While Hook was being shot, Scotch Marmo began working on her next Spielberg project, Jurassic Park, released in 1993. Jurassic Park, which has had four sequels to date, starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough. Scotch Marmo wrote the second draft of Jurassic Park, between the drafts of novelist Michael Crichton and David Koepp.

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