Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
| Sarah Shapiro | |
|---|---|
Shapiro at the 75th Annual Peabody Awards
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| Born | Santa Barbara, California US |
| Alma mater | Sarah Lawrence College |
| Occupation | Writer-Director |
| Years active | 2005- |
| Known for | UnREAL |
| Home town | Santa Barbara, California |
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro is an American filmmaker and television writer best known for co-creating the Lifetime television series UnREAL with Marti Noxon.
Shapiro was born in Santa Barbara, California, to mother Diane Wolf (née Wallace) and father Perry Shapiro, a professor. She has a sister, Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza, who is an academic.
Shapiro said she started writing when she was five years old, a book called Ergant Cries Ignored. At the age of 16, after attending a film class at Santa Barbara City College, Shapiro decided she wanted to be a director.
Shapiro graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in with a BA in Fiction Writing and Filmmaking.
After college, Shapiro interned at Christine Vachon's production company, Killer Films, and then worked for photographer David LaChapelle as a studio manager. In 2002, affected by the events of September 11 attacks and wanting to be closer to family, Shapiro moved to Los Angeles, California.
In Los Angeles, Shapiro found work on the reality TV show High School Reunion, unknowingly signing a contract with the production company that allowed them to move her to different shows at their discretion, and which committed Shapiro to "unlimited renewable options for perpetuity." Shapiro would eventually become a producer on The Bachelor TV franchise, a role she strongly disliked, but which would play an influential part in her later career. She worked on the show for nine seasons over the course of three years, going from associate producer to field producer.
In 2005, seeking to leave reality television and end her restrictive non-compete employment contract (which was only effective in California), Shapiro moved to Portland, Oregon, where she worked at the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. Shapiro was familiar with Portland from having interned at Portland's Northwest Film Center during college, where she met filmmakers Miranda July and other local artists and filmmakers. Initially she planned to be a kale farmer.
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