Biography

Valarie was born in Camden, South Carolina. She studied and worked in New York, then Los Angeles, supporting herself with acting roles, national and international commercials and exercising horses, while pursuing her writing career. Her first original screenplay, Hush, led to working opportunities with Rob Reiner, when it was originally introduced to Castle Rock Entertainment by Bill Badalato and Rick Montgomery. The script, Have Mercy, was introduced to Rob Reiner and Jeffrey Stott, when it was optioned by Barry Spikings at Castle Rock Entertainment with Shirley MacLaine to star, and with Peter Bogdanovich to direct. In 2006, the script Have Mercy (2006), was optioned by Lloyd Phillips and Beau St. Clair at MGM and Sony Pictures with Kathy Bates to direct. Valarie's original screenplay, La chevauchée de Virginia (2002), is a story based on her own horse-obsessed youth and titled in honor of her maternal grandmother. The film was shot in Nova Scotia, and is a recipient of the 2002 Crystal Heart Award for Best Dramatic Feature Film. Disney Pictures and Shoelace Productions hired Valarie to adapt two novels by autistic author Donna Williams into a screenplay titled Nobody Nowhere for Julia Roberts. Author Donna Williams participated as a producer through Shoelace during Valarie's employment on the project. Valarie adapted the Joyce Carol Oates play, The Eclipse, into a television screenplay for producers Bela Bajaria at CBS, and Shanna Nussbaum with Cosmic Entertainment; and, was hired by Catch 23 Entertainment to write an original screenplay for Salma Hayek. She continues to write for television and film, but her main focus has been on education. She optioned her latest project, Writer Warriors, through CBS which takes a stern look at government involvement in education in the Deep South.

Valarie lives in California and South Carolina.

- IMDb mini biography by: managing assistant