Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro is the Emmy-nominated, AFI Award winning co-creator and executive producer of UnREAL, which she developed and sold based on her SXSW award-winning short film Sequin Raze.
Starring Shiri Appleby and Emmy-nominated Constance Zimmer, UnREAL gave a fictitious behind-the scenes glimpse into the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition program.
UnREAL garnered rave reviews in its first season and was included on Best of 2015 lists ranging from The New Yorker to Time Magazine. The series received an AFI Award, and was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award, along with three Critics' Choice Awards, with Constance Zimmer winning the Critics' Choice Award. UnREAL was also honored with two Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode written by Shapiro and Marti Noxon.
Shapiro directed many episodes of UnREAL throughout the four-season run, Executive Produced and wrote on every season and wrote and directed the spin off series The Faith Diaries, which follow "UnREAL's beloved season one contestant, Faith (Breeda Wool).A stalwart supporter of women, Shapiro was one of the early faces of the Broad Focus initiative at A+E and Lifetime, and announced a commitment to hire female directors at The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Breakfast, giving a portion of her TED Talk chronicling her own journey in Hollywood. Since UnREAL she's gone on to a multiyear overall deal at ABC, developed shows for Hulu & Fox, written features for Amazon and others, recently served as the consulting producer on the first season the CBS breakout hit, MATLOCK, and has TV shows in development with CBS as well as Amazon.
Originally from Santa Barbara, CA, Shapiro started writing when she was five years old, and decided she was a director at 16 and has pursued it ever since. Shapiro graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in Fiction Writing and Filmmaking and came of age in New York indie film, interning at Killer Films with Christine Vachon, and cutting her teeth in the experimental film scene with the likes of Miranda July. After accidentally landing a job in reality TV, and subsequently fleeing to the wilds of Oregon, she returned to Hollywood with her series UnREAL and now enjoys a flourishing career in scripted television and film and continues her commitment to diversity hiring and women's initiatives.
Starring Shiri Appleby and Emmy-nominated Constance Zimmer, UnREAL gave a fictitious behind-the scenes glimpse into the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition program.
UnREAL garnered rave reviews in its first season and was included on Best of 2015 lists ranging from The New Yorker to Time Magazine. The series received an AFI Award, and was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award, along with three Critics' Choice Awards, with Constance Zimmer winning the Critics' Choice Award. UnREAL was also honored with two Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode written by Shapiro and Marti Noxon.
Shapiro directed many episodes of UnREAL throughout the four-season run, Executive Produced and wrote on every season and wrote and directed the spin off series The Faith Diaries, which follow "UnREAL's beloved season one contestant, Faith (Breeda Wool).A stalwart supporter of women, Shapiro was one of the early faces of the Broad Focus initiative at A+E and Lifetime, and announced a commitment to hire female directors at The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Breakfast, giving a portion of her TED Talk chronicling her own journey in Hollywood. Since UnREAL she's gone on to a multiyear overall deal at ABC, developed shows for Hulu & Fox, written features for Amazon and others, recently served as the consulting producer on the first season the CBS breakout hit, MATLOCK, and has TV shows in development with CBS as well as Amazon.
Originally from Santa Barbara, CA, Shapiro started writing when she was five years old, and decided she was a director at 16 and has pursued it ever since. Shapiro graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in Fiction Writing and Filmmaking and came of age in New York indie film, interning at Killer Films with Christine Vachon, and cutting her teeth in the experimental film scene with the likes of Miranda July. After accidentally landing a job in reality TV, and subsequently fleeing to the wilds of Oregon, she returned to Hollywood with her series UnREAL and now enjoys a flourishing career in scripted television and film and continues her commitment to diversity hiring and women's initiatives.
