IRENE MECCHI (Screenwriter) continues her winning streak at Disney Feature Animation with her valuable contribution to the screenplay for "Hercules." The talented writer previously collaborated on the screenplay for Disney's mega-hit, "The Lion King," and also added dialogue and key story elements as a screenwriter for the 1996 animated release, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Among her most recent accomplishments, she co-wrote the upcoming stage adaptation of "The Lion King," due for a Broadway bow this fall at the magnificent New Amsterdam Theatre.
A third generation San Franciscan, Mecchi studied theater and literature at UC Berkeley. Her aspirations to direct theater led her to the renowned American Conservatory Theater (ACT), where her instructor, Second City alumnus Joy Carlin, was impressed with her writing and encouraged her to pursue it on a full-time basis. Mecchi's first network writing assignment was on the Emmy Award-winning Lily Tomlin special, "Lily: Sold Out." Prior to that she wrote a series of children's programs for Nickelodeon.
Mecchi's television sitcom credits also include "Valerie," "The Popcorn Kid" and a season as staff writer on "My Sister Sam."
Several years ago, Mecchi researched and wrote a play drawn from 50 years of legendary newspaper columns by the late Herb Caen, renowned for his witty observations of San Francisco. The play was "work-shopped" at ACT and led Mecchi to edit two books of Caen writings, which were published in 1992 and 1993: The Best of Herb Caen: 1960-1975 and Herb Caen's San Francisco: 1976-1991.
The writer began her association with Disney in March, 1992, when she wrote a 10-minute animated short called "Recycle Rex." That film encouraged younger viewers to "recycle, reduce and reuse" waste materials.
In June, 1992, she was brought into the feature animation department on "The Lion King" and was teamed with Jonathan Roberts ("The Sure Thing," The Official Preppy Handbook) for the project.
Mecchi's next screenwriting assignment for Disney is on the upcoming animated feature, "Kingdom of the Sun," a South American-based adventure tale which reteams her with Roger Allers, who directed "The Lion King" and also co-wrote the book for the stage adaptation of that film.
