Aaron Waltke
Aaron Waltke | |
---|---|
Born | Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | August 8, 1984
Nationality | American |
Other names | Aaron J. Waltke |
Occupation(s) | screenwriter and television producer |
Notable work |
|
Spouse | Ellen Tremiti (m. 2016) |
Aaron John Waltke (born August 8, 1984)[1] is an American screenwriter and an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning, Annie-nominated executive producer and showrunner.[2][3] He is best known for his work on Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters (2016–2018), Wizards: Tales of Arcadia (2020), Unikitty! (2018–2020), and Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–present).[4][5] In 2020, he was named by The College Magazine as one of its "20 under 40" List.[6]
Early life
Aaron Waltke was born and raised in Greenwood, Indiana and spent some of his childhood on the islands of Sanibel-Captiva in the Gulf of Mexico.[7] He attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he began directing live theatre, performing sketch comedy, and writing screenplays.[8] He moved to Los Angeles, where his work was shown at venues including The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, iO West, The Comedy Store, and the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival.[7]
Career
Film and television
Waltke began his television career producing and directing documentaries for PBS affiliate WTIU. After moving to Los Angeles, he was hired by The National Lampoon as a writer and producer to create original content.[9]
In 2012, he was hired to write a live-action feature film adaptation of The Brave Little Toaster.[10] He was later hired to adapt a live action feature film version of the popular comic strip Heathcliff for the same company.[11]
In 2014, he joined Guillermo del Toro's award-winning Netflix series Trollhunters produced by DreamWorks Animation, for which he was twice-nominated and won an Emmy Award in the category of "Best Writing for an Animated Program," and was nominated for an Annie Award.[8]
He became co-executive producer and co-showrunner on the final installment of the franchise, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, for which he co-wrote the pilot with del Toro. He won a Kidscreen Award for "Best New Series" and was nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Children's Animated Series".[12][13][14]
In 2017, he served as a head writer for a Cartoon Network spinoff of The LEGO Movie entitled Unikitty! produced by Warner Bros. Animation.[15] While there, he co-wrote an episode of Teen Titans Go! for the same creative team.[2]
In July 2019, Waltke joined the television show Star Trek: Prodigy as a writer and producer, later co-executive producer and co-head writer for the series. He previously collaborated with the show's creators, The Hageman Brothers, on Trollhunters.[16] In 2022, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Series" for his work on the show.[17] In 2023, his work received a nomination for a Television Critics Association Award in the category of "Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming."[18] In 2024, his and others' contributions to Star Trek were honored with a Peabody Institutional Award.[19]
In October 2020, Legion M announced that Waltke was attached to develop and executive produce an adult animated feature film with Powerhouse Animation based on George Mann's Ghosts of Manhattan novels, an action sci-fi noir story set in an alternate history 1920s New York.[20]
In 2023, Waltke was hired to develop the story and script for the feature film Transformers One, a prequel film in the Transformers franchise.[21]
Comics and graphic novels
In 2023, Waltke was announced as a writer for DC Comics in the anthology, How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days. The collection explores the strange world of superhero romance in the DC Universe.[22]
Personal life
Waltke is married to fellow writer and published mystery author Ellen Tremiti. They reside in Los Angeles.[23]
Waltke engages in youth activism and outreach. He was the keynote speaker at the 2018 RESET Technology & Creativity Conference, a bi-national event between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, aimed at encouraging youth innovation, creativity, and opportunity across the Mexico–US border.[24]
Selected filmography
Year | Title | Credit |
---|---|---|
2008–2010 | National Lampoon's College Network | Writer, Producer, Director |
2012–2013 | Game Program Attack | Writer (7 episodes) |
2016–2018 | Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia | Writer (52 episodes) |
2017 | Teen Titans Go! | Writer (1 episode) |
2018–2020 | Unikitty! | Head Writer (56 episodes) |
2020 | Wizards: Tales of Arcadia | Showrunner, Co-Executive Producer, Head Writer (10 episodes) |
2021–2023 | Star Trek: Prodigy | Producer, Co-Executive Producer, Writer, Head Writer (40 episodes) |
2024 | Transformers One | Story Development |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media | The 3rd Annual Streamy Awards | Nominated | [25] |
2018 | Kidscreen Awards | Best Writing | Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia | Won | [26] |
Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production | Nominated | [27] | ||
Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program | Won | [28][29] | ||
2019 | Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program | Nominated | [30] | ||
2021 | Outstanding Children's Animated Series | Wizards: Tales of Arcadia | Nominated | [31] | |
Kidscreen Awards | Best New Series | Won | [32] | ||
2022 | Children's and Family Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Series | Star Trek: Prodigy | Nominated | [17][33] |
2023 | Television Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming | Nominated | [18] | |
2024 | Peabody Awards | Peabody Institutional Award | Star Trek, Star Trek: Prodigy | Won | [3][34] |
References
- ^ "Twitter - Aaron Waltke". Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "IMDb page for Aaron Waltke". IMDb. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ a b Peabody Awards (August 21, 2024). "Peabody Awards Official X Account". X. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ Holloway, Daniel (July 7, 2020). "'Wizards,' Final Chapter in Guillermo del Toro's 'Tales of Arcadia' Trilogy, Sets Premiere Date". Variety. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Bennett, Tara (August 5, 2020). "Tales of Arcadia: Guggenheim Talks Beautiful Symmetry of Wrapping Up Netflix Franchise with 'Wizards'". Syfy Wire. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ^ "The College's 20 Under 40". The College. August 7, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ a b Bradley, Dan (July 24, 2019). "A Sit Down with Aaron Waltke: From Cornfields to Trollhunters". The HDRoom. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ a b Porter Tilley, Jenny (January 22, 2017). "2 IU grads help write the secret world of Netflix's 'Trollhunters'". The Herald-Times Online. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Pesola, Eric (October 28, 2020). "Meet Aaron Waltke — one of the creative minds behind Star Trek: Prodigy". The Trek Report. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Foreman, Liza (12 September 2012). "Waterman Gives 'Brave Little Toaster' a New Lease of Life (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- ^ Haney, Kendall Michele. "Ep 9 - Serialized Storytelling with Aaron Waltke". The Typin' Toons Podcast. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- ^ Dickson, Jeremy (November 23, 2020). "Who's up for a Kidscreen Award?". The Kidscreen Awards. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Davis, Victoria (August 7, 2020). "Guillermo del Toro's 'Wizards' Brings His 'Tales of Arcadia' Trilogy to a Close". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Dickson, Jeremy (2021-02-09). "Kidscreen Awards 2021 Winners". Kidscreen. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
- ^ Joe, Literary (August 7, 2020). "TALES OF ARCADIA Exclusive: Writers Waltke And Quandt On The Franchise And Hopes For An MCU POWER PACK Film". ComicbookMovie.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Lovett, Jaime (July 30, 2019). "Star Trek Animated Series Reveals Writing Team". Comicbook.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "Star Trek: Prodigy Nominated for First Annual Children's & Family Emmys". Star Trek. November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- ^ a b Pedersen, Rosy Cordero, Erik; Cordero, Rosy; Pedersen, Erik (2023-06-30). "TCA Awards Nominations: 'Succession', 'The Bear' & 'The Last Of Us' Lead; HBO/Max Laps Field With 20 Noms". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Star Trek". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ^ Carter, Michelle P. (October 13, 2020). "Legion M's New Animated Noir Project... Ghosts of Manhattan!". Official Legion M website. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ "Trek Talking: PRODIGY IS BACK!!! AARON WALTKE Head Writer talks Prodigy and Netflix on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
- ^ Connor, Casey (2023-10-26). ""How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days": DC's Iconic Heroes to Star in Rom-Com-Inspired Valentine's Day Special". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
- ^ "Wedding Announcements". The Daily Journal. December 9, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ Staff, UC (October 20, 2018). "Binational Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit Coming to UTEP". UTEP Communications. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
- ^ "Interactive Digital Media Programs to be Honored". Emmys Official Website. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Whyte, Alexandra (February 13, 2018). "And the 2018 Kidscreen Awards go to…". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Archived from the original on 2018-02-14. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (December 4, 2017). "Annie Awards: Disney/Pixar's 'Coco' Tops Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ "THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR THE 45TH ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS" (PDF). Emmy Awards Official Site. March 21, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-10-23. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (April 27, 2018). "Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards: 'Bold And The Beautiful', 'Sesame Street' Top Winners". Deadline. Archived from the original on 2018-04-28.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (March 20, 2019). "Daytime Emmy Nominees: 'Elena of Avalor,' 'Watership Down' Lead Animation". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-03-21.
- ^ "2021 Daytime Children's and Lifestyle Nominees" (PDF). Emmys Official Website. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Dickson, Jeremy. "Kidscreen Awards 2021 Winners". Kidscreen.com. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ "NATAS ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR FIRST ANNUAL CHILDREN'S & FAMILY EMMYS AS OF NOVEMBER 10, 2022" (PDF). The Emmys Official Website. November 10, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ "Star Trek". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2024-07-10.