Callie Khouri

Screenwriter, director, and producer Callie Khouri was born in San Antonio and grew up in Texas and Kentucky. Khouri is a graduate of St. Mary High School in Paducah and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles. Her work on the landmark 1991 feminist film Thelma & Louise won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, a Golden Globe, a PEN Literary Award, and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Film of the Year. It was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.

Khouri made her directorial debut in 2002 with the film adaptation of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, a great box office success. In 2011, she developed and produced ABC's Nashville, a critically-acclaimed country music drama TV series (2012-2018). A determined feminist, she has made a great career of putting strong female protagonists on film and tv.