Biography


Heidi Schnakenberg was once a small town kid from the heartland who ended up in far-flung places around the world and accumulated a wide range of interests and experiences along the way. Once an award-winning singer, Heidi graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and studied politics and performing arts at the University of Malta and the University of Ghana. While putting herself through college, Heidi found work in theater administration for several Broadway productions and later founded her own theater and film company, for which she wrote and produced shows. Heidi got her big break when she was commissioned by Francis Ford Coppola to co-write the screen adaptation of the best-selling novel, The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank, and was invited to Coppola’s studio in Napa to co-produce and film scenes for development. Since then, Heidi has continued writing and developing original screenplays and narrative non-fiction with a focus on biographical, human-interest stories, and has worked as a part-time journalist for a variety of publications. She has fed her “inner nerd” over the years as a technical and business writer and has been a corporate scribe for numerous Fortune and Global 500 companies. Heidi is currently completing her sophomore screenplay, El Barrio del Sol, and her debut biography, Kid Carolina, will be published by Hachette Book Group in 2010. In her spare time, Heidi works on a variety of community service activities for women and families who have been affected by domestic violence. She loves to travel and has visited dozens of countries, and has a large collection of her own travel photography. Her family has apartments in both New York and California and she lives with her husband and two sons.