Screenwriter Audrey Wells passes away

AUDREY WELLS, WHO wrote the screenplay for the brand new feature film The Hate U Give, died the day before the film was released after a five-year battle with cancer. She was 58.

A representative from United Talent Agency said Wells died last Thursday. The San Francisco native had early jobs as a disc jockey at a local jazz station and in public radio before making the transition to film, armed with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

She wrote the screenplays for films like The Truth About Cats and Dogs, a modernday Cyrano de Bergerac tale starring Uma Thurman, and

Shall We Dance, with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere. She made her directorial debut with the 1999 indie Guinevere, starring Sarah Polley as a young woman who has a relationship with an older mentor.

Wells wrote the script for the critically acclaimed new film The Hate U Give, an adaptation of Angie Thomas’ young adult novel about a police shooting of a young black man. Thomas tweeted Friday it was, “A joy to work with Audrey, and I’m forever grateful for what she gave us with The Hate U Give adaptation. She will truly be missed.”

United Talent Agency copresident David Kramer said Wells was “truly special.”

“The strong, independent female characters she shaped resonate today more than ever and will be a part of her legacy always,” he said. “We will miss her amazing spirit, creativity and the love she gave us.”