Who was Audrey Wells? Fans remember Netflix's 'Over the Moon' screenwriter

Netflix’s latest animated film Over the Moon arrived on the platform on October 23. The comedy-drama is helmed by Glen Keane and based on the epic screenplay written by screenwriter Audrey Wells in collaboration with Alice Wu and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. Ever since the film was released, many fans took to Twitter to appreciate its heartwarming storyline and mesmerising animated sequences. Read on to find out, “Who was Audrey Wells?”

Read | Where is 'Over the Moon' set? Details about the setting of the animated film

Who was Audrey Wells?

Source: @feministfilmlover (Instagram)

In Netflix’s Over the Moon, fans get to see that Fei Fei, still mourning the death of her mother and builds a rocket so she can go to the moon and ask the goddess Chang’e to help persuade her father not to remarry. A report on Variety reveals that halfway through the production, screenwriter Audrey Wells died after battling cancer. Audrey had told the film’s producer Glen Keane, that the script for Over the Moon was a love letter to her daughter and for her husband. Audrey Ann Wells is best known for her work in iconic and heartwarming movies such as Guinevere, George of the Jungle, Disney's The Kid, Under the Tuscan Sun, The Game Plan, A Dog's Purpose, The Hate U Give.  

Read | 'Over the Moon' Ending Explained: Here is Chinese myth the film is based on

How did Audrey Wells die?

The Variety report reveals that Audrey was born in San Francisco, California, to Austrian-American psychiatrist Wolfgang Lederer and Romanian-American psychologist Alexandra Botwin Lederer. Both her parents had fled World War II-era Europe. In her youth, she had worked as a disc jockey at San Francisco jazz radio stations and on to graduate from U.C. Berkeley and UCLA. Audrey was married to Brian Larky, Founder and Chairman of Dalla Terra Winery. The pair has a daughter. Audrey had been battling cancer for five years, and passed away in 2018, a day before her adaptation of The Hate U Give had its premiere in theatres. 

Read | 'Shang-Chi' star Simu Liu is 'over the moon' with Tatiana Maslany's casting as She-Hulk

Audrey Wells and her journey in writing Over the Moon

Glen Keane revealed in his interview with Variety that when he had first met Audrey, she had told him that all of her movies were about healing. She exclaimed that Over the Moon felt like the most important job she’d ever done. At the time none of the film’s crew was aware of Audrey’s disease. The filmmakers were unaware that Audrey was battling cancer even when they had signed her for the film in 2017. 

Read | What time does Barbarians release on Netflix? Read about the historical drama set in 9AD

Glen Reave revealed that Audrey, who was 58 at the time of her passing, had informed them about her disease only a few weeks before she passed away. Keane revealed that over the course of making Over the Moon, the entire team behind the film had gone through terrible personal losses. Keane lost his friend and fellow “Dear Basketball” filmmaker Kobe Bryant earlier this year.  Audrey Well's death also left a deep impact on the films cast and crew.

Image Source: @reviewaday (Instagram)