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Keto Shimizu

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Keto Shimizu
Keto Shimizu in November 2015
Born (1984-12-23) December 23, 1984 (age 40)
Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)Television and comic book writer
Years active2006–present
SpouseChristopher "Bradley" Lastrapes[1]
Children2

Keto Shimizu (born December 23, 1984) is an American television writer, producer, and comic book writer. She is known for her work on the North American adaptation of Being Human and for her substantial contributions to Greg Berlanti's and The CW's Arrowverse, including being the showrunner of DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

Life and career

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Shimizu accredits her love for storytelling to Waldorf teachings, as her mother Patricia was one of the founders of the first Waldorf school in Princeton, New Jersey.[citation needed] Shimizu's father Yoshiaki was Japanese, and a historian of Asian art.[2] She graduated from Twinfield High School in Plainfield, VT, and Emerson College in Boston.[1] Shimizu and her husband, Christopher Lastrapes, have two sons together.[3]

Keto in 2011

She is an emphatic Batman fanatic, and attributes comic book and television writer Paul Dini as being a notable favorite interpreter.[4] She also counts John Ostrander, Alan Moore, Kurt Buslek, Frank Miller and Chris Claremont as being influential to her writing.[5]

Her first foray into film was with the western short Razor Man, which she wrote and directed, in 2006. The film depicts a lone gunslinger's quest for vengeance in rural 1891 Colorado. In 2007, she directed and wrote a second short film entitled Threads.

She has worked a vast array of positions in her career including post-production assistant (The Spirit, Tron: Legacy), visual effects editorial coordinator (Clash of the Titans), cinematographer (short film The Storm), and camera operator/first assistant to camera (web series Downers Grove).

She worked as a staff writer on the short-lived NBC series The Cape.[4][6]

She is openly bisexual.[7][8]

Being Human

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In 2012, she joined the Syfy adaptation of Being Human, as a story editor. She went on to become a writer on the show, scripting three hours ("Dream Reaper", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Die", "Of Mice and Wolfman") of the paranormal drama.[6]

Arrowverse

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In the summer of 2013, Shimizu boarded the DC Comics produced Green Arrow origin series Arrow, as an executive story editor and writer. Her first episode she co-wrote, with executive producer Marc Guggenheim, was "Broken Dolls", which was critically lauded. Other sophomore season episodes she contributed to include "Blast Radius", "Suicide Squad" and "The Man Under the Hood".[6]

On July 9, 2014, it was reported that a prequel comic book series would debut in September of that year to bridge the second and third seasons of Arrow, written by Shimizu and Guggenheim, entitled Arrow 2.5. Some of her work emphasizes the characters she established, with Bryan Q. Miller, in her Suicide Squad episode.[9][10]

With the commencement of the series' third season, Shimizu was promoted to co-producer, along with Ben Sokolowski. She and co-executive producer Jake Coburn co-wrote the season's second installment, "Sara". She co-wrote the sixth episode, "Guilty", with co-executive producer Erik Oleson. She and Coburn co-penned the season's mid-season finale "The Climb", which fully introduced supervillain Ra's al Ghul (Matt Nable). Shimizu scripted her first solo outing with "Suicidal Tendencies", helmed by Jesse Warn. It saw the reformation of Task Force-X, with new member Cupid/Carrie Cutter; and explored the past of Deadshot.[11]

Shimizu co-wrote, with Sokolowski, the fourteenth episode, "Fallout", of Arrow's sister-series The Flash. It showcased the DC superhero Firestorm (Robbie Amell(Ronnie Raymond)/Victor Garber(Professor Martin Stein)) and featured the first spoken words of supervillain Gorilla Grodd.[5]

During the 2015 Winter Television Critics Association tour, The CW announced a new 6-part animated series, Vixen, centered around the DC heroine. It premiered on CW Seed in August of the year, and was released weekly on Tuesdays. It shares the same universe as Arrow and The Flash. The series is written by Shimizu, Arrow showrunner Wendy Mericle, Brian Ford Sullivan, and comic book writer Lauren Certo.[12]

At the start of production for Arrow's fourth season, Shimizu was promoted once again; being named producer, along with Sokolowski.[13] She co-scripted the second episode of the season "The Candidate" with Guggenheim; which saw the introduction of supervillain Anarky.[14] She and new co-executive producer Speed Weed wrote the seventh episode "Brotherhood".[15] Shimizu next contributed to the 13th episode "Sins of the Father" with Sokolowski;[16] and the 15th episode "Taken", which she and Sullivan wrote a teleplay for, based on a story from Guggenheim; and the critically panned "Eleven-Fifty-Nine", co-written with Guggenheim.[17]

With the conclusion of the fourth season, Shimizu departed Arrow and relocated to spin-off DC's Legends of Tomorrow in its second season as co-executive producer, which featured the Justice Society of America.[18] She co-wrote the Reagan-era episode "Compromised," the George Lucas-themed "Raiders of the Lost Art," the dinosaur-filled "Land of the Lost," and the Tolkien-inspired "Fellowship of the Spear."[19] IGN, io9 and ComicBook.com all described the revamped second season as "the best DC TV series."[20][21][22]

At the beginning of Legends of Tomorrow's fourth season, Shimizu was named executive producer and co-showrunner of the series.[citation needed] After her promotion, Shimizu would go onto write an additional 12 episodes of the show, including the series final, Knocked Down, Knocked Up.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Shimizu-Lastrapes". Tulsa World. February 16, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "Yoshiaki Shimizu, distinguished scholar who 'transformed the study of Japanese art' and Princeton graduate alumnus, dies at 84". Princeton University.
  3. ^ Shimizu, Keto (February 9, 2016). "Baby doing gymnastics AND yoga in my uterus while I'm trying to watch The X-Files. #pregnancyproblems #thirdtrimesterjoys". Twitter. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Apuy, Andrea (August 19, 2011). "Behind The Cape: Interview with TV writer Keto Shimizu". asia pacific arts. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Beedle, Tim (January 19, 2015). "DC Voices: An Interview with Keto Shimizu". DC Comics. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "Keto Shimizu". TV.com. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  7. ^ Shimizu, Keto (February 26, 2022). "If I didn't already know I was Bi, this photo would force the issue. Daaaaamn". Twitter. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  8. ^ Shimizu, Keto (March 12, 2023). "Selma Hayek just reconfirmed my bisexuality. Wow. #Oscars2023". Twitter. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  9. ^ "Exclusive: DC Entertainment Launches New Arrow and The Flash Digital Comics". TV Guide Magazine. July 9, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  10. ^ "Arrow Season 2.5: Details on the Suicide Squad Backup Revealed". Comicbook.com. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  11. ^ Guggenheim, Marc (January 28, 2015). "Arrow 3x17 begins filming today. Written by @ketomizu. Directed by @JesseWarn @Captain_Rowe". Twitter. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  12. ^ "GUGGENHEIM TALKS "PUSHING THE ENVELOPE" IN "ARROW"/"FLASH" ANIMATED SPINOFF "VIXEN"". Comic Book Resources. January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  13. ^ Cassidy, Katie (July 30, 2015). "#Arrow". Twitter. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  14. ^ Guggenheim, Marc (July 23, 2015). "Arrow Ep. 402, co-written by @ketomizu, begins production today". Twitter. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  15. ^ Guggenheim, Marc (September 21, 2015). "Arrow Ep. 407 begins production today. Written by @ketomizu & @RealSpeedWeed and Directed by @JamesBamford". Twitter. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  16. ^ Guggenheim, Marc (December 9, 2015). "Arrow Ep. 413 is in production. Written by @ketomizu & @BenSokolowski". Twitter. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  17. ^ Guggenheim, Marc (January 13, 2016). "Arrow Ep. 415 is in production. @ketomizu @briforsul @gregorythesmith @Megalyn". Twitter. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  18. ^ Shimizu, Keto (April 11, 2016). "Farewell, dear #Arrow. It's been an amazing 3-year adventure. Hello #legendsoftomorrow, an…". Twitter. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  19. ^ "Keto Shimizu". IMDb. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  20. ^ "WHY LEGENDS OF TOMORROW IS NOW THE CW'S BEST DC COMICS SERIES". IGN. March 28, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  21. ^ "Why Legends Of Tomorrow Is The Best DC TV Show". ComicBook.com. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  22. ^ "Suddenly, Legends of Tomorrow Is DC's Best (and Most Fun) TV show". io9. January 25, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  23. ^ "Knocked Down, Knocked Up - DC's Legends of Tomorrow - CBS Detroit". www.cbsnews.com. February 28, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
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Keto Shimizu at IMDb

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