Anne Fletcher
Fletcher at the June 2009 premiere forThe Proposal
Born	(1966-05-01)May 1, 1966 (age 59) Detroit,Michigan, U.S.
Other names	Anne Marie Fletcher Anne "Mama" Fletcher
Occupations	Filmmaker dancer actress
Years active	1990–present

Anne Fletcher (born May 1, 1966) is an American choreographer, film director, dancer and actress. She directed the filmsStep Up (2006),27 Dresses (2008),The Proposal (2009),The Guilt Trip (2012),Hot Pursuit (2015),Dumplin' (2018), andHocus Pocus 2 (2022).

BornAnne Marie Fletcher in Detroit,Michigan, Fletcher lived with her family in the local lakefront suburb ofSt. Clair Shores, Michigan until her 1984 graduation with honors fromLake Shore High School.^[1] Fletcher began taking dance lessons at a local dance studio, Turning Point School of the Performing Arts, at age 12 after watching her mother take a dance class. At age 15, she appeared in the local showSalute to the Superstars at the now-defunct Mr. F's Beef & Bourbon dinner club inSterling Heights,Michigan. Upon graduation from high school, Fletcher moved to Los Angeles, California, where she received further training from renowned choreographer Joe Tremaine,^[2] and began working as a professional dancer; including performing as aLaker Girl.^[1]

In 1990, Fletcher metAdam Shankman when they were hired to perform as dancers at the62nd Academy Awards. Shortly thereafter, Shankman hired Fletcher to become his assistant choreographer. This sparked a longtime personal friendship and professional affiliation.^[3]

Fletcher worked closely with Shankman both during his career as a choreographer and later as a film director and has credited her collaborations with Shankman for allowing her to both develop her own set of choreographic and film directorial skills and to achieve a similarly successful career path.

In her first film roles, Fletcher appeared as a dancer, includingThe Flintstones (1994),The Mask (1994),Tank Girl (1995),Casper (1995) andTitanic (1997). Fletcher later developed choreography for the Oscar-nominated drama filmBoogie Nights (1997) starringMark Wahlberg,Burt Reynolds,Julianne Moore andHeather Graham, in which she also appeared as a dancer, as well as for the comedy filmA Life Less Ordinary (1997) withEwan McGregor andCameron Diaz.

After acquiring numerous professional choreography credits, often in collaboration with Adam Shankman, Fletcher, with encouragement from Shankman, began to consider a directorial career. She worked alongside Shankman, who himself had moved from choreography to directing with films such asHairspray (2007) andThe Wedding Planner, for both of which she was an associate producer,^[4] as well asStep Up.

Although Fletcher began to break into the production side of filmmaking throughout the early 2000s, she continued to choreograph in films such as theIce Princess andThe Pacifier in 2005.^[5] She also did choreograph work in other films likeScooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004),The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) andHairspray (2007).^[5]

Fletcher directed the 2006 romantic dance film,Step Up starringChanning Tatum andJenna Dewan. The film was nominated for twoTeen Choice Awards (2007) and oneYoung Artist Award (2007). Fletcher turned down the offer to direct the sequel to this film, fearing that if she directed another dance film, she would not be able to branch out into other genres in the future.^[6] Although she did the choreography onStep Up 2: The Streets (2008), the role of director was given toJon M. Chu. Panned by critics, the film was well-received by audiences and grossed $65 million at the domestic box office.

Her work onStep Up earned Fletcher a second successful director credit on the popular 2008 romantic comedy film,27 Dresses, starringKatherine Heigl andJames Marsden. This film was nominated for eight awards: onePeople's Choice Awards (2008), twoTeen Choice Awards (2008), threeGolden Trailer Awards (2008), oneArtios Award (2008) and oneEDA Special Mention Award. 27 Dresses is celebrated as an iconic 21st-century romantic comedy film, thanks in large part to Fletcher's directing. Former president of MGM Jonathan Glickman emphasized how important Fletcher was to the success of the film, stating that she and the main character are very similar people. The writer of the film, Aline Brosh McKenna, mentioned in an interview that Fletcher was known on set as "Mama", and credits her for capturing the story so well.^[7]

Based on the success of her first two features, Fletcher went on to direct the popular 2009 romantic comedy film,The Proposal, starringSandra Bullock andRyan Reynolds. This film was nominated for twenty-seven awards; out of the twenty-seven nominations, the film won seven. For her performance, Bullock received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress and a Women's Image Network Award for Outstanding Actress.^[8] The Proposal is Fletcher's highest-grossing film as a director, and it stands as the 7th highest grossing romantic comedy of all time.^[9]

Following the success ofThe Proposal, Fletcher directedThe Guilt Trip (2012) starringSeth Rogen andBarbra Streisand. She followed this by directingHot Pursuit (2015) starringReese Witherspoon andSofía Vergara. Both of these films performed significantly worse than her previous films, with the former receiving only oneRazzie Award nomination^[10] and the latter earning an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[11]

In July 2014, Fletcher was announced as director forDisenchanted, the sequel to the 2007 film starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey. However, in October 2016, she was replaced by her friend Adam Shankman.^[12][13]

In December 2018, Fletcher releasedDumplin', her first film released exclusively on Netflix. The film is based on the book of the same name, and stars Jennifer Aniston as a former beauty queen. The film grapples with issues related to body positivity and mother-daughter relationships.

Fletcher directedHocus Pocus 2, the 2022 sequel toHocus Pocus.^[14] The film was released exclusively on Disney+ and stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters from the 1993 original film.^[15] The film was polarized by critics, but received twoKids' Choice Award nominations, includingFavorite Movie (losing toSonic the Hedgehog 2). She will reprise her role as director on the upcomingHocus Pocus 3.^[16]

Critical, public, and commercial reception to films Fletcher has directed as of April 24, 2023.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAnne Fletcher.

• Anne Fletcher atIMDb
• Press release biography to support her work on theReebok "Time Out" commercials

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• American women film directors
• American comedy film directors
• Film choreographers
• Living people
• Skydance Media people
• Actresses from Detroit
• Film directors from Michigan
• English-language film directors
• 21st-century American women

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