Jane Loretta Anne Goldman Bio
Jane Loretta Anne Goldman (born 11 June 1970) is an English screenwriter, film producer, journalist and author. She is best known for her screenwriting collaborations with director Matthew Vaughn and for solo screenplays including The Woman in Black and The Limehouse Golem. Goldman’s work spans adaptations, original screenwriting and television development, and she has written books on popular culture and the paranormal.
Early Life and Background
Jane Loretta Anne Goldman was born on 11 June 1970 in Hammersmith, London, England, and raised in north London. She is the only child of a Jewish father, Stuart, and a Buddhist mother, Amanda, and grew up in a liberal, middle-class household. Goldman attended King Alfred School in Hampstead until the age of 15 and began work as a freelance writer at a young age, contributing to magazines and newspapers.
After a period spent following popular music tours in her teens, Goldman returned to the United Kingdom and began work as an entertainment reporter, taking early roles that introduced her to media and publishing. Her journalism background included contributions to titles such as Just Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and the Daily Star, and she published books on popular culture and the paranormal before moving into screenwriting.
Path to Celebrity
Goldman built a public profile first through journalism and television. She published books including The X-Files Book of the Unexplained and the novel Dreamworld, and presented the paranormal-themed television series Jane Goldman Investigates for Living between 2003 and 2004. Her early written work and on-screen presenting established her as a recognizable media figure in the United Kingdom.
The transition from journalism and publishing to film came through writing and adaptation work. Goldman began collaborating on television scripts and later moved into feature screenwriting, where her aptitude for adaptation and genre storytelling created opportunities to work with established directors and producers. The move to feature films expanded her public profile internationally.
Jane Goldman Career
Early Career (1993–2006)
Goldman’s professional career is recorded as beginning in 1993, when she worked across magazines, newspapers and as a freelance writer. She contributed to a range of publications and published several books in the 1990s, developing experience in long-form non-fiction and fiction that informed her later screenwriting.
Her early screenwriting and television credits include work on television projects and contributions to scripts that led to feature opportunities. By the early 2000s she had presented television and worked on scripted projects, positioning her to take on feature adaptations and collaborations with film directors who sought her skill for adaptation and story construction.
Breakthrough (2007–2017)
Goldman’s breakthrough in feature film screenwriting came with Stardust (2007), an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel co-written with others and produced by Matthew Vaughn. The film’s critical recognition translated into awards recognition for the writing team and marked the beginning of a frequent creative partnership with Vaughn. Stardust highlighted Goldman’s facility with fantasy adaptation and narrative tone.
Following Stardust, Goldman co-wrote Kick-Ass (2010) and X-Men: First Class (2011) with Matthew Vaughn. Kick-Ass became noted for its bold comic-book adaptation and cultivated a strong fan following, while X-Men: First Class received wide critical praise and is often cited as a high point in the X-Men film series. Goldman described her collaboration with Vaughn as complementary, with her focusing on construction and interior design of scripts while Vaughn handled overall direction and shape.
Goldman’s first solo feature screenplay credit was The Woman in Black (2012), a gothic horror adaptation that met positive reviews and won the Empire Award for Best Horror. She continued to work on high-profile adaptations and original projects, contributing to the story of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and co-writing Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) with Vaughn, adaptations based on the comic by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.
In 2016 Goldman wrote two further literary adaptations: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, directed by Tim Burton, and The Limehouse Golem, based on Peter Ackroyd’s novel. Both projects reinforced her reputation for adapting distinctive source material across genres from fantasy to period mystery. During this period she also co-wrote the 2011 drama-thriller The Debt and continued to develop projects in television and film.
Goldman worked on television development as well, contributing as one of the writers attached to a Game of Thrones prequel pilot for HBO and later developing other studio projects. In 2017 she was announced as a writer on a proposed live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid for Disney, though she was not credited on the final script. In more recent years Goldman remained active in adaptation and development, including work on the 2020 adaptation of Rebecca.
Notable Works and Milestones
Goldman’s signature works include Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and the Kingsman films; these projects established her as a sought-after screenwriter for comic-book adaptations, fantasy and literary adaptations. Her career is notable for long-term collaborations with directors such as Matthew Vaughn and for a steady transition from journalism and publishing into mainstream international film screenwriting and production.
Jane Goldman Award Nominations
Across her career Goldman has been associated with films that received awards recognition and nominations for writing and production. Her screenwriting work on Stardust led to genre awards recognition for the film’s writing team, and her adaptations and collaborations have earned industry attention and several nominations tied to the films on which she has worked.
Jane Goldman Awards Won
Goldman’s verified awards include a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form as part of the Stardust writing team and recognition from film audiences and critics for subsequent films. She also won the Cosmopolitan magazine Woman of Tomorrow award for achievement in journalism, and The Woman in Black won the Empire Award for Best Horror in 2013.
Jane Goldman Family
Goldman is the only child of Stuart and Amanda Goldman. She met television presenter Jonathan Ross when she was a teenager; the couple married in 1988. Public records state that the pair have three children: two daughters and a son.
Personal Life
Jane Goldman married Jonathan Ross in 1988 when she was 18 and Ross was 28; the marriage remains a noted aspect of her public profile. The couple have three children and have maintained a public presence in British media. Goldman’s early education at King Alfred School and her journalism background shaped her entry into publishing and broadcast work before she moved into film writing and production.
In addition to her film and television work, Goldman has continued to publish books and to take on development roles in television and film production. Industry reports from 2024 indicate ongoing negotiations for new adaptation work, and Goldman continues to be active as a writer and producer in projects that adapt literary and genre material for screen audiences.