Aaron Waltke

Aaron Waltke was born and raised in Greenwood, Indiana and spent some of his childhood on the islands of Sanibel-Captiva in the Gulf of Mexico.^[6] He attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he began directing live theatre, performing sketch comedy, and writing screenplays.^[7] He moved to Los Angeles, where his work was shown at venues including The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, iO West, The Comedy Store, and the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival.^[8]

Waltke began his television career producing and directing documentaries for PBS affiliate WTIU. After moving to Los Angeles, he was hired by The National Lampoon as a writer and producer to create original content.^[9]

In 2012, he was hired to write a live-action feature film adaptation of The Brave Little Toaster.^[10] He was later hired to adapt a live action feature film version of the popular comic strip Heathcliff for the same company.^[11]

In 2014, he joined Guillermo del Toro's award-winning Netflix series Trollhunters produced by DreamWorks Animation, for which he was twice-nominated and won an Emmy Award in the category of "Best Writing for an Animated Program," and was nominated for an Annie Award.^[12]

He became co-executive producer and co-showrunner on the final installment of the franchise, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, for which he co-wrote the pilot with del Toro. He won a Kidscreen Award for "Best New Series" and was nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Children's Animated Series".^[13][14][15]

In 2017, he served as a head writer for a Cartoon Network spinoff of The LEGO Movie entitled Unikitty! produced by Warner Bros. Animation.^[16] While there, he co-wrote an episode of Teen Titans Go! for the same creative team.^[17]

In July 2019, Waltke joined the television show Star Trek: Prodigy as a writer and producer, later co-executive producer and co-head writer for the series. He previously collaborated with the show's creators, The Hageman Brothers, on Trollhunters.^[18] In 2022, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Series" for his work on the show.^[19] In 2023, his work received a nomination for a Television Critics Association Award in the category of "Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming."^[20]

In October 2020, Legion M announced that Waltke was attached to develop and executive produce an adult animated feature film with Powerhouse Animation based on George Mann's Ghosts of Manhattan novels, an action sci-fi noir story set in an alternate history 1920s New York.^[21]

In 2023, Waltke was hired to develop the story and script for the forthcoming feature film Transformers One, a prequel film in the Transformers franchise.^[22]

In 2023, Waltke was announced as a writer for DC Comics in the anthology, How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days. The collection will explore the strange world of superhero romance in the DC Universe.^[23]

Waltke is married to fellow writer and published mystery author Ellen Tremiti. They reside in Los Angeles.^[24]

Waltke engages in youth activism and outreach. He was the keynote speaker at the 2018 RESET Technology & Creativity Conference, a bi-national event between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, aimed at encouraging youth innovation, creativity, and opportunity across the Mexico–US border.^[25]

• Aaron Waltke on Twitter