Todd W. Langen Information

Screenwriter
USA

Biography:
Todd W. Langen is an American screenwriter and former engineer, best known for his work on the original 1990 live-action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Born in Detroit, Langen earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan. At 23, he was working on the Space Shuttle for Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles when he decided to pursue his true passion - screenwriting. His first sale was an episode of The Pursuit of Happiness, a short-lived television comedy series.

Langen soon became a regular writer for The Wonder Years. His biggest success came when he was hired to work on the film adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The original treatment was written by Bobby Herbeck, but Langen was brought in for a "Page One rewrite" - a complete overhaul of the script. The two writers did not collaborate and only met after the film's release. Langen received top billing in the credits and later returned to write the sequel, The Secret of the Ooze (1991).

His work earned several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for The Wonder Years episode "Coda" (1989). He won a Humanitas Prize for the episode Square Dance (1989) and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Coda.