Michiko Yamamoto (screenwriter)

Yamamoto was born in 1979 in Bulacan, Philippines. Her father is a native of Japan who had separated from her Filipina mother. They had together Yamamoto and her two sisters, Mariko and Noriko. She has a half-sister from her mother's second marriage, Stephanie Jane.^[2]

Yamamoto attended Catholic schools and graduated from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) with a Bachelor of Science in math and computer studies.^[2]

She is married to director Erik Matti, with whom she has two daughters.^[1][3]

Before starting out as a screenwriter, Yamamoto worked for two years in Viva Entertainment doing post-production-related work, and in ABS-CBN. She attended the Film Development Council of the Philippines' screenwriting workshop in 1999.^[2]

Yamamoto's first screenwriting credit was for 2003's Magnifico,^[4] which reportedly won first place in a screenwriting contest. She said the Magnifico script was inspired by a personal experience she had with her late grandmother.^[2] In 2006, she wrote the screenplay for the gay-themed drama film The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, which was directed by Auraeus Solito in his feature film directorial debut.^[5] The film won the Jury Prize at the 2005 Cinemalaya Film Festival, and was the first to be produced by her own film outfit, UFO Pictures, Inc.^[2] In 2013, Yamamoto co-wrote Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings with Raymond Lee and Jade Castro, and On the Job with Erik Matti. She collaborated with Matti for 2014's Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2,^[6] and 2015's Honor Thy Father.^[4]

On Metacritic, a review aggregator, Yamamoto has an average career score of 62.^[4]