Schaeffer grew up in
Agoura Hills, California, and was inspired by filmmakers
Quentin Tarantino,
Robert Rodriguez,
Allison Anders, and
Lisa Cholodenko as a teenager. Schaeffer graduated from
Princeton University with an A.B. in English in 2000 after completing an 81-page senior thesis, titled "Splinter in the Mind: The Dilemma of the Political Dystopian Protagonist and the Cyberpunk Hero", under the supervision of Maria DiBattista. She went on to earn a
Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from the
USC School of Cinematic Arts. She wrote for the
Princeton Triangle Club theatre groupe, where she played versions of herself. She is
Jewish on her father's side, and has two children. which was released in May 2019. Schaeffer is also developing her
Blacklisted-script
The Shower with Hathaway. Schaeffer contributed to the screenplay for the
Marvel Studios film
Captain Marvel with
Geneva Robertson-Dworet,
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. The film was released on March 8, 2019. Schaeffer also wrote the Marvel Studios film
Black Widow starring
Scarlett Johansson, until she was replaced with
Ned Benson, who was in turn replaced by
Eric Pearson. She was also hired by Marvel to write the first and final episodes and serve as head writer for the
Disney+ miniseries
WandaVision, in January 2019. In May 2021, she signed a three-year overall deal with
Marvel Studios and
20th Television to develop projects for them, including a
WandaVision spin-off titled
Agatha All Along (2024), centered on
Agatha Harkness. She was also set to work on a second
WandaVision spin-off, titled
Vision Quest and centered on
The Vision, before departing the project by September 2024 due to scheduling issues with
Agatha All Along. Most recently, she signed an overall deal with
Amazon MGM Studios. ==Filmography==