Plec graduated from Northwestern University in 1994. She was originally a film major but transferred out of the program halfway through and graduated from an interdepartmental major.
Career
Having acted as co-producer on both Scream 2 and Scream 3, Plec wrote another film for Wes Craven, Cursed, which was released in 2005 and starred Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Joshua Jackson, and Shannon Elizabeth. The film suffered many script and scheduling difficulties during production and ultimately failed to perform at the box office. Plec developed a new TV series for The CW entitled The Vampire Diaries, which was adapted from a novel series of the same name by L. J. Smith. The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert, who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore, and soon finds herself caught in a love triangle between Stefan and his older brother, Damon, while the brothers are also being haunted by the past they've had with Katherine Pierce. The series also focuses on the lives of Elena's friends and other inhabitants of the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, and has become a domestic and international hit. In November 2012, Deadline Hollywood announced that Julie Plec and Greg Berlanti had attained the rights to The Tomorrow People and commissioned a pilot written by Phil Klemmer. This occurred after a similar rights option expired to an aborted attempt two years previously. It was announced on January 28, 2013 that the revival had received a pilot order from The CW. On May 9, 2013 the series was picked up for the 2013–14 season by The CW. On January 11, 2013, it was announced that a back-door pilot of The Vampire Diaries entitled The Originals focusing on the Original family of vampires was in the works. The pilot aired in April 2013 as part of The Vampire Diaries fourth season. It was soon after picked up for series by The CW, which will air its first season in the 2013–14 season. Joseph Morgan reprises his role as Klaus. It also stars The Vampire Diaries actors Daniel Gillies, Claire Holt and Phoebe Tonkin as well as new cast members. This second spin-off attempt is carried out by Julie Plec, with no involvement by Kevin Williamson.
