Aaron John Waltke (born August 8, 1984) is an American screenwriter, author, executive producer and showrunner. He is best known for his work on Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters (2016–2018), Wizards: Tales of Arcadia (2020), and Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–2024). He has received an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and multiple nominations for his work in film and television. In 2020, he was named by The College Magazine as one of its "20 under 40" List.
Early life 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. He attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he initially studied Psychology until he began directing live theatre, performing sketch comedy, and writing screenplays. 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.
Career
Film and television 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.
In 2012, he was hired to write a live-action feature film adaptation of The Brave Little Toaster. He was later hired to adapt a live action feature film version of the popular comic strip Heathcliff for the same company.
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 received an Annie Award nomination for “Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production”.
He became a showrunner and co-executive producer on the final installment of the franchise, Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, for which he co-wrote the pilot with Guillermo del Toro. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Children's Animated Series" and won a Kidscreen Award for "Best New Series".
In 2017, he served as a head writer for the Cartoon Network spinoff of The Lego Movie entitled Unikitty! produced by Warner Bros. Animation. While there, he co-wrote an episode of Teen Titans Go! for the same creative team.
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. In 2022, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Series" for his work on the show. In 2023 and 2025, his work was twice nominated for a Television Critics Association Award in the category of "Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming." In 2024, his and others' contributions to Star Trek were honored with a Peabody Institutional Award.
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.
In 2023, Waltke was hired to develop the story and script for the feature film Transformers One, a prequel film in the Transformers franchise.
In 2025, Waltke was announced as showrunner, executive producer, and head writer for Amazon Prime Video's television adaptation of the bestselling fantasy series Wings of Fire.
Comics and graphic novels 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 explores the strange world of superhero romance in the DC Universe.
In 2025, Waltke became co-writer of Stan Lee's The Excelsiors, a graphic novel series based on Lee's final unpublished works set in an original superhero universe.
Published fiction In 2025, Waltke was a finalist in Mystery Writers of America’s annual “Six Word Murder Mystery” contest. His story "Rookie" was published in the March/April 2026 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
Personal life Waltke is married to fellow writer and published mystery author Ellen Tremiti. They reside in Los Angeles.
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.
Selected filmography + Aaron Waltke film and television work Year Title Credit 2008–2010 National Lampoon's College Network Writer, Producer, Director 2012–2013 Game Program Attack Writer (7 episodes) 2016–2018 Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Writer (52 episodes) 2017 Teen Titans Go! Writer (1 episode) 2018–2020 Unikitty! Head Writer (56 episodes) 2020 Wizards: Tales of Arcadia Showrunner, Co-Executive Producer, Head Writer, Developed By (10 episodes) 2021–2023 Star Trek: Prodigy Co-Executive Producer, Writer, Head Writer (40 episodes) 2024 Transformers One Script and Story Development2025–PresentWings of FireShowrunner, Executive Producer, Head Writer, Developed By
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResult 2013Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive MediaThe 3rd Annual Streamy Awards 2018Kidscreen AwardsBest WritingTrollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Annie AwardsOutstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production Daytime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Writing in an Animated Program 2019Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program 2021Outstanding Children's Animated SeriesWizards: Tales of Arcadia Kidscreen AwardsBest New Series 2022Children's and Family Emmy AwardsOutstanding Animated SeriesStar Trek: Prodigy2023Television Critics Association AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Family Programming2024Peabody AwardsPeabody Institutional AwardStar Trek, Star Trek: Prodigy2025Television Critics Association AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Family ProgrammingStar Trek: Prodigy2026Children's and Family Emmy AwardsOutstanding Writing for a Children's or Young Teen Animated Series
References
External links
Aaron Waltke on Twitter