Jenelle Riley

Jenelle Riley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and journalist based in Los Angeles.

She is known for writing clever profiles for industry journals like "Creative Screenwriting", "Action", and "Back Stage" (where as Film & Television Editor she has interviewed celebrities such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hugh Laurie, Tommy Lee Jones, Chalize Theron, and Nicole Kidman). In Fall 2007, she was the only print journalist to be granted an exclusive interview with Angelina Jolie. The story earned attention for focusing strictly on Jolie's methods as an actor, not her personal life. Her stories are published in newspapers across the country, including "The Chicago Sun-Times".

She is also the author of several full-length plays including "Unholy Matrimony", "Comfortably Numb", "Jenelle Riley's 7 Deadly Sins" and "Heart Murmurs and Brain Matters". She has served on the artistic committee at LA's award-winning indie theater, Sacred Fools Theater. At Sacred Fools, she has written and directed over 30 episodes of "Darque Magick", a weekly serialized play that has featured cameos from actors like Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Morrison and Jenna Fischer.

Her first play," Just Julie", was published when she was 15 years old after winning the grand prize in the Oregon Thespian Playwriting Conference for young playwrights. She won this award three years in a row before turning 18 and becoming ineligible. Her second play, "Choices", toured high schools across the country.

Riley has written over 50 short plays as part of "overnight theatre" projects, where writers are assigned a cast breakdown and random variables and given hours to write a one-act play that is then cast at random, rehearsed, and staged all within 24 hours. She has participated in programs such as "Fast & Loose" at Sacred Fools Theatre, "Day Players" at the Acme Comedy Theatre, and "The 24-Hour Plays" in New York City.

As a screenwriter, she won notoriety with "Crazy Love", a viral, award-winning short directed by "Gilmore Girls" star John Cabrera. Made for just US$300, the film went on to win a top prize at The Palm Springs Film Festival opposite movies from around the world with budgets upwards of $500,000. She also wrote the award-winning shorts "The Perfect Candidate", directed by her good friend Ben Rock, "The Swap" and "A Sort of Fairy Tale".

She is a sought-after host of live Q&A events, such as SAG Foundation's "Conversations" series, where she interviews actors such as Kirk Douglas, Christian Bale, and the casts of TV shows like "The Office" in front of an audience. In February 2008, she was selected to present the first Independent Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival to Ryan Gosling. [ [http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=15642 "Daily Nexus"] ]

Riley also conducts TV interviews for the website UGO.

Trivia

An avid fanatic of the television show "The Simpsons", Riley has a tattoo of Homer Simpson on her left shoulder. She frequently names characters in her films and plays after characters from the show.

Is a distant cousin of actress Kelly Hu.

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1315663 Jenelle Riley]
* [http://www.sacredfools.org Sacred Fools] .
* [http://www.instantfilms.com/gallery/index.php?action=showpic&cat=1&pic=362 "Crazy Love"]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0127832 John Cabrera]
* [http://www.ugo.com UGO]
* [http://www.backstage.com Back Stage: The Actor's Resource]
* [http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=15642 Ryan Gosling Award Tribute]