WRITER/DIRECTOR SHELLI AINSWORTH
Shelli Ainsworth is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. She is the past recipient of grants and fellowships from ITVS, The Bush Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the McKnight Foundation.
Ms. Ainsworth began her artistic career as a playwright working in experimental theater. With an extensive background as a playwright, director and multi-media artist, she was a frequent collaborator with the acclaimed Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis. Her plays were commissioned and produced by Red Eye Theater, Theatre Orange, Intermedia Arts, and Minnesota Public Television.
Her screenplay A PSYCHIC MOM, was commissioned by the Independent Television Series (ITVS) for production as part of the TV FAMILIES series with James Schamus (now President of Focus Features) as the coordinating producer. A PSYCHIC MOM aired in all major markets and was featured at the Rotterdam Film Festival. Ms. Ainsworth’s short narrative films have been seen in festivals and museums in the United States and Europe.
Her featurette, THIS IS DESTINY, produced in 1995, won the Director Award at the 1996 Charlotte Film and Video Festival. SPA, her most recent short film, premiered at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and has received numerous festival and public screenings. She lives and works in Minneapolis and has three children.
