Michael Elyanow

Biography
Michael Elyanow is the author of six plays and eight screenplays. As a screenwriter, Michael’s thriller Boom was honored as a semifinalist in the Nicholls Fellowship and was developed with producer Lisa Tornell. His sci-fi comedy Strange But True was optioned by producer and special effects master Stan Winston (Men In Black). Michael was also hired by Bobkat Productions, in association with The Walt Disney Studios, to co-write the feature-length comedy Eat Me. Other screenwriting honors include the semifinalist and quarterfinalist positions from The Nicholls Fellowship; finalist position from The Austin Film Festival; and semifinalist position from The Walt Disney Studios TV Writing Fellowship. As a playwright, Michael’s most recent play, Lullaby, will be workshopped this year at Hartford Stage’s Brand:NEW Festival of Plays. His last play, 12 Volt Heart, co-written with Jeremy Cohen, received a week-long workshop at last year’s Brand:NEW. 12 Volt also received a CIRA workshop grant, culminating in performances at The Struble Theatre at Northwestern University. The world premiere of Michael’s dark comedy The Idiot Box, was produced by Chicago’s Naked Eye Theatre Company in 2003. Michael’s ten-minute play, Banging Ann Coulter, was a finalist for The 2004 Humana Festival, and was also performed as part of Chicago Dramatist’s Ten-Minute Plays Festival. At Northwestern University, Michael was a Senior Lecturer in the Radio-TV-Film Department, and was Assistant Director of the Creative Writing for the Media Program. He was a two-time nominee for The Charles Deering Excellence in Teaching Award and a recipient of The Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award. He is currently a Screenwriter-in-Residence at Emerson College and is looking forward to teaching at Hampshire as well.