Madeleine Olnek is a writer and director who honed her skills in downtown New York City venues with over 20 produced plays – all comedies. She is one of the authors of A Practical Handbook for the Actor (foreword by David Mamet), and was awarded the William Goldman Screenwriting Fellowship and the Adrienne Shelly Award for Best Female Director at Columbia University. Her first feature, Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (Sundance 2011) was called “hilarious” by The Hollywood Reporter, and is viewable online with her short films Countertransference and Hold Up. She was recently awarded a New York State Council For The Arts grant for her upcoming film project.

Her second feature “The Foxy Merkins,” included screenings at Sundance 2014, BAM Cinemafest, Lincoln Center, and an NYC theatrical run at IFP. The film had its international premiere at the Moscow Film Festival. “The Foxy Merkins” is now available on Netflix.

She was also nominated for a 2014 Independent Spirit Award as “Someone To Watch.”

Madeleine is currently working on her third feature film — the project for which she was awarded the 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship — “Wild Nights With Emily,” a comedy/drama about Emily Dickinson. The project was also awarded NYSCA and Jerome Foundation funds.

Winning Project: Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same Trailer:

Full movie: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/codependent-lesbian-space/id560059654

The Foxy Merkins: http://foxymerkins.wordpress.com/

Two lesbian hookers wind their way through a world of bargain-hunting housewives and double-dealing conservative women in this subversive buddy comedy, an homage to and riff on iconic male hustler films.

The Foxy Merkins Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWXT5oorN5s