‏Shawn Tolleson‏

Shawn Tolleson is an accomplished director, writer and producer who divides her time between Vancouver, British Columbia and Los Angeles, California. She just completed directing her second feature film, UNDERGRAD NIGHTMARE, for Reel One/LIfetime with Greer Grammar and Moira Kelly. Her debut feature as a writer/director, SATURN RETURNS is set to play the festival circuit. The film stars Jordan Belfi, Nicholle Tom, and Alison Haislip. Her screenplay for the SATURN RETURNS won first place in the Mountain Film Festival.

She has directed five short films that have played around the world in film festivals, including her proof-of-concept short film SHAKESPEARE'S HENRY IV with Martin Sheen as King Henry. She wrote and directed 13 episodes for the first web-series created parallel to a network televisions show, FOX's THE VISITOR with John Corbett, produced by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. She has directed 20 plays including a Sam Shepard world-premier for the MET Theatre in Los Angeles, Shakespeare, and Tennessee Williams.

She sold a pitch to Warner Bros., is a Sundance Producer's Lab Fellow, and a Lincoln Center Theatre Lab-West Fellow. She was a finalist (top 5 from over 500) for the ABC/DGA Episodic Directing Fellowship, a finalist for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, and for the Film Independent Screenplay Lab.

She worked for 8 years as a producer and production manager on 100+ projects including commercials, music videos and high fashion stills with such talents as the Rolling Stones, Steven Meisel, Jennifer Aniston, Gwen Stefani, and more.

Shawn started her career as an actor, performing in over 100 plays. She holds her B.F.A. in Acting and Directing from the prestigious University of North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Drama. She is a US citizen and a Canadian Permanent Resident.