Olivia Lilley is a screenwriter, director, and entrepreneur who came up in Chicago's DIY and Storefront Theatre scenes. She was also a child prodigy in music composition, completing her first orchestral score by age 15. Olivia was the Artistic Director of Prop Thtr (2018 - 2023), and the founding Artistic Director of The Runaways Lab Theatre (2013- 2015; Voted Best New Theatre Company in the Chicago Reader's Best of 2014). She has been at the helm as a director on 13 full length productions of new plays and musicals in 6 week+ runs. She has produced six world premieres by other creators and numerous developmental workshops and readings. She has curated at The MCA. Olivia is in financing for her first feature film as a writer/director, "This Is The Place" with Producer Tiffany Weisberg and EP Christina Shaver. She's also in development on two others. Olivia attended Carnegie Mellon School of Drama for Directing and Interlochen Arts Academy. She has an MFA in Screenwriting from The University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Research Area
Screenwriting, Directing
Specific Research Area
Independent Film, Community Building through Project Development, Story Development in Hollywood TV and Feature Writing, Devising Film, Physically Adventurous Worlds on Screen