Annie J. Howell

Annie J. Howell is a filmmaker whose focus on the complexity and humor of family and identity has led her to develop distinct, diverse characters and scenarios. Her credits include co-writing Yellow Rose, (directed by Diane Paragas and starring Eva Noblezada), the recipient of eight Grand Jury Prizes for Best Narrative Feature and distributed by Sony Worldwide; the original screenplay for Little Boxes (starring Nelsan Ellis and Melanie Lynskey), which was the highest sale out of Tribeca Film Festival (Netflix) the year it premiered; and two award-winning films co-written and co-directed with Lisa Robinson, Small, Beautifully Moving Parts (starring Anna Margaret Hollyman, Mary Beth Peil, Sarah Rafferty and André Holland) and Claire In Motion (starring Betsy Brandt, Zev Haworth, Chris Beetem and Sakina Jaffrey). Roger Ebert called Small, Beautifully Moving Parts "effortlessly engaging," while Joe Leydon at Variety called the film "by turns precise and elliptical, like a meticulously crafted short story." While Hammer-to-Nail called Claire In Motion "a gentle tour-de-force," The Hollywood Reporter called Yellow Rose heartfelt, provocative and "affecting on almost every level." Character Media hailed it as "the immigration film of our times." Howell's work has been shown at top film festivals including SXSW (two feature premieres), Tribeca and Sundance, premiered in theaters nationwide and featured on streamers around the world. She is the recipient of the Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize, an IFP Emerging Narrative Award for Best Feature, and a San Francisco Film Society/Rainin Foundation grant, among other awards. She is also an award-winning professor in the MFA program at The City College of New York, and teaches at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in Grad Film and TV, where she is an alum. She has also taught at Duke University, Ohio University (tenured), The New School, and The Vermont College of Fine Arts. Howell grew up in rural Arizona, has lived in the Pacific Northwest, the South, and Appalachian Ohio, and now resides in New York City with her family.

Education

BA in English, Whitman College / MFA in Film, NYU TSOA