Karen Moncrieff

After receiving a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, Moncrieff moved to California to pursue a career as an actress. She appeared in numerous TV shows and B-movies and was a series regular on Santa Barbara (as Cassandra Lockridge) and Days of Our Lives (as Gabrielle Pascal.) In 1998, Moncrieff completed the certificate program in film studies at Los Angeles City College and discovered her passion for writing and directing. The same year, she received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for Blue Car, which became her directorial debut. Blue Car, starring David Strathairn and Agnes Bruckner, premiered at The 2002 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by Miramax Films. After screening at festivals around the world, including Toronto, Deauville, Montreal, and London Blue Car, opened to widespread critical acclaim. Soon after, Moncrieff was chosen as one of Variety's 10 Screenwriter's to Watch, and Blue Car went on to garner two Spirit Award nominations including Best First Screenplay. Moncrieff's second feature, The Dead Girl, starring Toni Collette, Josh Brolin, Marcia Gay Harden, Brittany Murphy, Kerry Washington, Giovanni Ribisi, Rose Byrne, and Mary Beth Hurt, was nominated for three Spirit Awards including Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress. It premiered at the AFI film festival in 2006 and went on to win the Grand Prix at Deauville in 2007. Moncrieff's television directing credits include Lifetime's highly rated MOW adaptation of V.C. Andrews beloved novel Petals on the Wind. She also directed The Trials of Cate McCall, (which she also wrote and produced) starring Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte, and James Cromwell, and episodes of the Emmy award winning HBO series Six Feet Under, and the short-lived series Touching Evil, starring Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Donovan.