https://www.emmagrassolevine.com/about daily 0.75 2021-02-28 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecd9ae16dad0e25fa0b598c/1590704795979/emma.grasso.levine.jpg About - Emma Grasso Levine is a writer and director from Oakland, California. She cut her theater teeth in grade-school getting type-cast as sisters and moms. By the time she was a high-school senior, she had branched out to direct, produce, and act in her first original play with the support of a local theater. She graduated from NYU Tisch in 2020, earning dual degrees in Dramatic Writing and Social & Cultural Analysis. She is a University Honors Scholar and the recipient of the 2020 Chair’s Award for Dramatic Writing. While at NYU, she wrote short and full-length plays, screenplays, and TV content, led Fusion Film Festival’s Editorial Department, and studied directing at the National Film and Television School in the UK. She has also worked in production and development at various theater, film, and TV production companies, including The Shotgun Players, Elevator Repair Service, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She currently works in development at Jane Startz Productions. She is also writes for Iris, a scripted, thriller podcast produced by Trick City Productions that explores power dynamics in ballet, the occult, and the cost of ambition. In her work, she seeks to honor and uplift the stories of marginalized folks and to collaborate with people who share her mission. She writes for the sisters and moms, with the desire to share stories that make them feel seen. Her play Code Words, inspired by WWII American women codebreakers, was in rehearsals at Playwrights Horizons Theater School before COVID-19 halted production. She was also directing a short film version of her thesis screenplay, Fault, which was in pre-production. Pandemic permitting, Emma is excited to return to producing the play and the film. https://www.emmagrassolevine.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-05-28 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecf0277eca3515b96d54b9e/1590624947982/emma.grasso.levine.kid.jpeg Contact - Contact For writing sample requests, general inquiries, or just to say hello, email Emma at emma.grasso.levine@gmail.com. https://www.emmagrassolevine.com/writing daily 0.75 2021-03-01 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/603b0f2d9e1e6b26c0ad4dbd/1614572146744/Iris%2BPodcast%2BLogo.jpg Creative Projects - Iris a five-part, episodic, thriller podcast Iris blends cosmic horror and teen drama, telling the bone chilling journey of seventeen-year-old ballerina Isabella, who finds herself in a remote dance academy in the woods, unveiling a dark secret that could change her life forever. Finding her place with an elite group of friends, Isabella agrees to partake in a ritual rumored to bestow upon them a chance at fame and notoriety. When the halfheartedly-believed ritual becomes wholly realized, Isabella must reckon with her ambition and its consequences. Image by Saskia Martinez https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecda7fbb6e5372e0e711b77/1590737903124/code.words.jpg Creative Projects - Code Words a full-length play In 1942, World War II is raging, and President Roosevelt makes it possible for women to serve in the military in non-combat roles. Four women uproot their lives to move to Virginia, take the Army’s oath of secrecy, and do their part to end the war. In the process, their lives are transformed by the trauma of war, their work, and each other. Code Words is inspired by the true stories of women codebreakers who answered the call and made groundbreaking contributions to the war effort and the field of American codebreaking. Workshopped at Playwrights Horizons Theater School, Jan-Mar 2020 Directed by Audrey Lane Original cast: Olivia Basile, Beatrice Beutel, Char Nakashima-Conway, & Kristina Paul Original music by Jessica Kantorowitz & Molly Kirschenbaum Choreography by Maya Quetzali Gonzalez Image by Audrey Lane https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecdb950410a777ae78b5214/1590540635414/fault.jpg Creative Projects - Fault a feature screenplay As the best doubles partnership on their prep school tennis team, Allison and Erica are well on their way to collegiate recruitment and scholarships. But in the wake of an assault by their coach, Allison must test her friendships, challenge the community’s status quo, and risk her college dreams in the search for justice. In pre-production: short film adaptation of Fault Directed by Emma Grasso Levine & Alexander Matteson Produced by Nanou Matteson https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecebe306840734102c8671e/1590607623663/mandeville.la.jpg Creative Projects - Mandeville a feature screenplay When a wedding in rural Louisiana reunites Maisy with her late father’s family for the first time in years, she takes the opportunity to rekindle connections. Faced with the discovery of a long-held secret about her father, Maisy must dig for a painful truth, reckon with unprocessed trauma and grief, and find out if she can make up for lost time before it’s too late. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ed0c1f8c0854d3ba690ea7a/1590739458768/annie.londonderry.jpg Creative Projects - Londonderry a feature screenplay Twenty-four-year-old Annie Londonderry sets off on a quest to become the first woman to bicycle around the world. In the process, she grapples with her orthodox Jewish identity, her relationship with motherhood, and the price for independence as a woman in 1894. Image courtesy of The Jewish Women’s Archive https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5eceb30e7fb104416490eaac/1590604572941/IMG_2158.jpg Creative Projects - “Knockout” GLOW S2E1 spec episode In an attempt to pull together the opening night of their Las Vegas live show, Sam bans the wrestlers from any distractions, upending Ruth and Russell’s romantic weekend together. As Ruth runs back and forth, trying to keep everyone happy, she isn’t alone — Bash’s focus is pulled by an ill-timed reckoning with a tragedy. The chaos that ensues jeopardizes Justine’s plans to set the people behind GLOW straight before she skips town. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecda5bf250a6a0b1af27cf2/1590544451224/thoughts.and.prayers.jpg Creative Projects - Thoughts and Prayers a full-length play In a football stadium restroom, a teenager, a police officer, and a young girl meet for the first time and irrevocably change each other. This piece is a rumination on cycles of violence, transgenerational trauma, and what happens when “thoughts and prayers” are not enough. Produced with the support of The Shotgun Players, June 2016 Directed by Emma Grasso Levine Image by Remi Tupper https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecdafc35060ad27ee759135/1590538547881/she.sells.seashells.jpg Creative Projects - “She Sells Seashells” an original TV pilot In 19th century England, on the coast of the English Channel, a young woman with a talent for finding fossils strives to make money for her impoverished family. When she realizes that she deserves both money and credit for her ground-breaking discoveries, she sets out to challenge the man who has swindled her out of proper recognition. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5eceb154a18c152c302486fd/1590604141707/backyard.theater.camp.jpg Creative Projects - Theater & TV for Young Audiences various samples “Permission Chicken” — a Sesame Street spec episode “Cake” — an Elmo’s World spec episode The Arabian Nights — 45 min play, kid-friendly adaptation of the classic tales Produced at Backyard Theater Company’s Drama Camp, June 2018 Directed by Andy Spear https://www.emmagrassolevine.com/nonfiction daily 0.75 2020-05-28 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecff1e9fae0797396fe4f00/1590709320819/emma.levine.thesis.png Non-Fiction - Transforming the Norm for Survivors: Legal and Community-Based Solutions to Sexual Violence in the U.S. Abstract: For survivors of sexual violence, documented deficiencies in the legal system and lack of access to alternate strategies for combating violence prevent survivors and their communities from finding justice and healing. Yet few resources on this issue propose policy reforms alongside robust, existing community-based strategies in order to more holistically address sexual violence. This project analyzes the combined impact of both legal strategies and intersectional, community-based activism to address sexual violence, arguing that transformative justice and community accountability techniques, which do not rely on the state, can address the documented limitations of legal and institutional systems for responding to sexual violence. While policy changes within legal and institutional systems have increased protections for survivors, these pieces of legislation are also increasingly limited in power and efficacy. Intersectional feminist literature, toolkits, workbooks, and case studies provide examples of how to effectively utilize transformative justice strategies in response to sexual violence within communities. This project focuses on the case studies of the organization INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence and the student-run group Students for Sexual Respect at NYU to illustrate that transformative justice strategies can be effectively implemented to address sexual violence at colleges and universities, as well as within broader communities. Ultimately, this thesis utilizes these case studies to highlight different options for survivors of sexual violence so that survivors whose needs are not compatible with legal or institutional procedures can still find their own version of justice. Transformative justice and community accountability strategies provide survivors and communities impacted by sexual violence with the tools they need to transform rape culture, interrupt cycles of sexual violence, and better support survivors. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd828b65c7bb42ed81180d/t/5ecfefecc9e7774f9ea4094c/1590704526763/rachel.morrison.jpg Non-Fiction - “Rachel Morrison: Oscar’s Bound for Mudbound” Editorial article for Fusion Film Festival. Image courtesy of Rachel Morrison. “For the first time in the Oscars’ 90 years, a female cinematographer’s work behind the camera is in the spotlight. In an awards season focused on equality and fair treatment in the entertainment industry, Rachel Morrison’s Oscar nomination for her work on director Dee Rees’s Mudbound stands out: she is the first woman ever nominated for Best Cinematography.” https://www.emmagrassolevine.com/home daily 1.0 2021-03-01