JOANNE HUDSON

Joanne is a playwright, director and filmmaker whose plays have been commissioned, developed and produced by Huntington Theatre Co., Boston Playwrights Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Tank, The Marsh, Thrown Stone, East River Commedia, SIPA (School of International Public Affairs at Columbia University), Keeler Tavern Museum, Iceland Fulbright, Vestmannaeyjar Iceland Library and others. As a Fulbright Scholar in creative writing, she traveled to Iceland to write a play about a scientist who loses her ethics and finds her humanity, “unbidden,” now included in the literature of the Westmann Islands. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts. Joanne founded RIFF in 2015 in order to be around filmmakers and learn the craft of filmmaking, to share the beautiful town of Ridgefield CT and its many arts venues with them, and in the hopes of making the world a more compassionate place through the sharing of stories through cinema.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: https://www.riffct.org/
FB: joannehudson3
IG: joannehudsonplays; @mollusksmovie; book.sandtravel

MORE ABOUT ME
My most gratifying moment in theatre remains the first time I directed my own work. A friend told me, “Cast the best actors,” (as opposed to type) they will make you believe anything.” And it was true. My actors didn’t know I had never directed before (I read On Directing by Harold Clurman) and we rehearsed for 8 weeks for a 25 minute play for a one act festival. I was caretaking a loft space in Vinegar Hill and each day my actors and I would trek out to Brooklyn to rehearse in this giant artists loft where I would have them do mirror exercises to get in sync (they were playing doppelgängers). I knew it worked when I watched from behind as they walked down the street their heads cocked to one side and subconsciously mimicking one another’s movements. The two lead actors fell in love and didn’t tell me until after opening night. We were a smash hit and everyone filled the audience to see our show the second night. It remains one of the two most delightful theatre experience of my career, the other being the production of my play Pop Art at Boston Theatre Marathon, directed by Stephanie LeBolt, where all I had to do was show up and enjoy the show.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
Currently, I produce and direct Ridgefield Independent Film Festival (RIFF) now in its seventh year. I also make short films, and am working on a feature length screenplay.

KEYWORDS
​Film, theatre, micro budget