Bio

SIMONE YEHUDA BIO

Simone Yehuda is a bilingual (French is my first language) screenwriter who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband, historian Barry Michael Shapiro.

Her adult twin daughters, Corinna Nicole Press (psychologist/artist) and Valerie Gabriella Press (physician) live in Oakland, California and Chicago, Illinois.

Simone’s father was a German Jewish Holocaust survivor escaping from Hitler who met her mother, a French Catholic whose own mother was a leader of the French Resistance.

She began as a poet (2 books published: THAW and LIFTING WATER).  A third poetry collection, PIECES OF THUNDER, will be published in 2023.  She has served as Founding Editor for ECLIPSE MAGAZINE and Poetry Editor at BRIDGES JOURNAL.

Her BA is from Bennington College. As a graduate student at Columbia University, she played flute with a NY Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Mass Transit Dance Company.

She’s also a multi-produced playwright (including a mystery, WILLING, Off Broadway).  She has served as Playwright in Residence at Detroit’s Attic Theater.

She later earned a Master’s in Screenwriting at Screenwriting U and became a Top Tier Screenwriter at Roadmap Writers.

Professor Emeritus at Siena Heights University, she’s now a full-time screenwriter. Some of her screenplays – JERUSALEM ROAD, THE NEW EVE, and LOVE AND HOMICIDE – focus on the reconciliation of opposites divided by cultural and identity barriers. She’s grateful for the mentorship of Hal Croasmun (Screenwriting U), Chris Soth (Million Dollar Screenwriting), Joey Tuccio (Roadmap Writers), Ben Shields Catlin (The Story House), and Mark Saffian  (Content House).

OTHER SIMONE YEHUDA BIO INFORMATION

Simone has been identified by several names over the course of her career:

  • Simone Naomi Juda
  • Simone Juda Press
  • Simone Yehuda

Simone’s film production experience includes:

  • Associate Producer, DEBRIS (short, Periscope Productions);
  • Special Thanks for BUG (feature, Lionsgate/Inferno)
  • Casting for NAKED ANGEL (feature, Dancing Star Productions)
  • Production Manager for BRIDE PLUS 1 (feature, Dancing Star Productions).

Simone’s Degrees:

  • Certificat d’Études Françaises, Université de Lausanne
  • BA, Bennington College, American Literature
  • MA, Columbia University, Comparative Literature
  • Ph.D., The Union Institute and University, Comparative Literature and Creative Writing
  • Master Screenwriter, Screenwriting U
  • Top Tier Screenwriter, Roadmap Writers

Some of her awards include:

  • Michigan Council for the Arts: Two Artist Apprenticeship Awards
  • A Michigan Council for the Arts Creative Artist Award
  • An Artist Residency Ragdale Foundation Award
  • A Djerrasi Artist Resident Artist Award 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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