Shira Piven

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Shira Piven
Piven in May 2015
Born (1961-10-08) October 8, 1961 (age 62)
Alma materBennington College
Occupations
  • Director
  • actress
  • producer
Years active1992–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1999)​
Children2
Parent(s)Joyce Hiller Piven (mother)
Byrne Piven (father)
RelativesJeremy Piven (brother)

Shira Piven (born October 8, 1961) is an American director, actress, and producer. She directed the 2014 film Welcome to Me.[1][2]

Early life and education

Piven was raised in Evanston, Illinois, a city just north of Chicago on Lake Michigan.[3][4] Her parents, Joyce Piven and Byrne Piven, founded the Piven Theater Workshop in Evanston.[5][6] Piven performed with the theater company during her adolescence and started teaching and directing theater in her 20s.[6][7] She studied drama and music at Bennington College, and graduated in 1983.[5] Piven grew up in a Jewish family[8]

Career

Piven has directed more than 20 plays in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., including Fully Loaded in 2006,[9] actor Patrick McCartney's one person show Sinister Kid in 2013,[10] and Victims of Duty in 2018.[11][3][12] In 1999, she founded the Water Theater Company in New York,[3][13] and led the improv theater group Burn Manhattan.[14]

Piven directed her first feature film, Fully Loaded in 2011, an adaptation of the stage play she co-wrote and directed, about two single mothers on a night out in Los Angeles.[15][16][6]

In 2014, her second feature, Welcome to Me, was co-produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay and stars Kristen Wiig as a woman with borderline personality disorder who wins the lottery and launches her own talk show.[3][7]

Piven has also directed television episodes for Transparent, Claws, Divorce, Sweetbitter, and One Mississippi.[17][18][19]

Personal life

Piven married writer and director Adam McKay in 1999.[20][21] She and McKay reside in Los Angeles with their daughters Lili Rose and Pearl.[7][4] Her younger brother is actor Jeremy Piven.[6]

Piven has taught theater to prison inmates and gang members.[3][5][11] Piven and McKay both serve as board members of Jail Guitar Doors USA, a non-profit founded by Wayne Kramer that provides musical instruments to inmates.[22]

Filmography

As director
Title Release date Studio Budget Gross Rotten Tomatoes
Welcome to Me May 1, 2015 Bron Studios
Gary Sanchez Productions 		$625,727 72%
Fully Loaded 2011 Figment Films
Sweetbitter, season 1, episode 4 ("Simone's") May 27, 2018 Sleeping Indian Inc.
Plan B Entertainment

References

  1. ^ "Shira Piven, Kristen Wiig take on real life in 'Welcome to Me'". The San Francisco Examiner. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  2. ^ Zwecker, Bill (2014-11-02). "Shira Piven returns to be honored by Women in Film Chicago". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  3. ^ a b c d e Valdes, Natalie (7 May 2015). ""Welcome to Me" Director Shira Piven on Women in Hollywood". WTTW-PBS Chicago. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b Metz, Nina (7 May 2015). "'Welcome to Me' puts a new Piven in spotlight". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Terry, Clifford (14 August 1994). "Piven Family Values Takes the Stage". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Examiner Staff (7 May 2015). "Shira Piven, Kristen Wiig take on real life in 'Welcome to Me'". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Ryzik, Melena (30 April 2015). "Shira Piven on Directing 'Welcome to Me,' a Comedy of Disorder". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  8. ^ Times of Israel: "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016" by Nate Bloom. February 25, 2016
  9. ^ Metz, Nina (9 March 2012). "Car talk: Former Chicagoans Paula Killen and Shira Piven come to Evanston with their indie road comedy 'Fully Loaded'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Sinister Kid - The PIT Loft". Ludus NYC. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  11. ^ a b BWW News Desk (30 May 2018). "A Red Orchid Theatre Announces Casting & Tickets For VICTIMS OF DUTY". Broadway World. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  12. ^ Grady, Pam (29 April 2015). "Director hits the lottery with Kristen Wiig-starring "Welcome to Me"". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. ^ Hofler, Robert (11 April 2001). "Noises Off: 'Pilgrims' progress". Variety. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Chicago Improv Festival". Chicago Reader. 8 April 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  15. ^ Crandell, Ben (29 March 2011). "Palm Beach film festival winners announced". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  16. ^ Sjostrom, Jan (24 September 2016). "Narcissistic 'Welcome to Me' brings humor out of reality". Palm Beach Daily News. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Shira Piven". The Pack Theater. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  18. ^ "Sweetbitter - Season 1 Episode 4", Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved 2020-11-02
  19. ^ "About". Pedja Radenkovi-Cinematographer. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  20. ^ "Adam McKay Facts". Britannica. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  21. ^ Zwecker, Bill (3 November 2014). "Shira Piven returns to be honored by Women in Film Chicago". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  22. ^ "The MC5's Wayne Kramer to be profiled on PBS's Lifecasters". Ace. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2020.

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