Ashley Avis

Ashley Avis (born January 27, 1987) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Her credits include the feature films Deserted (2016), Adolescence (2018), and Black Beauty (2020) starring Kate Winslet and Mackenzie Foy.[1][2]

Ashley Avis
Born (1987-01-27) January 27, 1987
Chicago, Illinois
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2006-present

Early life

Avis was born in Chicago, Illinois to Richard Avis and Victoria Woods. She has one younger brother, Richard Avis. At five years old, Avis' family relocated from Chicago to St. Petersburg, Florida where Avis grew up. She was a competitive equestrian from the age of seven to seventeen, competing on the hunter/jumper circuit in Florida. In 2003, Avis traveled to Ghana, West Africa for the Model of the Universe pageant, winning the title of Miss Teen Model of the Universe.[3]

Avis has expressed that she always wanted to become a writer, and thought she would eventually become a young adult author or novelist. She attended college in New York, double majoring in International Business and Marketing at Manhattan College in Riverdale, and graduated in three years in 2008. She worked as a real estate agent, a web designer, and at Nielsen Media as a journalist, eventually being promoted to regional editor during her college years. After trying theater in Manhattan, she became attracted to writing screenplays.[4]

Career

In 2009, Avis relocated from New York to Los Angeles, California, saving up money to produce her first pilot for a series called The Cynical Life. Because she didn't have the funds to hire a producer or a director, she took on those roles herself. The project caught the attention of Lionsgate founder Frank Giustra, who executive produced three episodes. From there, Avis directed and produced the classical music documentary Opus X, featuring Lone Madsen and Caroline Campbell, which Giustra also executive produced.

Avis formed her production company Alchemy Pictures in 2010, and began directing and producing branded commercial content, eventually landing clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Pfizer, and the Cali Group. She wrote and directed multiple spots for technology client Miso Robotics featuring the AI robot "Flippy", which has garnered over 1 billion impressions to date, and has been featured on websites such as Forbes,[5] TechCrunch,[6] and The Wall Street Journal.[7]

In 2013, Avis was hired by producer Todd Labarowski of Dreambridge Films to write the screenplay adaptation of the novel The Cybil Raven Chronicles, based on the novel by Tony Timbol and Crystal Craven.

In 2015, Avis made her directorial debut with the psychological thriller Deserted, starring Mischa Barton, Winter Ave Zoli, Trent Ford, Jake Busey, Sebastian Bach, Gerry Bednob, Jackson Davis, and Kelly Brannigan. She wrote the original screenplay and also produced the film, which was edited by Douglas Crise.[8] In 2016, she directed her second feature, the coming of age story Adolescence, starring India Eisley, Elisabeth Rohm, Tommy Flanagan and Jere Burns.[9][10] The film also features the original music of Zac Brown Band member John Driskell Hopkins.[11] In 2017, Avis was hired to direct the holiday film The Trouble with Mistletoe for Tosca Musk's streaming platform Passionflix, based on the New York Times best selling series by Jill Shalvis.[12]

In 2016, Avis traveled to Cape Town, South Africa for the Bokeh South African International Film Festival, where she won the Mercedes-Benz award for her film Bespoke starring Cuban model and recording artist Natalia Barulich, and actor Miklos Banyai.[13]

She will next write the screenplay, as well as direct the modern day reprisal of Anna Sewell's classic novel Black Beauty for Constantin Film.[14]

Personal life

In 2013, Avis met her future husband and producing partner Edward Winters. They became engaged in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa, and were married on June 6, 2015.[4]

References
  1. "Mackenzie Foy, Kate Winslet to Star in 'Black Beauty' Reboot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  2. McNary, Dave (2019-05-07). "Mackenzie Foy, Kate Winslet to Star in 'Black Beauty'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  3. "Ready for her closeup". The St. Petersburg Times. 2004-04-04. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  4. "Ashley Avis and Ed Winters – Director and producer of deserted". Humans Of SA. 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  5. "Flippy the $0-an-hour burger flipper is how to make fast food wages $15 an hour". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  6. "Flippy, the hamburger cooking robot, gets its first restaurant gig – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  7. Puzder, Andy (2017-04-03). "The Minimum Wage should be called the Robot Employment Act". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  8. "Interview: 'Deserted' director Ashley Avis on her latest film". ThatMomentIn. 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  9. "Elisabeth Röhm Is a "Bleeding Heart" like her former 'Law & Order' character Serena Southerlyn (Exclusive)". Life & Style. 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  10. McNary, Dave (2016-08-24). "India Eisley, Jason Isaacs starring in thriller Behind the Glass". Variety. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  11. Desk, TV News. "The John Driskell Hopkins Band to be featured in upcomig ADOLESCENCE film out this summer". Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  12. "Movie review: The Trouble with Mistletoe". Read All the Romance. 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  13. "Cape Town rolls out the red carpet for the Mercedes-Benz Bokeh South Africa International Fashion Film Festival". Spice4Life. 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  14. Hipes, Patrick (2018-05-23). "'Black Beauty' Movie In Works With Ashley Avis Set To Write & Direct". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
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