Karen Odyniec
With the launch of Reel Siren Films in 1998, Karen debuted her first cinematic effort, Watermelon, sponsored by Women Make Movies. The film won a special commendation at the CIAFF and showcased at the NY Women’s Film Festival among others. In New York, Karen directed workshop productions for Zoetrope Live Story, The Actors Playground and Tiny Mythic Theatre at Here. She also stage managed plays and festivals for NY Theatre Workshop, The Actors’ Studio, Naked Angels, Jim Henson Productions and The Public Theatre, working with accomplished playwrights and directors including Jonathan Larson, Kenneth Lonergan, Douglas McGrath, and Rebecca Miller. Karen has completed several short narrative and documentary films, including The Valise, which premiered at Lincoln Center in 2005, and The Face of Family Homelessness, a documentary that helped raise money and awareness in San Francisco.
Karen has written commercially, and her photographs have appeared in Random House publications, The NY Times, The LA Times, Vera Wang on Weddings, InStyle Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, Bergdorf Goodman Magazine and on NPR.com.
Receiving her Masters in Film at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Karen studied directing with Lee Grant. She also studied acting with Uta Hagen and Elaine Aiken.
Karen Odyniec was awarded a Screenwriting grant at NYU in 2008 for Charm School for Primates