Renée Shafransky
American writer, producer, and psychotherapist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Renée Shafransky is an American writer, independent film producer and director, and psychotherapist.[1] She is known for her collaborations with writer/actor/monologist Spalding Gray,[2][3][4] and as a founding member of the Collective for Living Cinema. Her novel Tips for Living was published in 2018.
- Writer
- film producer
- psychotherapist
Renée Shafransky | |
|---|---|
| Born | Queens, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | Spalding Gray (1991–1993) |
| Website | reneeshafranskyauthor |
Career
After studying under avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, Shafransky became a founding member and program director of the Collective for Living Cinema,[5] a premiere venue for avant-garde film. She also edited the scholarly film journal, No Rose, in the late 1970s.[6]
Shafransky met and started dating Spalding Gray in 1979.[7][8] She became his collaborator and director, and figured prominently in many of his monologues.[2][3][4][9]
In 1983, Shafransky produced Variety, directed by Bette Gordon and written by Kathy Acker, which was selected for the Director's Fortnight at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.[1] She also wrote articles and film reviews for The Village Voice.[8][10] In 1986, Jonathan Demme directed a film of Gray's acclaimed monologue, Swimming to Cambodia, which Shafransky produced.[8] Shafransky and Gray co-wrote a sitcom called Bedtime Story, which aired on PBS in 1987. Shafransky continued collaborating with Gray, co-writing projects and directing his monologues, including Monster in a Box in 1990.[4]
Shafransky collaborated with Bette Gordon again, writing the segment "Greed: Pay to Play," for the 1986 film Seven Women, Seven Sins, in which seven internationally acclaimed women directors reinterpret the seven deadly sins.[1] She went on to direct Three Hotels, by award-winning playwright Jon Robin Baitz, at the Magic Theater in San Francisco 1994.[11] Shafransky then spent time in Hollywood, writing screenplays for major studios and HBO, and working with directors Harold Ramis and Mike Newell. [citation needed]
Shafransky now practices as a psychotherapist in New York City and Sag Harbor, [12] and has contributed to The Southampton Review.[13]
Filmography
- Variety (1983) Producer
- Seven Women, Seven Sins (1986) Writer
- Swimming to Cambodia (1987) Producer and director of original stage production
- Bedtime Story (1987) Writer
- Monster in a Box (1992) Producer and director of original stage production
- Gray's Anatomy (1996) Co-writer and director of original stage production