Maria Burton | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Director, producer, actress |
Maria Burton is an American director, producer, and actress. She directed the feature films For the Love of George[1] (2018), A Sort of Homecoming (2015), Manna From Heaven [2](2002), Just Friends (1996), Temps (1999), and co-directed the 2007 documentary "Sign My Snarling Movie".
Burton was born in Buffalo, New York, and the daughter of Roger Burton, a professional jazz musician and actor and Gabrielle Burton, an award-winning screenwriter and novelist.[3][4] With her sisters, Jennifer, Ursula, Gabrielle, and Charity, she runs Five Sisters Productions, a production company.[5]
Burton graduated from Yale University with a degree in theater and filmmaking.[6] She won first prize in the Earth Daughters' play writing contest for her play The Litany of the Clothes and was produced by Lorna Hills' UJIMA Company in Buffalo, New York. After New York she traveled to Los Angeles, and worked on numerous theater shows, including the musical A... My Name Is Alice.[6]
Old Guy: 2020 Emmy Qualifying Streaming Short Form Series[15][16][17] starring Peri Gilpin and Roger Burton.
Kat's Coasters: directed by Maria Burton from a script by Berkley Johnson premiering at the Messhall Film Festival November, 2022.[18]
She produced Julia Sweeney's film Letting Go of God[19] and The Happiest Day of His Life (2007). She has lectured on filmmaking at USC and AFI.[20] Other work includes the short film Stephen Kanner: A Retrospective,[21] as well as commercials for Ford Motor Company.[22][23] Burton was selected for Indigenous Media's ProjectHER for which she wrote and directed Good Eggs for Condé Nast,[24] and has been selected for the television directing programs including CBS Directors' Initiative Class of 2017–18,[25] Ryan Murphy's HALF Initiative 2018, [26] SONY's Emerging Directors Class 2018-20;[27] ABC's Television Directing Class 2018-20[28] and DGA's DDI Emerging Directors Class 2021[29]
Maria is in process of developing an indie TV pilot, "MidLife", and next feature-film script for a drama inspired by the "Mercury 13 women who were tested for the original astronaut program in 1961–62[30] was named to the Athena Film Festval's Athena List[31] and was a quarter finalist in the Academy of Motion Pictures's Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.
Burton is also involved in the Sony's Diversity Directing Program 2018-19[32] and ABC/Disney's Class of 2018–20,[33] She was one of 15 people to be selected to participate in this two-year program that offers professional development.[33]
Burton is co-chair of the Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America,[34] a member of the emeritus board of The Alliance of Women Directors[35] and an advisory board member of Global Girl Media.[36]
