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.[1][2] She directed the 2014 film Welcome to Me starring Kristen Wiig.

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 Episode Simone's May 27, 2018

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. 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.

External links


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