Biography

Hester Schell, MFA (she/hers) New York Trained (AADA, Meisner) actor moved to the West Coast in 1979 where she worked steadily on stage, and launched her film career, appearing in American Taboo, which won an Oscar in 1983 for best student film. She started directing theatre and eventually went to graduate school earning an MFA in Directing. After teaching in California for 30 years, she retired from Academia and is now focused on screenwriting. Her short films have won assorted awards and Hester is now in development with several features: (Invisible, A Matter of Time) She is an optioned screenwriter, produced writer, award-winning director, published author, veteran acting teacher and retired professor of film and theatre. Her script writing focuses on social good and environmental stewardship stories with roles for mature women and seniors. Schell is the author of the critically acclaimed volume, Casting Revealed: A Guide for Film Directors, now in its 2nd edition, with Routledge Press. A former columnist at Script Magazine focused on acting and casting. She is the instigator of Hysterical Housewives, a stand-up training ground for women over 40 from 2003 to 2015 in the Bay Area. Find Hester on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- IMDb mini biography by: Hester Schell

Hester writes social good and environmental stewardship stories with roles for middle-aged women and seniors.

January 2011, published CASTING REVEALED: A Guide for Film Directors, from Michael Wiese Books, the world leader in D-I-Y film books. The second edition was published by Routledge Press in 2016. Formerly worked as a puppeteer with Lunatique Fantastique in San Francisco and toured the UK with Cirque du Celery! Retired film and theatre professor, taught film acting Film Acting Bay Area, and ran Bay Area Casting News from 1995 to 2015.

Great casting will make or break your movie.