amy talkington is an award-winning writer, director, producer and author.
amy grew up in dallas, texas, where she spent her teen years painting angsty self-portraits, listening to bands like the velvet underground, the pixies, and the cure, and tormenting her parents with both the volume and her attitude. teenage amy lives on in her work, manifesting in rebellious characters with sharp voices and big feelings, like izzy in little fires everywhere (hulu), which amy co-executive produced, wrote the finale episode and was nominated for a primetime emmy for “outstanding limited series.” her gift for channeling young voices is also evident in the 2010 wga award winner avalon high (disney channel), brave new girl (abc family) and her ya novel liv, forever (sohoteen). she’s also a mother to two young girls, who inform her voice with theirs – angsty, or otherwise.
amy had an early career as a rock journalist which not only got her backstage and onboard the tour bus, but saw her writing published in magazines like spin, ray gun, interview and seventeen – she had a picnic in san antonio with billy corgan, spent and afternoon wandering around nyc with damon albarn, had poached eggs in london with bjork and even got to ask the chili peppers about the socks on their jocks. her passionate love for music has followed amy through life and her writing, including her script for valley girl (mgm), undercover (lionsgate) and her upcoming personal project dix. for good measure and to ensure there’s no shortage of music in her life, amy married a music producer.
amy has written screenplays for all the major studios as well as for herself. she wrote and directed the feature film the night of the white pants which premiered at tribeca in 2008. her short films, second skin, bust, and number one fan, were selected for numerous distinguished festivals, including sundance, and have received accolades and top prizes including the new line cinema award for best director. her early directing career found her pushing the boundaries with experiments in new media, pioneering the web series as we know it today. and she literally made the (film) history books for directing the first ever 360-degree movie, the new arrival. filmmaker magazine named her one of “25 new indie faces to watch” and she was singled out as an up and coming director by vogue magazine.
amy graduated magna cum laude from barnard college with a degree in art history (and a minor in lower east side bar-crawling). she went on to receive an mfa in film from columbia university’s film division, where she won their top directing award. she currently lives in los angeles with her husband and two children (and a small selection of angsty teen self-portraits).