Amanda E.

With 20 years of experience writing about artists, on top of a career as an Emmy Award-winning writer/producer, my focus is on research and writing about art and filmmaking, including: • grant applications and searches for filmmakers (winning grant awards up to $127,500) • artist statements and bios, exhibition statements and press releases • applications and proposals for public art projects, artist grants and residencies • essays and articles for art magazines and monographs (see my publication list below) • original and deeply researched movie essays and trivia content While I usually specialize in writing about contemporary artists, including lowbrow, outsider art, illustration, street art and graffiti, I am well-versed in elucidating most genres of visual art and photography. Over the years, I have been commissioned to write introductions for books on behalf of artists including seminal pop surrealist Mark Ryden and the muralist duo Dabs Myla, and have conducted in-depth interviews with more than 60 artists, such as graffiti pioneer Chaz Bojórquez, figurative painter Phil Hale, street artist David Choe, cartoonist/puppeteer/painter Wayne White, contemporary fantasist James Jean, graphic design wizard Aaron Horkey, and many more. A number of galleries have engaged me to write their exhibition press releases and other promotional materials, including Ascaso Gallery, Richard Heller Gallery, and Jaski Gallery. In addition, I have expertise in crafting impressive materials on behalf of artists for grant, residency and public art project RFQ and RFP applications, including artist statements, letters of interest, project proposals, community engagement proposals, professional resumes and project budgets. The artists I've worked with have greatly increased their percentage of placements on pre-approved artist rosters and finalist short lists, and have been awarded projects by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Maui Public Art Corps, and the Green Box Artist-in-Residency Program, among others. Prior to my work writing for and about artists, I leveraged my BA from Dartmouth in Film Studies and Creative Writing into a 30-year career as a writer/producer in film and television. In 2012, I was honored with a Creative Arts Emmy for conceiving and writing a documentary short. As an experienced production professional, I bring an extensive knowledge of film production language, budgeting, and processes to the table when writing application materials on behalf of filmmakers for documentary grants (including the non-fiction core format), as well as narrative film grants and filmmaking fellowships. My documentary grant proposals have won individual awards up to $127,500 from funders including the California Creative Corps, the California Arts Council, the Maryland State Arts Council, the California State Library Civil Liberties Program, the Takahashi Charitable Foundation, the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund, and the United States-Japan Foundation. I also have a great deal of experience writing entertaining narratives about film production and conducting in-depth research on film history, both online and at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Library. My research and writing contributed to the successful six-season run of the AMC behind-the-scenes movie trivia shows "DVD_TV" and "Much More Movie," on which I served as researcher, co-writer, and producer. Having fact-checked, copy edited and/or proofread hundreds of books, interviews, essays, proposals, applications and letters on creative topics, I'm also an expert at sculpting an artist or filmmaker's rough ideas into flowing, coherent language that preserves the tone and intent of the original content, allowing their voice to shine through with perfect spelling, grammar and syntax. Please feel free to reach out if my skill set seems like a good fit for your project.