Merridith Allen
Merridith Allen grew up in a big, loud, New York Jewish family. When she wasn’t hitting the books at school or listening to Ray Bradbury radio dramas, Merridith’s early years were spent performing in local plays, horseback riding, and studying martial arts. After college, Merridith spent fifteen years as a Jane-of-all-trades artist in the New York theater world, where she worked as an actress, playwright, director, producer, casting director, and stage manager. In 2019, Merridith moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment full time.
Because she’s used to battling societal norms and gender expectations, Merridith is passionate about writing female-driven features and half-hour TV dramedies, featuring characters who must wrestle with their demons in order to embrace who they truly are.
Merridith's plays have been produced nationally and abroad, and excerpts can be found in over a dozen anthologies through Smith&Kraus Publishers. Additionally, Merridith has been the recipient of several prestigious writing fellowships from such organizations as The Sewanee Writer's Conference, VCCA, and the San Miguel de Allende Writer's Conference.
In 2023, Merridith’s script, SENSEI was a finalist in the horror category at The Austin Film Festival. The script later went on to place as a finalist for the The NYX Horror Collective Fellowship, which won Merridith a spot at The Stowe Story Labs Retreat in Connemara, Ireland, and currently sits in the top 1% of all horror scripts on Coverfly.
In 2024, Merridith’s TV pilot, STUNTWOMAN, was long-listed for the WIF/Blacklist Lab.
Merridith’s short, BLACK ROSE, is currently in pre-production, and the feature version (currently titled THE FIGHT INSIDE), scored highly on the blacklist, and placed as a finalist in the screencraft drama competition.
In addition to other projects at various stages of development, Merridith has worked as a script and story consultant for over a decade. Her TV clients have included writers on such shows as Atypical, Queen Sugar, and Raven’s Home. Merridith has been instrumental in the development of award-winning short and feature films. She currently teaches workshops through Script Pipeline, and offers one-on-one personal consulting services via zoom for playwrights, television writers and screenwriters.