Emily Schleiger is a screenwriter and writer in the Chicago area. Her dark comedy feature screenplay LOUDMOUSE scored in the top 15% of the 2021 and 2023 Nicholl Fellowships, was a finalist for the 2021 and 2022 Athena Screenwriters Labs, and advanced to the 2nd Round of the 2022 Austin Film Festival.

Her satire and humor work has been published on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Reductress, The Second City Network, and more.  She's also performed at storytelling shows and readings, including Mortified. She is a survivor of a short career in human resources and is a mom of two. She swears she will live near a coast before she dies.

She earned her MFA at the low-residency program at University of California Riverside-Palm Desert, with a concentration in screenwriting. Previously she studied writing and improv at The Second City and elsewhere.

Since 2023 she has worked as a freelance screenwriter for Voyage Media, working with producers and clients to adapt intellectual property into marketable screenplays.

She tends to write about people who have ignored their hearts and instincts for so long that they’ve forgotten how to listen for them. She also enjoys pointing out how societal norms and expectations, particularly those rooted in patriarchy, are often silly, detrimental, or abusive. She loves awkward and unlikely heroes who discover their power is truly needed in the world.

If she has gone missing, please check anywhere hot buttered popcorn is sold, or maybe start asking that aggressive-looking clown some hard questions.