Quinn Shephard

Quinn Shephard (born February 28, 1995)[2] is an American actress, screenwriter, film producer, film director, and film editor. She is best known for her roles as Donna Malone in the holiday comedy Unaccompanied Minors and as Morgan Sanders in the television series Hostages. In 2017, her feature film directorial debut, Blame (which she also wrote, produced, edited, and starred in), screened at several film festivals and earned critical attention.[3]

Quinn Shephard
Shephard in 2017
Born (1995-02-28) February 28, 1995
New Jersey, U.S.[1]
Occupation
  • Actress
  • screenwriter
  • film producer
  • film director
  • film editor
Years active2001–present
Websitereelquinnshephard.com

Early life

Shephard grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey[4] and the surrounding New York area.[5] She attended Metuchen High School, which was used to film scenes from her movie Blame.[6]

Career

Shephard's big screen debut was in the 2001 French film Harrison's Flowers at the age of five.[7] Shephard's first starring role was in the holiday comedy feature film Unaccompanied Minors. Shephard and her co-stars were nominated for Best Young Ensemble in a Feature Film at the 29th Young Artist Awards.[8] She later appeared in the comedy film Assassination of a High School President (2008) and the horror film Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl (2016).

Shephard has also appeared on television. In 2013, she played the recurring role of Morgan Sanders in the CBS thriller series Hostages. From 2014 to 2015, she portrayed Claire Mahoney in the fourth season of Person of Interest. Shephard has played guest roles in several television series, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011), Made in Jersey (2012), The Blacklist (2013), and Believe (2014).[1]

In 2015, she was the recipient of the Rising Star Award at the Garden State Film Festival.[9] In 2018, she appeared in the film The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival; it won the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Drama, the festival's highest honor.[10]

Directorial debut

Shephard developed the script for her first feature film, Blame, for several years.[11] In 2016, after her financier fell through during the first week of shooting, Shephard partially self-financed Blame using money from her college fund.[11] The film was shot in 19 days, and Shephard produced it with her mother, Laurie Shephard.[11] Shephard also starred in the film as Abigail Grey, alongside Chris Messina, Nadia Alexander, and Tate Donovan.[12]

Blame screened at several film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, making Shephard the youngest female director to debut a film there.[13] It was nominated for several awards at Tribeca and won the award for Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature (for Alexander's performance).[14] The film received generally positive reviews from critics; it holds an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes,[15] while on Metacritic it holds a 54/100 rating.[16] IndieWire called it a "solid debut", while writing that, though it "isn't fully realized", it establishes Shephard as "someone to watch".[3] Glenn Kenny of The New York Times described the film as "earnest but underdeveloped".[17] Filmmaker called the film "a poignant and incisive examination of modern American adolescence."[18] The Hollywood Reporter called it "a mixed bag of a directorial debut".[19]

Personal life

Shephard identifies as queer.[20] Since 2015, she has been in a relationship with her Blame co-star Nadia Alexander.[21]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Harrison's Flowers Margaux Lloyd
2004 From Other Worlds Linda Schwartzbaum
2006 Unaccompanied Minors Donna Malone
2008 Assassination of a High School President Eye Patch Girl
2015 Windsor Kat
2016 Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl Beth
2017 Blame Abigail Grey also director, producer, writer, editor
2018 The Miseducation of Cameron Post Coley Taylor
2018 Midnight Sun Morgan

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Emma Butler Episode: “Lost Traveller”
2012 Made in Jersey Kate Garretti Episode: "Ridgewell"
2013 Trooper Olive Flaxton Television film
2013–2014 Hostages Morgan Sanders Main role
2013 The Blacklist Abby Fisher Episode: "Ivan"
2014 And, We're Out of Time Scarlett Television film
2014 Believe Sasha Ferrel Episode: "Collapse"
2014–2015 Person of Interest Claire Mahoney Episodes: "Nautilus", "Q & A"
2015 Almost There Scarlett 4 episodes
2017 Redliners Katie Rhymer Television film
2018–2019 God Friended Me Rachel Blake Episode: "Unfriended", "The Greater Good"
2018 Bull Tally North Episode: "A Girl Without Feelings"

References
  1. "Garden State Film Festival Seeks Submissions For 2016 Rising Star Award". New Jersey Stage. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  2. "This day in history". The Boston Globe. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  3. Nordine, Michael (30 April 2017). "'Blame' Review: Quinn Shephard Makes a Strong First Impression in Her Debut as Writer, Director, and Star". IndieWire. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  4. Stewart, Sara. "This 22-year-old director wrote her screenplay in high school", New York Post, January 4, 2018. Accessed May 31, 2018. "'I got made fun of for being weird and artsy,' says Quinn Shephard, who wrote, directed and stars in the drama Blame, out in theaters Friday.... The Metuchen, NJ, native graduated from public high school early and went on to a role in the CBS drama Hostages."
  5. Steve Weintraub (8 December 2006). "Tyler James Williams and Quinn Shephard Interviewed – 'Unaccompanied Minors'". Collider. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. Makin, Bob. "Young Metuchen artist’s feature directorial debut to premiere at Tribeca", Courier News, April 8, 2017. Accessed May 31, 2018. "The film draws many parallels to the Arthur Miller play, which Shephard appeared in at Playhouse 22 in East Brunswick while a student at Metuchen High School, the movie’s main set location."
  7. "Quinn Shephard attends her film premiere of "Harrison's Flowers"". United Press International. 12 March 2002. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  8. "28th Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Award. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  9. "Ed Asner & More Wrap Up 2015 Garden State Film Festival". Broadway World. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  10. "Sundance awards grand jury prize to 'The Miseducation of Cameron Post'". USA Today. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  11. "After an investor bailed, a 20-year-old filmmaker spent her entire college fund finishing her award-winning debut". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  12. Patrick Hipes (25 November 2015). "Chris Messina & Tate Donovan Topline Indie Drama 'Blame'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  13. John Carucci (May 3, 2017). "Young director Quinn Shepard makes a bit of history with film debut". Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  14. "Award Screening: Best Actress, US Narrative Competition: Blame | 2017 Tribeca Film Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  15. Blame - Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved 7 February 2018
  16. Blame - Metacritic, retrieved 7 February 2018
  17. Kenny, Glenn (2018). "Review: 'Blame' Conjures 'Carrie,' but Without Telekinesis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  18. Astle, Randy. "Tribeca 2017: Five Questions with Blame Director Quinn Shephard | Filmmaker Magazine". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  19. "'Blame': Film Review | Tribeca 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  20. Quinn Shephard's Instagram, retrieved 12 September 2020
  21. Quinn Shephard's Instagram, retrieved 12 September 2020
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