NEWZ:
Averi's short Sequin was awarded a NYFA and Made in NY grant, the 2022 NYC Women's Fund for Media Music and Theatre!
She is currently in post-production for a short film she wrote and directed called "The After Times."
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Dir. Nana Dakin
Dir. Nana Dakin
Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp, 2018
Dir. Nana Dakin
reel
selftape reels
commercial
juggling lolz
FILMMAKING
Sequin
Writer, Director, Producer, 2022
An independent short
Eyes to See
Writer, Director, Editor, Spring 2013
A short for Columbia University's Laboratory in Fiction Filmmaking
WRITING
PLAYS
Currently Working on: [UNTITLED MUSICAL]
Starts Conversations About: nationality, immigration, patriotism, belonging, chain restaurants, 1970s NYC, magic, family,
rock n roll, glitter
Amber Ambrose and the Lank (© Averi Israel, 2020)
Amber is trying her best.
Starts Conversations About: race, gender, mental health, puppies, poetry, police brutality, public v private suffering, Becky, self-medicating, somatic healing, dating apps bruh, that guy, the loneliness epidemic, dancey dance, realms of reality
SCREENPLAYS
Black Gold (© Averi Israel, 2016)
1910. When Jones Morning becomes "property of the state" after a wrongful conviction in the backcountry of Chicory Creek, Alabama. Grace, the matriarch of the Morning family, treks into the dangerous world of Ashby Mines to rescue her husband and keep their family unit intact.
Starts Conversations About: criminal justice reform, Reconstruction, coal mining, The Black Family, the burden of Black Women, US history, displacement, authority, reification of the human body, literacy, sacrifice, Black-Indigenous relationships
* Scored within the top 15% of The Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.
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"The writing is strong, with a good command of language and craft. Many of the sequences have a poetic feel yet they still propel the story at a good pace while painting a picture of the surroundings and times. The writing is clear and offers a voice which evokes beauty even in the midst of the terrible events that are portrayed. This contributes to the magic of the piece as well." - Nicholl Reader One
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"It’s a look into a world that in some ways still feels too familiar and that helps make this script relevant for today’s audience." - Nicholl Reader Two
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"The idea touches on an important and little recognized ugly history in the United States when these types of schemes were employed. (For that matter, a Judge in Pennsylvania was recently convicted in a similar kickback scheme involving juveniles). So this idea is both fresh and still timely in some ways." - Nicholl Reader Three
14:23 (© Averi Israel, 2016)
1970s -1980s. A young boy from Camden, NJ discovers his talent in athletics and uses his abilities to achieve a better life for himself and his family despite the fact that the universe seems to be against his success.
Starts Conversations About: football, high school, family,"underserved communities", NFL, ACL, KFC, perseverance, college, scholarship, Black athletes with non-traumatic backgrounds, Averi's dad
* Quarterfinalist in 2016 BlueCat Screenwriting Competition.
DeSal (© Averi Israel, 2014)
Future. Romeo and Juliet in the not-so-distant future, set in a land without freshwater.
Starts Conversations About: surfing, climate change, police brutality, love, prison, colorism, stereotypes, angsty youth, California, Willy Shakes, adaptation
La Méduse (© Averi Israel, 2017)
1816. A true story. After a period of revolution, monarchy returns to France and with it, the nobility reclaim their power. The frigate The Meduse, with its mixed-class crew and passengers, journeys across the ocean to settle the colony of Senegal -- but with the dual punch of a tempest and tempestuous leadership, most never arrive. When the frigate is shipwrecked off the coast of Mauritania, the elite commandeer the life rafts and sail to safety, leaving the least-of-these to fight for their lives on a ramshackle raft in the treacherous tropical waters.
Starts Conversations About: shipwreck, politics, privilege, competence, nepotism, class, patria, citizenship, honor, velvet robes, tradition, hazing, sailing, SHARKS!, worst case scenario...
* This is Averi's personal favorite project, and she will gladly talk to you about this research for an hour. If you would like to fund a research trip to the Louvre, she would also gladly accept that.
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"The writer did a great job of creating suspense and drama. Watching the passengers struggle to survive was gripping and I couldn’t stop reading." - BlueCat Reader
ABOUT
Let me tell you a story...
EXT. LAKE - DAY
Not a cloud in the sky. No respite from the unbearable rays of the sun.
Encircled by the horizon, an oarless rowboat containing three chapped FISHERMEN sits on the infinite still waters. FISHERMAN ONE pensively analyzes the homogenous scenery, while FISHERMAN TWO and THREE engage each other.
FISHERMAN TWO
We're going to die.
FISHERMAN THREE
No we're not.
FISHERMAN TWO
How do you know?
FISHERMAN THREE
I don't.
FISHERMAN TWO
See? I'm right. We're going
to die.
FISHERMAN THREE
How do you know?
FISHERMAN TWO
I just do! I read yesterday,
it's impossible to survive
more than three days without
water. The sun is sucking
moisture from our pores as we speak! We're going to die!!!
FISHERMAN THREE
We'll be fine once we get water.
FISHERMAN TWO
And where are we going to get
wa--
Fisherman Two’s eyes open wide. He rummages under his seat and reveals a water bottle.
FISHERMAN TWO
How could I forget?
FISHERMAN THREE
Thank God. Can I have some?
FISHERMAN TWO
You should have brought your
own.
FISHERMAN THREE
You got that from the fridge
at my house!
FISHERMAN TWO
You should have brought your
own from the fridge at your
house.
FISHERMAN THREE
Oh, come on. Please, I’m
dying!
Fisherman Two shrugs and takes a sip.
With a SHOUT, Fisherman Three dives at Fisherman Two. The boat rocks as they scuffle for the bottle.
FISHERMAN TWO
It's mine!
Fisherman Two leans back. The boat capsizes, launching the three fishermen into the water.
SPLASH! QUIET.
The fishermen break the surface of the water, gasping for air. They hold on to the boat.
Fisherman Two splashes Fisherman Three.
FISHERMAN TWO
You imbecile!
FISHERMAN Three
At least we got to cool off
a bit…
FISHERMAN TWO
Where are we going to find
more water?! We're going to die!!!
Now we're definitely going to die,
and it's all your fault!!!!!
Fisherman Two again splashes Fisherman Three, Fisherman One spritzed in the crossfire.
Fisherman One licks his lips, tasting the water dripping down his face. He smiles and drinks from his cupped hand.
THE ENLIGHTENED ONE
Hey. Water.
FADE TO BLACK.
* * *
Averi Israel is an actress and writer/director from the eight cities that raised her. She moved to New York City to pursue a Film Studies degree from Columbia University, where she graduated as the recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts. Shortly after, she moved to South Korea where she spent a season as the set designer for Seoul Shakespeare Company. Now back in NYC, she is cultivating a career at the intersection of art and activism, having trained as an actor at Circle in the Square, the UCB Theatre, as well as with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, and performed at The Tank, The New Ohio, and Columbia University. As a writer, her pieces for stage and film consist primarily of historical fiction works and those that incorporate elements of Afrofuturism, seeking to root our contemporary moment in both its foundational past and visionary future.
TL;DR
INTERESTS and HOBBIES:
- sustainable development
- social entrepreneurship
- food (eating and preparing)
- liberation
- juggling (currently learning clubs)
THINGS I WISH I WERE BETTER AT
(but am not actively working on at the moment):
- surfing
- painting
- spelling
- my backhand
- knowing when to take baked goods out of the oven
- knowing how to tie a tie
ON MY BOOKSHELF:
- James Baldwin
- Zora Neale Hurston
- André Gregory
- Angela Davis
- Langston Hughes
- Tyehimba Jess
- Jonny Sun
- Malcolm Gladwell
- Jonathan Martin
- George Orwell
- adrienne maree brown
- Octavia Butler
- Sarah Ruhl
* * *
Averi Israel is an actress and writer/director from the eight cities that raised her. She moved to New York City to pursue a Film Studies degree from Columbia University, where she graduated as the recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts. Shortly after, she moved to South Korea where she spent a season as the set designer for Seoul Shakespeare Company. Now back in NYC, she is cultivating a career at the intersection of art and activism, having trained as an actor at Circle in the Square, the UCB Theatre, as well as with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, and performed at The Tank, The New Ohio, and Columbia University. As a writer, her pieces for stage and film consist primarily of historical fiction works and those that incorporate elements of Afrofuturism, seeking to root our contemporary moment in both its foundational past and visionary future.
CONTACT
A V E R I I S R A E L @ G M A I L . C O M
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