Kristyn Benedyk

Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. Graduated from the Universityof Iowa in 2002. Went on to earn an MFA in Writing for Film and Television from the University of Southern California in 2007 after earning an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Playwriting from Arizona State University in 2005. Taught at Webster University in St. Louis for two years. In 2010 Benedyk joined the faculty of the School of Cinema and Interactive Media at DePaul University and became chair of the screenwriting program in 2011, where she created an MFA Screenwriting program, and helped get the School of Cinematic Arts named a top 20 film school by The Hollywood Reporter in less than a decade after the school's creation. In 2015 she was recruited by the University of Cincinnati to help build an interdisciplinary film and media program, which was named a top 20 film school by The Wrap just a year later in 2016. As of 2017 Benedyk splits her time between Los Angeles where she has moved into feature film producing and Cincinnati where she continues to teach screenwriting and film structure.