Lynn Shelton grew up in Seattle, studying acting, painting, poetry, and photography in her youth. After a dozen years acting for the stage, she attended the MFA program in Photography and Related Media at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She learned the ins and outs of cinema as an experimental and documentary filmmaker (The Clouds That Touch Us Out of Clear Skies, The Fruits of Our Labors) and as an editor (Outpatient, Hedda Gabler, Measure) before writing and directing her first feature-length film upon invitation from The Film Company, a nonprofit film studio. The result, We Go Way Back, premiered at the SLAMDANCE Film Festival in 2006 where it picked up the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography. Her self-produced second feature film My Effortless Brilliance premiered at SXSW 2008 and earned Shelton the Independent Spirit Someone To Watch Award. Her third feature, Humpday, premiered at Sundance 2009 where it won a Special Jury Prize. It went on to screen at a bevy of other festivals including Director’s Fortnight at Cannes and was theatrically released by Magnolia Pictures. Humpday was the recipient of the John Cassavetes Award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards.