EXTRA! EXTRA!

Taryn has been named runner up in the 2025 Sisters in Crime PRIDE Award for emerging LGBTQIA+ crime writers

Taryn Stickrath-Hutt is a filmmaker, painter, writer, queer feminist, exhausted mother, kitchen detective, and creative accountability coach.

I love Old Hollywood, British whodunnits, eclectic women, and the smell of oil paint. There’s nothing better than a relaxing day at the easel or one spent furiously brainstorming a new screenplay. And when I need to relax (or procrastinate), you’ll find me investigating overly complicated recipes. Many hours are spent with my collection of cookbooks, especially the retro homemaker head-scratchers that inspired my latest short film The Finger Wife.

I write and direct live-action films and collaborate on short animated films with my longtime creative partner, Dan Lund, a veteran Disney animator whom I met while working as an “Imagineer.” At Walt Disney Imagineering, I received a Themed Entertainment Association award for Outstanding Achievement in Attraction Design as part of the Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway team. Dan and I met during the build for Epcot’s Frozen Ever After.

My professional background includes film/TV production, wardrobe/costuming, children’s musical theater direction, and theme park design. Not to mention my retail run at Borders Books & Music (RIP).

In 2025, I launched a Creative Accountability Coaching business to help procrastinators, the neurospicy, overloaded moms, and the deadline-challenged.

I live in Chicago with my husband, two cats, a tank-like bulldog, and one wild toddler.

Seeking the perfect Midwest bolognese. Send recs.