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

I love Old Hollywood, British whodunnits, eclectic women, and the scent of oil paint. In my life, there’s nothing better than a day in front of an easel or one spent furiously brainstorming a new screenplay. Though perhaps above all, I love a good bolognese or a well-thrown Neapolitan pizza. I spend many hours poring over my collection of cookbooks - some that provided direct inspiration for my short film The Finger Wife.

I collaborate on short animated films with my longtime movie partner, Dan Lund, a veteran Disney animator whom I met while working as an “Imagineer” in Glendale, CA. 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.

My professional background includes film/TV, costuming, classroom education, children’s musical theater direction, and theme park design. My interests and skills run the creative gamut, pushing far beyond what’s earned me a paycheck (a litmus test that barely scratches the surface of our abilities as curious humans).

A native Southern Californian (who will bend your ear about L.A. at any opportunity), I now live in Chicago with my husband, two cats, and one wild toddler.