Bio
Gabrielle C. Burton is a writer and filmmaker who lives in Delaware, Ohio. With a passion for strong human-focused storytelling and social engagement, she won the OAC’s Individual Excellence Award two years in a row, in poetry and also in filmmaking. Burton directed the award-winning documentary on gender, Kings, Queens, & In-Betweens (about the thriving drag scene in midwest Ohio) which, after a national theatrical release, is being used as an education tool in universities, medical training conferences, and community organizations across the US. Her creative style weaves complex stories and voices together, quietly revealing truths about human nature and social change. She won a Wexner Center for the Arts artist's residency for her next project inspired by her TEDx Talk about gender, drag, and parenting (selected by TEDx for their national playlist: http://youtu.be/YOkyc91eY90B). Her second TEDx Talk on complexity and our “spheres of personal perspective” was given as part of TEDxTours in France (https://youtu.be/aNUPLd6OVZw).
With her sisters, Burton helms the indie film production company FIVE SISTERS PRODUCTIONS, and focuses on filmmaking that incorporates creative participation and underrepresented voices. Committed to making movies that are entertaining and also contribute to a sense of hope on a personal and social level, they have made 6 feature films and numerous shorts, PSAs, and commercials, including the short form comedy series OLD GUY about ageism starring Roger Burton (Baskets) and Peri Gilpin (Frasier), which was up for consideration for an Emmy nomination this past year. Additional films include the comedy Manna From Heaven (MGM/Sony) starring Cloris Leachman, Seymour Cassel, Shelley Duvall, Jill Eikenberry, Louise Fletcher, Frank Gorshin, Faye Grant, Harry Groener, Shirley Jones, Wendie Malick, Austin Pendleton and Temps, which follows five 20-somethings dealing in various ways with quarter-life crisis. FSP believes strongly in community involvement and social responsibility. The Burton sisters created a commercial campaign featuring Julia Ormond for the Coalition to Abolish Human Slavery and Trafficking; a campaign for Mass General Hospital's ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic; and Friendship Bridges’ PSAs with Susan Sarandon to benefit microloans for women in Guatamala. Their commercial work includes creating the Faces of Ford campaign for Ford Motor Company, with 8 mini-docs on topics ranging from hybrid taxis in San Francisco to food banks in Detroit. One of their projects in development, The Sky's The Limit: The Story of the Mercury 13 (inspired by the 13 women tested to be astronauts in 1961), has been selected as a quarter-finalist for the Nicholl Prize by the Academy of Motion Pictures, selected for the Athena List of best unproduced screenplays highlighting women’s stories, and named to the Bechdel List.
Burton is also an actor, appearing in commercials, the oscar-winning Foxcatcher, and the tv series Outsiders. She is bilingual in French, and more about her can be found at www.kingsqueensinbetweens.com and www.fivesisters.com.