Arthur M. Jolly

Arthur M. Jolly (born 1969) is an American playwright and screenwriter. In 2006, he was awarded an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his comedy ''The Free Republic of Bobistan''.

Early life

Jolly was born in Lewes, England, the son of Sir Richard Jolly, a development economist, and Lady Alison Jolly, a primatologist. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1987, where he was a student of Frank McCourt.
From 1988 to 1998, Jolly worked in New York City as a stunt performer and special effects artist, garnering over 160 credits and doubling numerous actors including Adrien Brody, Norman Reedus and Freddie Prinze, Jr.
During this time, Jolly had his first publication, the short story ''Dancing with Fire''.

In 1998, Jolly moved to Northern California to become a helicopter pilot - a career that would last for eight years, flying tourists into the Grand Canyon, fighting forest fires in Northern Idaho, and teaching U.S. Army pilots in Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Career

After his short play ''Howie's Last Words'' was accepted into the Summer Shorts Festival of the Miami City Theatre and given a full equity production in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Jolly moved to Los Angeles to write full-time,. He is the playwright of over 75 produced plays, many of which have been published.
In 2006, Jolly was awarded a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 2013, Jolly was named an alternate for the Fox Writers Intensive. In 2017, he was awarded the Hammond House International Literary Prize for a Screenplay for his screenplay Eight Ball, and in 2018 his play The Lady Demands Satisfaction won the Todd McNerney National Playwriting Award. In 2019, he was invited to participate in the Alley at Ucross writing retreat - a collaboration between the Alley Theatre and the Ucross Foundation.
He has been a featured Artist at the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference (2016, 2017, 2019 & 2021)
He is a member of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, the WGAw Caucus and the Dramatists Guild, and is represented by Brant Rose Agency.

Writing style

Jolly writes comedies and realist dramas, but often with heightened language and characters that are self-aware. His dramas sometimes verge into dark territory and even physical violence, but always with an underlying sense of optimism. His characters struggle with the human condition, but frequently use humor to deal with personal problems and their inability to understand or handle their own emotions. This gives Jolly's work an uneasy blend of humor and pathos, where laughter is used to mask deep conflicts. The lightning fast turns from one to the other present an exciting challenge for many actors and directors, and also make monologues from Jolly's plays a favorite at auditions and International Thespian Festival competitions. Many of his plays involve female-centric story lines (''A Gulag Mouse, Trash, Past Curfew'') or gender reversals where roles traditionally thought of as male are written as female. (''Long Joan Silver'')

Stage Plays

* ''The Lady Demands Satisfaction'' (2017) - winner of the Joining Sword and Pen competition,', winner of the McNerney National Playwriting Award,' winner of the KCACTF Region IV David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award'
Next Stage Press
* ''Rising'' (2017) - published b
YouthPLAYS

* ''The Ithaca Ladies Read Medea'' (2016) - premiered at Little Fish Theatre, Los Angeles,' published b
Next Stage Press
* ''Thin Lines'' (2013) - Three one act plays ''Almost Christmas, Bailing Out'' and ''Thicker than Water'' published b
Next Stage Press
* ''Long Joan Silver'' (2013) - a gender-crossing version of ''Treasure Island'' published b
YouthPLAYS
* ''Snakes in a Lunchbox'' (2013) - published b
YouthPLAYS
* ''The Four Senses of Love'' (2012) - In the collection The Best 10-Minute Plays of 201
Smith & Kraus
* ''What the Well Dressed Girl is Wearing'' (2012) - published b
YouthPLAYS
* ''Trash'' (2011) - winner of the Joining Sword and Pen competition, published b
Next Stage Press
* ''Bath Time is Fun Time'' (2011) - published b
YouthPLAYS
* ''Guilty Moments'' (2010) - A collection of short plays published b

* ''A Gulag Mouse'' (2009) - winner of the Joining Sword and Pen competition, and the Margaret Martin Award, (2010) winner Off-Broadway Playwrights competition, (2010) Finalist Woodward/Newman Drama Award. Published b
Next Stage Press
* ''The Fine Print'' (2009) - Audience Favorite Award winner of the 2009 Los Angeles New Plays Festival and Competition
* ''How Blue is My Crocodile'' (2009) - published b
YouthPLAYS
* ''Past Curfew'' (2008) - winner of the 2008 AOPW Fellowship Award, published b
Next Stage Press
*''The Christmas Princess'' (2005) - A new fairy tale. Published b
YouthPLAYS

Screenplays

* ''The Free Republic of Bobistan'' (2006)- Winner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.
* ''Where We Disappear'' (2019) - Feature directed by Simon Finkhttps://filmthreat.com/reviews/where-we-disappear/ Film Threat Review
* ''Eight ball'' (2017) - Winner of the Hammond House University International Literary Prize for a Screenplay
* ''The Hero'' (2011) - Winner of the Kay Snow Award in Screenwriting
* ''Under the Same Sky'' (2007) - Raz Entertainment

References

External links

Arthur M. Jolly's homepage Amazon's author page for Arthur M. JollyJoining Sword and Pen Competition Write On! Interview with Arthur M. Jolly
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Arthur M.
1969 births
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
Living people
Stuyvesant High School alumni
People from Lewes
Writers from Los Angeles
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers