Allan Staples is a New York-based playwright and screenwriter originally from Minnesota. His work has been called "funny, sexy, intimate and heart-wrenching" by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and "full of subtlety and laugh-out-loud lines" by City Pages.

Recent honors include being a finalist for the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival (Brave People), a semifinalist for the Jewish Plays Project (Vigorish), and a semifinalist at the Austin Film Festival (So, a Rabbi and a Comedian). His short play Brave People won the 2023 Short + Sweet Sydney Best Play Award, leading to the sold-out Sydney production of L-O-V-E, a collection of eight of his short plays.

SELECTED PRODUCTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT

• New Jersey Repertory Company

• Actors Studio Playwright/Director Unit

• Playwrights' Center

• Jungle Theater

• Short + Sweet (LA, Sydney, Dubai, India)

SCREENWRITING HONORS

• Two-time Austin Film Festival Semifinalist

• PAGE Awards Semifinalist

• Denver Film Festival Finalist

• Nicholl Fellowship Top 10%

• Stowe Story Labs

Allan holds an MFA from The New School for Drama and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwright/Director Unit at The Actors Studio.

In addition to dramatic writing, Allan has also written for Minnesota Public Radio and spent one NFL season writing about sports wagering for a gambling website.  He co-teaches a Jewish film class with his wife, Cantor Melanie Cooperman.