Jilena Cori

Jilena Cori is from Vancouver, Canada. Her mother immigrated from Italy shortly before she was born. By the time she graduated high school at 16, she had lived in France, Italy, Belgium and was fluent in a few languages. She got her degree in Political Science from UBC and McGill, then did a post grad year at the University of Florence, Italy. She was briefly married to Mark White, bass player of the popular NYC alternative rock band "The Spin Doctors", which transplanted her to New York where she worked in publishing and first studied acting at The William Esper Studio in 1998. Back in Vancouver, she landed the lead role in several short films and an indie feature "Angelica". A short film she wrote and starred in "PetsRUs" headlined the first Vancouver International Short Film Festival. She moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a career in screenwriting. She was able to learn from some of her heroes like Gary Ross, Aaron Sorkin and William Goldman. A few of her features were optioned and in 2005, "Paper Moon Affair" - was produced earning her a Leo nomination for "Best Screenwriting in a Feature Length Drama". She later won a short script competition through the Whistler Film Festival. She resides in Vancouver with her husband, cinematographer Corey Robson and their two children where she continues to write and act.