Chris Talbott

Chris Talbott is a producer, director, screenwriter, and playwright. A Sundance Documentary Fellow, he is the founder of OVO, Silent Five Productions and Cause Effect Agency (CEA), a mission-driven organization that cross-pollinates charitable projects with activists and philanthropists in the entertainment industry. CEA initiated, maintained and leveraged dozens of celebrity and entertainment company relationships for Heifer International as it grew from a $17 million to a $120 million + organization. "Bold-faced names" frequently involved included Susan Sarandon, Ted Danson, Diane Lane, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Adrian Grenier and many more. A long-time collaborator with actor Susan Sarandon, they have created dozens of short films and cause-related campaigns. Sarandon executive produced Talbott's award-winning documentary Deep Run (distributed by Women Make Movies) - a powerful verité portrait of trans life in rural North Carolina. Previously, he assisted actor/director/writer Tim Robbins in producing Cradle Will Rock and the Academy Award-winning Dead Man Walking. In 2001 Talbott's first documentary, The World's Best Prom, was named Best Documentary at the Wisconsin Film Festival, before inspiring a popular episode of NPR's This American Life. His first fiction feature film, The Fourth, won Best First Feature at the Long Island Film festival. His plays The Gospel of Cyrus According to Cyrus, Rubberville, and The Asthma Conspiracy have been developed and produced with SoHo Rep, HERE, OVO, and Theater for the New City. He also developed and produced the children's musical Beatrice's Goat with renowned director, screenwriter, animator and playwright Roger Allers (Lion King, The Prophet). As a founding member of the arts collective OVO, Talbott has produced more than 15 independent theater, performance art, and video works. He studied history and theater at Brown University, and Chinese at Nanjing University. Originally from Wisconsin, he lives near Rockaway Beach in NYC.