Nora Kirkpatrick (born December 6, 1984) is an American actress, director, writer and musician.

Early life

Kirkpatrick grew up in rural Iowa. She graduated from La Quinta High School. She graduated with a BA in theater from

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

Career

Kirkpatrick was a founding member and accordion player for the Grammy Award winning and platinum record selling band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. After seven years touring on the road, she turned her focus to writing and directing, selling series to CBS, Hulu, and Comedy Central among others. In 2020, Kirkpatrick became a writer on two Amazon series: ''

Daisy Jones & the Six ''Daisy Jones & the Six'' is an American musical drama television miniseries developed by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Set in the Los Angeles music scene of the 1970s ...

'', produced by

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

, and ''Rodeo Queens'' starring

Dakota Johnson Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Independent Spirit Award and a nomination for a British Academy Film Award. The daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, Johnson made her ...

. In 2019, Nora created, wrote and directed a 15- episode interactive television show for EKO and FunnyOrDie. This series, ''The Coop'', co-starred

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is most known for his comedic leading roles in the Fox series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth, and as Gary Walsh on the HBO series '' Veep''. For the ...

, Bobby Moynihan, Bridget Everett and

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

. She directed episode #712 of '' The Goldbergs'' for ABC and was the first woman ever to direct a campaign for

Bud Light Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in oth ...

. Nora helmed three commercials for the brand, shot during the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020. In 2018, Nora created, wrote and directed ''Door No. 1'', a live-action VR comedy series, starring

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and Ravi Patel, for Hulu. In a 2017 ''Forbes'' article, Kirkpatrick mentions virtual reality's ability to cause "spatial un-comfortability," and her aim to make the viewer the lead character of the story. In 2017, Nora sold her TV show ''Assisted Living'' to CBS, which was executive produced by

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...

and Jessica Elbaum. In 2016, Nora co-wrote and directed a five-part VR comedy series, ''Virtually Mike and Nora'', with SNL alum Mike O'Brien, which is currently airing on Hulu. That same year, Nora sold her TV show, ''Best Seller'', to Comedy Central. It was produced by Gloria Sanchez Productions and

Olivia Wilde Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn, , March 10, 1984) is an American actress and director. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' (2007–2012), and appeared ...

and co-written by SNL alum Dennis McNicholas. Her short films have played at film festivals all over the world, garnering awards including Best Female Director at the

Prague International Film Festival The Prague International Film Festival (), also known as Febiofest, was a film festivals in the Czech Republic. It presented a wide spectrum of contemporary and retrospective examples of high-quality film including alternative, film-school and am ...

(2020) and the Grand Jury Prize at the

San Diego Film Festival The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival held in San Diego, California, produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Q ...

, Sioux City Film Festival, and the Femme Filmmakers Festival. She won a Davey Grant for her screenplay ''Long Time Listener, First Time Caller'', and the Best Screenplay award from both Shore Scripts and Hollyshorts for ''Best Seller''. As an actor, she is probably best known for her role as Katherine, the stern president of Panhellenic, on the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

TV series ''

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

'', or for her recurring role on the ninth season of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' as Esther Bruegger, a neighboring farmer's daughter who becomes Dwight's girlfriend. Kirkpatrick starred in the 2015 film ''Pink Grapefruit'', which won the SXSW Grand Jury Award. She has played many other roles in film and TV, including ''

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...

'', '' Jennifer Falls'', '' Don't Trust the B'', and '' Chasing Life''. She was one of the leads of the popular mockumentary web series '' Dorm Life'', in which she played Courtney Cloverlock.

Music

Kirkpatrick played the accordion in the band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. She is a founding member and together they won a Grammy in 2013. She left the band after seven years in 2014 to focus on her directing career.

Personal life

Kirkpatrick was married to filmmaker Bryn Mooser from 2016 to 2022.

Filmography

Directing & Writing

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, Nora 1984 births Living people UCLA Film School alumni 21st-century American actresses People from Peru, Illinois Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros members