Tonya Hurley is an American writer and director in film, television, live performance, and interactive media, known as co-creator and co-producer of the 2001 television series ''

So Little Time ''So Little Time'' is an American sitcom starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in their third and final television series (after ''Full House'' and '' Two of a Kind''). It aired on Fox Family: the first half of the series aired from June 2 to ...

'', which featured the Olsen twins. Her work with them continued in ''Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!'', spanning 4 episodes, and as co-executive producer of various tie-in video games. She is also an author of

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestselling book series '' ghostgirl''. ''Precious Blood'', the first book in ''The Blessed'' trilogy, was published in 2012, and ''Passionaries'', the second book, was released January 7, 2013. A third novel entitled ''Hallowed'' followed up in 2015. ''The Blessed'' audiobook is read by ''

Moonrise Kingdom ''Moonrise Kingdom'' is a 2012 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, and starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, ...

'' star

Kara Hayward Kara Hayward (born November 17, 1998) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role as Suzy Bishop in the 2012 feature film ''Moonrise Kingdom'', which earned her a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in ...

. Her books are published in nearly 30 countries and in more than 20 languages.

Early career

Hurley began her career as a music publicist for artists such as

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

, Bush,

Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

The B-52’s The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, key ...

Paul Westerberg Paul Harold Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Replacements. Following the breakup of the Replacements, Westerberg launched a solo career that saw him r ...

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

The Three Tenors The Three Tenors were an operatic singing trio, active between 1990 and 2003, and termed a supergroup (a title normally reserved for rock and pop groups) consisting of Italian Luciano Pavarotti and Spaniards Plácido Domingo and José Carreras ...

and

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

, among others. Both Tonya and her twin sister Tracy originally moved to New York with the aspiration of becoming musicians, but instead ended up working at the publicity firm founded by Michael Pagnotta, Tonya's future husband.

Written works

Her work includes ''Kiss My Brain'' (1997); ''The Biblical Real World'' (1998); ''Solo-Me-O'' (1999), first broadcast on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in their documentary series ''Reel New York''; and ''Baptism of Solitude: A Tribute to Paul Bowles'' (2000), a

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

selection which aired on the

Independent Film Channel IFC is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks. Launched in 1994 as the Independent Film Channel, a spin-off of former sister channel Bravo, IFC originally operated as a commercial-free service, devoted to showing independent fi ...

, nominated for a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

Award in film, and distributed on a DVD through the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. ''Best Friend'' (2001) premiered at the 2002

and

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

and was broadcast on

Trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

. She wrote a feature-length script, ''Good Mourning'', which made the semi-finals of the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

's Writer's Lab. She has written and directed book trailers for her own books and co-wrote and co-directed two stop-motion music videos for

– "

Gaudete ''Gaudete'' ( or , ; "rejoice ye">wikt:ye">ye/nowiki>" in Latin) is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century. It was published in ''Piae Cantiones'', a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs publish ...

" and " Make It Wonderful".

Television and other media

Hurley was co-creator and co-producer of the sitcom ''

'' (

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 ...

) and the animated ''

Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! ''Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!'' is an animated children's television series featuring the voices and likeness of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It is also a series of books that spun off, from the show. The show aired from October 20, 2001 to J ...

'' (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

) both starring

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986), also known as the Olsen twins, are American fashion designers and former actresses. Mary-Kate Olsen, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Ashley made their acting debut as infants playing Mi ...

. She was the primary provider of original content for the ''mary-kateandashley'' website and creator and co-executive producer of ''mary-kateandashley'' brand video games for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

. She wrote, produced, and directed commercials related to the property for Warner Home video, PlayStation, and Game Boy, and developed Mary-Kate and Ashley dolls and boardgames for

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

. Hurley and her sister ran Hurley Sisters Productions.

ghostgirl

Hurley's series '' ghostgirl'' was launched in 2002 on ghostgirl.com and published as a Young Adult series from Little, Brown, and Co. in 2008. The first novel of the series received starred reviews from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'',

Voice of Youth Advocates ''Voice of Youth Advocates'' (''VOYA'') was a bimonthly magazine that provides book reviews and information for librarians with a focus on young adult materials. History and profile ''VOYA'' was established in 1978. The founders were Dorothy M ...

, and ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

''. It hit the ''New York Times'' best-seller list the week of September 14, 2008. The books have been optioned for film by director Matthew Vaughan. Hurley is set to be the executive producer.

Memberships and honors

Hurley is a member of

Writers Guild of America, East The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media. The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...

and the

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with ...

. She is a contributor to ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', sponsors and judges the Teen Writing Essay Contest for Gilda's Club NYC and is the editor of the ebook ''Living With Cancer: A Teen Perspective'' with a foreword by actress Emma Stone. Hurley is a founding board member of the

Morbid Anatomy Museum The Morbid Anatomy Museum was a non-profit exhibition space founded in 2014 by Joanna Ebenstein, Tracy Hurley Martin, Colin Dickey, Tonya Hurley, and Aaron Beebe in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The museum was an expansio ...

in Brooklyn, New York.

Personal life

She is married to the publicist and artist manager Michael Pagnotta.

Bibliography

''ghostgirl''

* '' ghostgirl'' (2008; Little, Brown, and Co.) – * ''ghostgirl: Homecoming'' (2009) – * ''ghostgirl: Lovesick'' (2010) – * ''ghostgirl Xmas Spirit'' (2012) (novella)

''The Blessed''

* ''The Blessed'' (2012;

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

) – * ''Passionaries'' (2013) – * ''Hallowed'' (2015) –

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Tonya Film producers from Pennsylvania American horror writers 21st-century American novelists Television producers from Pennsylvania American women television producers American television writers American women film directors Living people People from Uniontown, Pennsylvania American women television writers Writers from Pittsburgh Year of birth missing (living people) American women horror writers 21st-century American women writers American women novelists American twins Novelists from Pennsylvania Film directors from Pennsylvania Screenwriters from Pennsylvania American women film producers 21st-century American screenwriters