Welcome

The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated in loving memory to the uniquely gifted actor and filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, whose highly accomplished life was tragically cut short November 1, 2006.

Those who knew Adrienne knew her as wonderfully funky, spirited, funny, silly and smart. She believed in spreading love wherever she went. She was a truly kind and beautiful soul, whose infectious smile illuminated everything around her. There was no one else like her.

Adrienne first became known as an actor for her teaming with director Hal Hartley on the acclaimed The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. She appeared in over twenty other films, including 2005's Factotum with Matt Dillon. She wrote, directed and acted in three feature films, Sudden Manhattan, I'll Take You There, and Waitress, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Waitress was purchased by Fox Searchlight Films and went on to critical acclaim and box-office success. It is now being developed as a Broadway musical. Another of her scripts, Serious Moonlight,  directed by Cheryl Hines and starring Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton, was released in theatres December 2009 and is available on DVD, Netflix and elsewhere. It is now being adapted for the stage.

Adrienne's passion in life was to make movies. She lived for her art; she never compromised her integrity or commitment to her vision. She always strived to help women obtain every opportunity possible to create their mark in film.

It is in the spirit of her passion and vision that The Adrienne Shelly Foundation has been established. We know that Adrienne would like us to do everything possible to help young women pursue their filmmaking dreams, and to assist others in making the same leap from acting to writing and directing as Adrienne had done so successfully.

In carrying out our mission, we've partnered with the industry's finest academic and filmmaking institutions to assist women in this journey with film school scholarships, production grants, finishing funds, and living stipends.

With your generous tax-deductible donation, you can honor Adrienne's memory, her talent, and help preserve her legacy, while affording others some of the same opportunities she was grateful in life to have experienced.

Adrienne, we love you and will never, ever forget you.