Kristen Abate is the co writer/director of the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winner (2022) STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT, it is her writing and directorial debut. She was also nominated for the Slamdance Acting Award for her lead performance in the film. The film also won the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature at the Calgary Underground Film Festival (2022). Abate is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts NYC Women in Film Fund (2019) courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. She was born and raised in the West Village in New York City and started acting and dancing with the renowned children’s dance and theater company Loco-Motion run by Lisa Pilato, where she met award-winning playwright/filmmaker and collaborator, Steven Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum cast her in his multi-media play at the first FringeNYC festival and the two have worked together for over twenty years. Her first film role was in Hannah Weyer’s ARRESTING GENA, starring Summer Phoenix, Sam Rockwell, and Adrian Grenier. Her short film, SWIPE, was nominated for Most Original Story at the Blackbird Film Festival and Won Best Editor (Armando Croda). Abate is a college dropout whose work is centered around New York stories/characters and women-driven narratives.