Vaun Monroe

“I am a bluesman, drama is my axe.”

Monroe is currently an Assistant Professor in the Cinema Arts and Science Department at Columbia College Chicago where he teaches Screenwriting and Directing. He was nominated for 8 Black Theater Alliance Awards including Best Director and Best Production for "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men at eta Creative Arts, his second nomination for Best Director in the past three years. He was President of the National Association of Black Screenwriters and was the Artistic Director at Chicago Scriptworks where he produced numerous staged readings of award winning screenplays, directing several of them himself including “Saratoga” and “Lemon Tea”. He also taught at Ithaca College after having won the prestigious James Pendleton fellowship in Screenwriting. Vaun is the creator of the television series “Chicago Blues” and writer/director of the pilot episode. He has produced, written and directed narrative films that have screened in film festivals both nationally and internationally.