जीवनी
Sarah Ann Masse is a hilarious and heartfelt woman on a mission; not only is she continuing the trend of breaking stereotypes and proving that females are funny, but she does so while drawing attention to the unhealthy social norms and boxes that our society places women in.
Sarah is an LA-based, bisexual, and invisibly disabled actor, writer, singer, producer, filmmaker, and comedian who was one of the first people to come forward about Weinstein. Since facing career retaliation due to speaking up about abuse, she launched 'Hire Survivors Hollywood' - a non profit organization that works to end retaliation against survivors of sexual violence within the entertainment industry.
Sarah can currently be seen as Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times Journalist Emily Steel in Universal Pictures' 'She Said', a role for which she was Academy Award eligible and won several awards. "She Said" stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan and is directed by EMMY Winner Maria Schrader. Sarah won an AFI Award for being part of the creative ensemble of 'She Said' - winning 'Movie of the Year' for their "contribution to America's cultural legacy" - and an AARP Movies for Grownups Award for 'Best Ensemble' for 'She Said'.
She can also currently be seen as Sheila in the new series 'Blue Ridge' starring Johnathan Schaech, Sarah Lancaster, and A Martinez.
Her upcoming acting projects include a #MeToo drama she co-wrote called 'R Culture' (starring Lisa Ray from Amazon Prime's 'Four More Shots Please'); 'Tristan & Kelly' which is based off her award winning short of the same name that co-stars 'Game of Thrones' Toby Sebastian; a supporting role in the 'A More Perfect Union' in which she gets to portray a character who shares some of her actual chronic illnesses; a supporting role in 'Thru The Rinse' a Latinx crime caper; a lead role in feature film 'An Incidental Heist', a supporting role in the Musical Comedy Feature 'Largo'; and a supporting role in the Horror Feature 'The Blackstone'.
Having trained at The Atlantic Theater Company and UCB, graced the stage at places like The Williamstown Theater Festival, American Shakespeare Theater, and Second City Hollywood, and with over 100 screen performances and dozens of audiobooks under her belt, Sarah is a seasoned and versatile stage and screen actress. She was recently cast in a Broadway-bound musical called 'The Right Girl' (songs by Diane Warren with a book by Louisette Geiss and Howard Kagan) which was successfully filmed over Zoom during the lockdown and will be heading to Broadway (fingers crossed) next season.
Previously, Sarah worked with her frequent collaborator, Jason Mraz, to co-write, star in, and produce the only scripted segment of his documentary, 'Have It All: The Movie' which is now streaming on Amazon Prime, as well as several promotional videos which helped Mraz sell out 'The Hollywood Bowl'. Her British-American love triangle rom-com web series 'S'N'M' (which stars 'Downton Abbey's Matt Barber) has released their first few episodes with more coming soon, and her British-American married sketch duo, 'We Are Thomasse' (frequently featured on Funny or Die) has released an 'Advent Comedy Calendar' which required Sarah and her husband Nick Afka Thomas to write, perform, and produce 25 sketches in 25 days, adding to their existing catalog of over 100 sketches, 15 million views, and their indie pilot, 'The Real Founding Fathers of America' which hilariously reveals the Founders for the petty, privileged, problematic, men that they actually were. On top of all their online success, We Are Thomasse toured all over the world with their live sketch show and had a monthly slot at The Second City Hollywood until COVID put a pause to their live performances.
In addition to all of her acting successes, Sarah has recently completed two new pilot scripts and several features. Sarah has a shopping agreement for one of her features with The Cartel and was recently endorsed and recommended by coverfly. Additionally, Masse has a shopping agreement for several of her TV projects with Nightfox Entertainment, including the amazing female led YA fantasy book series, "The Chronicles of Kerrigan". The books, which have sold over 3 million copies, are written by W.J. May and the TV series has been written and developed by Sarah Ann Masse. "The Chronicles of Kerrigan" is currently being pitched to networks, streamers, and studios as Sarah and her team finalize the right partnership to bring this fun, fantastical, feminist project to the screen.
As a writer, Sarah has shopping agreements for her feature 'Mother Trucker' with The Cartel and Night Fox Entertainment and a shopping agreement with Hasbeen Productions for her feature 'Tristan & Kelly'. She is endorsed and recommended by Coverfly and Roadmap Writers. Additionally, Masse has a shopping agreement for several of her TV projects with Nightfox Entertainment, including the amazing female led YA fantasy book series, 'The Chronicles of Kerrigan'. The books - which have sold over 3 million copies - are written by W.J. May and the TV series has been written and developed by Sarah Ann Masse. 'The Chronicles of Kerrigan' is currently being pitched to networks, streamers, and studios as Sarah and her team finalize the right partnership to bring this fun, fantastical, feminist project to the screen.
Sarah believes we can use storytelling to change the culture we live in to be more inclusive, representative, respectful, and dynamic for people of all ages, genders, races, nationalities, abilities, sexualities, and creeds. A Forbes profile details Sarah's work as an artist using positive comedy to advocate for fellow survivors of sexual violence and also focuses on the realities of being an artist with several invisible disabilities; and this recent Variety feature and interview in The Independent both discuss the importance of her initiative - Hire Survivors Hollywood - and their success in creating safer and more equitable working environments. Her writing on her experiences as a survivor, and as a bisexual woman, has been featured in The Independent, The WRAP, The Advocate, and GLAAD. She also works with many organizations and individuals such as: Equal Rights Advocates (as a Hollywood Ambassador she helped pass AB9 into law in CA in 2019); ECHO Training; Time's Up (member of the Time's Up Entertainment Safety Working group); The Wrap Women; Women in Film; The Hollywood Commission; ReFrame; SAG-AFTRA (Elected Delegate to the 2023 National SAG-AFTRA Convention, member of the National and LA Local Performers with Disabilities Committee, the National and LA Strike Preparedness Committee, the National and LA Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee, the LA Government Affairs and Public Policy Committee, the LA Communications Committee, the LA NextGen Performers Committee, as well as chairing several subcommittees and work groups); Senator Brad Hoylman and Safe Horizon (to pass The Adult Survivors Act in New York in 2022); Lucy Lang (former Manhattan DA candidate and current New York State Inspector General) to codify consent and reform the criminal justice system to be trauma informed and survivor focused.
She has also recently been awarded the inaugural "Global Impact Award" by Diversity MBA at their 17th annual conference for the work she does with her art and advocacy to improve equity, safety, and DEIA practices for all historically marginalized folks, especially those from the survivor, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ communities. She has also received the "Shattering The Silence Award" for her work as the Founder and President of Hire Survivors Hollywood.
September 2024
