BIO
WRITER
DIRECTOR
ACTRESS
Stella Velon is an award-winning writer, director and actress who lives and works between Los Angeles, New York and Paris.
Her directorial debut, the psychological drama THE CRITIC, which she also wrote and played the female lead in, was among the five winners of Amazon Studios' All Voices Film Festival for U.S. filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds. Judges for the festival included top executives from Amazon Studios and the CEO of IMDb, Col Needham. Stella was also nominated for a 2020 Webby Award in the Best Individual Performance category from nearly 15,000 entries that year, alongside Emily Hampshire (SCHITT'S CREEK), FKA twigs (HONEY BOY), Leslie Grace (IN THE HEIGHTS) and Gastor Almonte (STORIES FROM THE STAGE), and also won the w3 Gold Award in the same category.
Other notable distinctions include the Best Director award at the UK Film Review Awards (in the company of Oscar-winning films such as Alfonso Cuarón's ROMA and Bradley Cooper's A STAR IS BORN), the Best Short Film award at the Method Fest (“celebrating outstanding performances in independent film”), the Best Actress Gold Award and the Annual Grand Jury Prize at the Queen Palm International Film Festival (alongside Emmy-winning documentary 'CRIME + PUNISHMENT' in the feature category). Her film was also elected Indie Shorts Mag's Editor's Pick.
Focused on personal and visceral storytelling, Velon received outstanding reviews for her work on THE CRITIC as a performer, writer, and director. UK Film Review’s Editor-in-Chief Chris Olson called Stella's portrayal of the main character “one of the best leading performances of the year so far,” her dialogues “exceptional” and the film “a particularly poignant piece of cinema in the current social climate.” Indie Shorts Mag wrote: “From her writing & direction to acting, she has done it with such finesse, that it’s a pity that we can’t rate her any higher.” In addition to film critics and festivals, her film received an overwhelmingly positive reception by the public, with Academy Award winner A.R. Rahman among those praising the film.
As a performer, Velon has worked on film and television series such as BASKETS (with Zach Galifianakis), MEN IN BLACK 3, GOSSIP GIRL (with Sam Page and Blake Lively), HOPPUS ON MUSIC (starring alongside Mark Hoppus), and more. She trained as an actor in Paris (Cours Viriot), Copenhagen (IT New York), New York (HB Studio), and Los Angeles (AMAW).. She became the face of an international jewelry campaign for Di Modolo, succeeding Catherine Zeta-Jones.
As a creator/screenwriter, she is developing a female-driven dramedy series, loosely inspired by her experiences in the fashion world in New York City and Paris, the feature-length version of THE CRITIC, and several other original projects.
She is the co-founder of her production company, The Punk Floyd Company.
Stella also holds a degree in economics from Paris X University, is perfectly bilingual (English/French), speaks several other languages, and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, FREE THE WORK Pro, and BAFTA.