James Kriz (Writer)

James Kriz (IG: kriznchips) is a comedy writer/actor, screenwriter, and author, trained at NYU Tisch, Second City, the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), and the People’s Improv Theater (PIT). As a writer, his work has headlined NYC Sketchfest and appeared on stages at Second City, the PIT, UCB, and the BCC. His comedy prose has been published by McSweeney’s and the Weekly Humorist. As an actor and performer, he successfully auditioned and completed Second City Conservatory and has now auditioned for and been accepted into Second City Grad Review. He's performed in over two hundred improv shows and countless sketch shows across the city at the PIT, the Magnet, BCC, UCB, Young Ethel’s, and Second City.

As a screenwriter trained through a BA in Creative Writing at Oberlin College and an MFA in Dramatic Writing (Screen, TV, and Play) at NYU Tisch, James has worked with production companies in LA, NYC, and Beijing. He’s had screenplays optioned by a number of companies, including Cassian Elwes’ Elevated (Dallas Buyers Club, Mudbound) and former Disney executive Steve Sahlein’s Empire Media Partners (The Comeback Trail). James’ work has trended and earned awards on Franklin Leonard’s Black List site, scoring in the top one percent of thousands of scripts.