Dawn O'Leary

About Dawn O'Leary

Dawn O’Leary began her professional writing career as a playwright, with a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, which followed a similar fellowship in poetry. Her plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey and Arizona, including:

Island of Brilliance, Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice, California

A Delicate Arrangement, Theatrefest, Montclair State University, Winner of the TheatreFest Regional Playwriting Contest

Island of Brilliance, Actors Repertory of Sedona, Arizona

Island of Brilliance, Altered Stages, New York City 

The Gentle Rain from Heaven, The Studio, New York City.

A Delicate Arrangement, Adam Hill Theatre, West Hollywood, California

The Gentle Rain from Heaven, Meadowlands Theatre Company, Williams Center, Rutherford, NJ

After receiving a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Dawn moved to California and began a career writing for television and film. A vested member of the WGA, she has been hired to write many movies (both originals and adaptations) for CBS, NBC Universal, ABC/Disney, USA Network and other cable networks.  Several of her spec screenplays have been optioned.  

In 2004, her Nicholl-winning screenplay Island of Brilliance, an adaptation of her stage play, was produced as an independent feature film retitled Admissions. The cast includes Lauren Ambrose, Amy Madigan, Christopher Lloyd and John Savage. Debuting in two film festivals, Admissions was distributed by the Sundance Channel.