ALYSSA THORDARSON has worked as a professional actor for over a decade, appearing in commercials, television, theater, and indie film. Half Icelandic, she grew up in Indiana and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and Columbia College Chicago, and has continued her training with The Markland Studio, The Acting Studio, and on set across many diverse projects.
Her debut screenplay, the short AFTER (A LOVE STORY), directed by Clare Cooney, was an official selection at over 20 festivals, including the Academy Award-qualifting LA Shorts and Cleveland International. AFTER won her a Grand Jury Award for Best Short Screenplay and a Filmmaker’s Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival, as well as garnering a Best Drama Short award for the team at North Hollywood Cinefest, among nearly 20 nominations during the festival run.
PAPER PLANES, her directorial debut alongside legendary Chicago indie filmmaker Michael Glover Smith, based on Alyssa’s screenplay, made an immediate splash on the 2023 festival circuit. The film played Oscar-qualifying festival Out on Film, was nominated for Best Comedy Short at New York & North Hollywood Cinefests, won Best Dramatic Short at Tallahassee Film Festival, Best Short Film at Soo Film Festival, First Place at Saugatuck FF, and Best Cast at Twelve Lions. It continues to connect audiences of all kinds with its touching queer story, which RogerEbert.com calls “sublimely nuanced.”
A married couple survive a traumatic event. But their relationship may not.
Alyssa's writing and producing debut, in which she also stars alongside The Walking Dead's Glenn Stanton, After (A Love Story) played multiple Oscar-qualifying festivals and won a dozen awards among twenty nominations throughout its festival run. Directed and also produced by Clare Cooney, the film found a home on popular curated short film channel Omeleto.
A woman with agoraphobia and the AirBnB guest across the hall strike up a correspondence that becomes something more for the holidays.
Indie queen Shaina Schrooten stars in this gentle holiday romantic comedy written and produced by Alyssa, co-directed by Alyssa and Chicago legend Michael Glover Smith. RogerEbert.com calls the film "sublimely nuanced," and in its coverage announcing the online premiere, Split Tooth Media calls it "a new Christmas classic for the modern era."
When Ruth's sister and best friend, Emma, comes to help Ruth recover from endometriosis surgery, they test each other's limits and rediscover the strength of sisterhood.
Alyssa directs this heartfelt, funny, and at times gruesome short script by Lydia Ellis-Curry.
Chicago: kacee@ddoagency.com
Los Angeles: anthony@ddoagency.com
Split Tooth Meda: Online Premiere: ‘Paper Planes’ (Alyssa Thordarson And Michael Glover Smith, 2023)
RogerEbert.com: Short Films In Focus: After (A Love Story)
Hollywood Chicago: Podtalk: Alyssa Thordarson of 'Paper Planes,' Debuting at AfterImage Film Fest, April 15, 2023
WDCB Radio: Alyssa Thordarson and Michael Glover Smith on PAPER PLANES for The Arts Section 4/9/23
Screen Magazine:
Alyssa Thordarson and Michael Glover Smith set World, Int’l and Local Premieres for ‘Paper Planes’
The Online Premiere Is Here for Chicago-Made Festival Fave ‘After (A Love Story)’
Excerpt from Director's Club podcast on AFTER (A LOVE STORY) by Jim Laczkowsi
Discover Indie FIlm: 352. Alyssa Thordarson & Clare Cooney "After (A Love Story)"
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