A native of Los Angeles, Marilee studied philosophy at Yale before moving to Rome where she started her career in the film business as Francis Ford Coppola's philosophy tutor. She then worked in Italian TV as a director and development executive before returning to the US. Back in LA, Marilee started her career as a writer in commercials, writing treatments for many well-known directors, before turning to screenwriting. She has written primarily for film but has also developed several TV pilots both alone and with her writing partner, Reinhard Denke. They have optioned and/or sold over a dozen screenplays and pilots through their company, Mercury Media. Marilee is presently producing Reinhard’s Blacklisted script, "Sex, Greed Money, Murder, and Chicken Fried Steak," in a co-production with Amicus Films in Dallas. The film is scheduled to begin production in early 2023. Marilee has also turned to fiction. Her first novel, "The Tutor" (loosely based on her experience as Coppola’s philosophy tutor in Rome) was published by Rare Bird Books in the fall of 2019. Her lit agent is presently shopping her new novel, a psychological crime thriller, "He’s Gotta Go." Marilee is the founder of the nonprofit, One Village Green, which promotes mental health and wellness in American kids and communities through content, community building and grants to families in need. Through One Village Green, Marilee has a recently launched a podcast, Wake Up! where she discusses the youth mental health crisis with a wide assortment of experts across the mental health sphere. She is also developing a documentary, "Good Little Dead Robots," exploring the same. Her other careers? Busy mother to two teen boys, one-time annual fund co-chair at her kids’ school, gross-out cake expert, language lover (fluent French, Italian, Spanish), trained painter, and animal lover.  Podcast | Inspired Minds (inspiredmindspodcast.com) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.