Michal Birnbaum

Michal Birnbaum is a film and theater maker based mostly in Brooklyn, NY. She was named a semi-finalist in Pipeline Theater's PlayLab program for her full-length play with music, Yoma. Her award winning short film, Division Ave, has screened in over 30 film festivals worldwide, including Washington DC International Film Festival and NYC venues such as AMC 34th Street and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

As an actor, she has recently joined the second season of Little America on Apple TV+ (Dir. Tara Miele) and the Sundance comedic series Chanshi (Dir. Mickey Triest & Aaron Geva). Other screen credits include Unorthodox (Dir. Maria Schrader), As They Made Us (Dir. Mayim Bialik), and Nerve (Dir. Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost).

Birnbaum is a Berlinale Talents alumna. Her work was featured in the...

Michal Birnbaum is a film and theater maker based mostly in Brooklyn, NY. She was named a semi-finalist in Pipeline Theater's PlayLab program for her full-length play with music, Yoma. Her award winning short film, Division Ave, has screened in over 30 film festivals worldwide, including Washington DC International Film Festival and NYC venues such as AMC 34th Street and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

As an actor, she has recently joined the second season of Little America on Apple TV+ (Dir. Tara Miele) and the Sundance comedic series Chanshi (Dir. Mickey Triest & Aaron Geva). Other screen credits include Unorthodox (Dir. Maria Schrader), As They Made Us (Dir. Mayim Bialik), and Nerve (Dir. Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost).

Birnbaum is a Berlinale Talents alumna. Her work was featured in the Daily News, NY1’s morning show, RCN channel, and more. Her projects received the Puffin Foundation finishing grant, as well as Panavision's new filmmakers grant.

A graduate of The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, her NYC theater acting credits include plays by Molière, Chekhov and Lord Byron, as well as contemporary and original works. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies at Hunter College in New York.

Scripts

Yoma

by Michal Birnbaum

Synopsis

Yoma is a satiric play with music taking place in the 1st century in Jerusalem. It has dancing animals that are thrilled to get on the altar, a compassionate levite who sets the scapegoat free, and an anosmic prophet that no one wants to listen to.

Yoma is a satiric play with music taking place in the 1st century in Jerusalem. It has dancing animals that are thrilled to get on the altar, a compassionate levite who sets the scapegoat free, and an anosmic prophet that no one wants to listen to.

The Senior Citizens Twist Strife of 1998

by Michal Birnbaum

Synopsis

It is 1998 and the ladies of a Bronx assisted living facility are getting ready for the local Twist dance competition. The only problem is that Yan Fan isn’t speaking to Lelia anymore, so Becky has to step in and fill her dancing shoes. However, Becky is a terrible dancer who hopes to bring her two friends to speaking terms again. The three Twist their way through their immigration stories while quarreling about...

It is 1998 and the ladies of a Bronx assisted living facility are getting ready for the local Twist dance competition. The only problem is that Yan Fan isn’t speaking to Lelia anymore, so Becky has to step in and fill her dancing shoes. However, Becky is a terrible dancer who hopes to bring her two friends to speaking terms again. The three Twist their way through their immigration stories while quarreling about sex, politics and broken hips.