Biography

Bill True’s debut feature, Runaway, was hailed by critics as “Brilliant” and “Hitchcockian” as it premiered to universal accolades at Tribeca and Toronto. It went on to screen worldwide at Avignon, Woodstock, Vail, Palm Springs, and other top festivals. Bill took the top prize at the Austin Film Festival for his work on Runaway, which was subsequently released by eOne Films.

He got his start as a stage actor and director. As an actor, Bill worked with legendary lyricist Tim Rice, starring in the title role in the American premiere of Rice’s rock opera, Blondel. As a director, Bill participated in the Guthrie Theatre’s exclusive Director’s Lab.

Bill transitioned to playwriting, studying under and mentored by Tony Award winner and Oscar nominee Mark Medoff. Bill was named one of New Mexico’s Best New Playwrights with his play, Hell is a Diner. He was also a company member and dramaturg for Desert Playwrights Theatre Company. In 2014, Bill’s multimedia homage to the silent film, He Who Gets Slapped, opened to rave reviews. Slapped went on to be staged at the LA Theatre Center as part of the Kennedy Center for the Arts theatre festival.

As a screenwriter, Bill has developed feature and television projects with The Film Collective, NBA Entertainment, Warner Horizon Television, Veritas Entertainment, More/Medavoy Productions, eOne Television, and more.  He was also honored as a Bush Artists Fellowship for writing grant recipient.

Currently, Bill is in development at Echo Lake Entertainment on an original one-hour drama series project set in the commercial space industry, Way Beyond.  His family drama series pilot, Hope Springs, was recently named as part of the inaugural development and production slate for Rom Com Pictures.

Bill has been a featured panelist and jurist at the Austin Film Festival, Scriptfest/The Great American Pitchfest, and Screencraft’s Writers Summit. He’s been a featured speaker for industry organizations including the Independent Feature Project, Women in Film, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Phoenix Screenwriters Association, and the Northwest Screenwriters Guild.

In addition to his work in Hollywood, Bill is Faculty-in-Residence for Dramatic Writing and Department Chair at the esteemed Scottsdale School of Film+Theatre.

Bill has also been a nationally recognized expert and speaker on networking, having been hailed “the best in the business” in training people how to pitch their projects.  His talk, Our Economic Outlook: The Movie! was lauded as “Spot on!”, “TED-worthy,” and “What we all need right now.”  He’s been the top-rated speaker at conferences and events around the country for organizations like the Minnesota Social Services Administration, the Career Management Alliance, and Naturopathic Dr. News & Review.

Outside the entertainment industry, Bill has over a decade of experience in Corporate America as a Project Manager, Business Director, and Director of Communications for Fortune 100 companies.  He was tapped by SmithKline Beecham in 1996 to spearhead efforts to help define the value equation and operations requirements to propagate managed pharmacy throughout Europe.  In 1997, Bill headed up the team of pioneers that facilitated the first “mega-migration” in the managed pharmacy industry, successfully consolidating data for nearly 1.5 million members from four different pharmacy benefit managers to a single system.  Later, Bill oversaw the division that managed pharmacy benefits for the largest segment of UnitedHealth Group’s pharmacy business, managing implementation and operations for over four million lives worldwide.

In 2000, Bill was recruited to be Director of Communications for Express Scripts, Inc.’s Site Operations Division.  In this capacity, Bill oversaw information flow for the company’s eight call centers and six mail order pharmacies, representing more than 10,000 employees.  Bill was a bleeding-edge visionary with respect to integrating knowledge management principles into the corporate culture.  His work culminated in the design and implementation of proprietary web-based applications that improved call flow for customer service and mail order representatives, resulting in a 30% reduction in handling time for inbound customer service calls.

Bill also worked as a freelance writer, editor, and consultant.  His commercial work has yielded impressive results for national companies such as Land ‘O Lakes/Purina, Cannon Solutions, and Deluxe Checks.