Emma Elizabeth Steiger

Her award-winning short film WAIT TO TELL MOTHER, which she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, premiered at Dances With Films and has screened at 19 festivals and counting, earning multiple honors including Audience Awards, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Emerging Filmmaker. She is currently developing her debut features COMPOSURE and AND YET, both deeply personal stories that examine the ways loss reshapes our relationships, our sense of self, and our capacity for connection.

Inspired in part by her own experiences with grief and unexpected love, AND YET reflects many of the themes that define Emma's work: the tension between longing and acceptance, the stories we tell ourselves about timing, and the hope that can emerge from life's most uncertain moments. As both writer and actor, she is drawn to stories that allow women to be messy, funny, vulnerable, and deeply human.

As a producer, Emma has worked across independent film and television and currently serves on the development team at Nuyorican Productions, Jennifer Lopez's production company with a first-look deal at Netflix. Prior to Nuyorican, she worked as a Junior Executive at HappyBad Bungalow, supporting projects across development, packaging, and production.

A lifelong performer with nearly two decades of training in musical theater and dance, Emma approaches writing through the lens of an actor, creating emotionally grounded characters and intimate, lived-in relationships. She is committed to telling women-centered stories that balance humor and heartbreak while fostering collaborative creative environments rooted in care, accountability, and artistic ambition.