Shannon Joy Madden

Shannon Joy Madden was born in Washington, DC and raised in Northern Virginia. She spent most of her youth playing competitive soccer, but a knee injury during her first year of college ended her illustrious career. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a degree in Political Science and History, she spent several years traveling around the country and working in various jobs ranging from yoga instructor to warehouse temp to pharmaceutical saleswoman. In 2009, she moved to Los Angeles to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Groundlings School. While in LA, she had the pleasure of working with many talented up-and-coming student directors from New York Film Academy, the Los Angeles Film School, and Columbia College, as well as some more established filmmakers, both in feature films and Funny-or-Die Exclusives. In 2011, she had a small role in California Solo, directed by Marshall Lewey which premiered in the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, as well as in the film Holiday Road, "July Segment," directed by Michael Sutek which was featured at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival. In 2012, Shannon took on the role of producer for the web-series, "Mixed Feelings." Later in 2012, she moved to Washington, DC, where she continued her film and theatre career, both in local theatre, commercials, short films and television productions, including House of Cards and Investigation Discovery's Nightmare Next Door. In 2013, she established Windswept Media Productions, a multi-media production company. In 2014, in conjunction with David Wardrick and Spectrum, Shannon produced, wrote, directed, and starred in her first short, "Supporting", about a support group for underemployed actors. She hopes to contribute to the growing film presence in the Washington, DC area.