Ursula Burton

Director / Producer / Actor

Ursula Burton is an award-winning actor-writer-director whose work is currently being remastered and preserved in The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences archives, including The Happiest Day of His Life which she wrote and directed. The comedic short won a Viewer’s Choice Award on MTV’s LOGO Channel, and qualified for the Academy Awards. She has made numerous commercials, PSAs, and short films including the Faces of Ford campaign, and “Mamas for Obama” spots, as well as series such as Half The History and Old Guy.

Her films, We Treat Them The Same, Expiration Date, and A Future Wish continue to explore her interests in female experience. Tapping Into Our Past, Tapping Into Our Future: Ayodele Casel, Ellen Garrison: Scenes From An Activist’s Life, and her latest film, The Women of the Old Manse are part of the ongoing Half The History series, for which she is the Producing Director. She has written and directed several documentaries for Kaiser-Permanente including FoodRx, which explore ways to combat the obesity epidemic, as well as the commercial campaign, Tips From a Person With Diabetes. Her film, Creatives on Creating, examines how people incorporate creativity into their daily lives. She regularly directs audio dramas including Dark Shadows, Stargate, and VampD.

With Five Sisters Productions, she has produced feature films including Just Friends, Manna From Heaven, Temps, and Kings, Queens & In-Betweens.

As an actor, her TV work includes recurring roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, Dead Girl’s Detective Agency, Grey’s Anatomy, Hart of Dixie, Rake, and the hit BBC sitcom My Family, as well as appearing on Silicon Valley, Jane the Virgin, Dr. Ken, Castle, Blackish, Scandal, KC Undercover, 2 Broke Girls, The Middle, Criminal Minds, Wilfred, and The Bold & the Beautiful. Film roles include Sgt. Bilko, Chairman of the Board, Mafia, and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

In addition, the specialty card decks she created, “52 Questions Before Marriage or Moving In,” “52 Questions Before Baby,” and “52 Questions After 50,” are distributed by The Gottman Institute.

Burton graduated from Yale University with honors, earning degrees in both Theater Studies and English. She is a founding member of the YaleWomen Council, was a long-term board member of both YaleWomen LA and the Yale Club of LA, and was selected for the Alliance of Women Directors CAP Industry Support Program as well as the AWD TV Directing Program. Burton is a Professor of the Practice at Otis College of Art and Design where she teaches filmmaking.

More info on Ursula Burton can be found at www.ursulaburton.com.

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