Sheila O’Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. She is a regular film critic for RogerEbert.com. She has written numerous essays and video-essays for Criterion Collection releases. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Film Comment, Fandor, Masters of Cinema, Movie Mezzanine, and Bright Wall/Dark Room. She has written the tribute-reel narration for two Lifetime Achievement Award Oscar recipients: actress Gena Rowlands (narration read by Angelina Jolie) and editor Anne V. Coats (narration read by Diane Lane). She writes about actors, movies and Elvis Presley at her personal site, The Sheila Variations. "July and Half of August" is her first full-length script, and one scene of it was turned into a short film, directed by Brandeaux Tourville and starring Annika Marks and Robert Baker.