Alison McMahan is a screenwriter, author and filmmaker. Her most recent film is Bare Hands and Wooden Limbs (2010) narrated by Sam Waterston. She is currently in post-production on the feature documentary The Eight Faces of Jane (2022). She is the author the award-winning book Alice Guy Blaché, Lost Visionary of the Cinema (Bloomsbury 2002), a critical study of the work of the first woman filmmaker which was translated into Spanish by Plots Ediciones and will soon be available in Japanese. The documentary, Be Natural, (premiered at Cannes 2018) is partly based on Lost Visionary. She is also the author of The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Hollywood (Bloomsbury 2005).
She has a BFA in Drama (Catholic University), an MFA in Film Production (New York University), an MFA in Creative Writing (University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast Program), a Ph.D. in Film Studies (Union Institute & University), and the Mellon Postdoc in Interactive Media which was carried out at Vassar College in NY.
She writes historical mysteries for adults and young adults. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies published by Wildside Press, LevelBest Books, Down & Out Books and Harpercollins.