Chris Courtney

About Chris

Chris Courtney Martin is a multidisciplinary artist from Philadelphia, where they were cemented to their craft. As a pre-teen recruit of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, they were granted scholarships three summers in a row to take accelerated courses in Creative Writing/Poetry, Logic and Film Studies. This illustrious program-- which boasts alumni such as Lady Gaga, Mark Zuckerberg, Ronan Farrow and Andrew Yang-- made it possible for Martin to embrace their calling as an arrant nerd. In high school, Martin placed in the Philadelphia Young Playwrights competition three years out of four and was honored with a staged reading at the historic Wilma Theatre, which included multi-awarded theater artist James Ijames in the cast. After receiving the prestigious Liberty Scholarship, Martin started Drexel University's Screenwriting & Playwriting program, where they switched gears to focus on screenwriting. Martin graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree from Drexel's CineTV department, as well as Minors in Film & Video and Art History. Martin has since won/placed in several screenwriting competitions (including Urbanworld and Emerging Screenwriters) and received promotion via the 2018 Young & Hungry List, 2018 B*tch List and International Screenwriters Association's Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2019/Development Slate. In 2019, they co-hosted the AFRO HORROR podcast in its inaugural season alongside creator Sade Sellers. Martin's screenwriting credits include smaller, independent projects starring legendary talent such as Sheryl Lee Ralph and Niecy Nash. Their short Horror work has also appeared on the animated YouTube series SOMETHING SCARY created by Sapphire Sandalo and hosted by Markeia McCarty. Martin coined the motto "craft with conscience," which expresses their passion for producing socially relevant/politically progressive works and maintaining artistic integrity. This ethos is displayed in the themes of their upcoming projects, including CHARCUTERIE-- announced in 2020. The project was a participant in the Tribeca Film Institute Network. This came after it was named a Finalist in the AT&T/Tribeca Untold Stories program, which saw its final round suspended that year due to COVID. They also served as a Course Advisor for Sundance Co//ab in 2021. The same year, Martin’s celebrated “spec” screenplay PALE HORSE was also announced with Gamechanger Films producing and Gabourey Sidibe set to direct. Though they are known for their work in Horror/Thriller, Martin's body of work explores an array of genres. They see a return to poetry and other literature to be the next test of their writing, with their hybrid poetry and prose chapbook collection THE BOOK OF I.P. (Idle Poems) now available on Amazon via Alien Buddha Press. Their instrumental “MicroAlbum”/EP A KWEAN OONTZ NOVEL is available on Bandcamp and in all major digital music stores. Martin boasts poetry publications in Erato Magazine, The Incognito Press, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and others. Chris Courtney Martin is Non-Binary and accepts the pronouns They/Them/Theirs.

Skills & Experience

Education