Val Bodurtha is a comic and award-winning author whose debut novel—written at seventeen—won a Silver Benjamin Franklin Medal. Though she’s won over two-dozen writing awards, Val's first love remains stand-up. She has opened for Jerrod Carmichael and produced her own showcases while studying at UChicago. Val wrote four award-winning plays that were staged and three screenplays that were produced. One was awarded "Best Screenplay" at Crossover Film Fest, and another just premiered at The New Haven International Film Festival. Val ultimate goal is to write film and TV with good twists, funny or otherwise, and to bring back boot-cut jeans.