Helen Jacey

Helen Jacey is a professional screenwriter, lecturer and author. She graduated from her MA in Screenwriting at the London Institute in 2001 and gained her doctorate from the University of Arts London.

Realizing that most screenwriting books don’t address the female character, Helen embarked on her own quest to explore gender issues and screenwriting, leading her to write The Woman in the Story: Writing Memorable Female Characters—the first ever screenwriting guide that specifically focuses on female characters and gender issues in the development process.

Before Helen became a screenwriter, she worked for international aid agencies, developing programs for vulnerable women and children. This work inspired some of her first original screenplays. She has now written projects for numerous UK and European production companies, including four biopics about legendary women, including Eleanora Duse, Jean Rhys, Mina Loy and Duchess Anna Amalia of Weimar!

Helen lectures on screenwriting all over the world and is a story consultant for independent filmmakers. Her highly popular Writing the Heroine's Story seminar is run several times a year, attended by international screenwriters and fiction writers. She also lectures widely, both at universities as a guest lecturer, and gives key note speeches—most notably one in honor of Liv Ullmann in Oslo.

Helen is currently writing a new screenwriting book, and researching her first novel. She is married, a mother and stepmother. For more updates on Helen's work visit www.helenjacey.com

Author’s books