Biography
Semi Chellas is a screenwriter, producer and director. Born in Palo Alto, California in 1969, she grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She holds a B.A. in literature from Yale University, was a Mellon Fellow in English at Cornell University and was a screenwriting resident at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto.
She co-created the Canadian series The Eleventh Hour (2002–2005), serving as executive producer and head writer; the show won two Gemini Awards for Best Series. Chellas joined the writers’ room on Mad Men from its fifth season, co-writing episodes including “Far Away Places” and “The Other Woman” with Matthew Weiner; these earned Emmy nominations and a Writers Guild of America Award. Her other credits include writing Picture Claire (2001), episodes of Rookie Blue and Being Erica, the screenplay for Ophelia (2019) and her feature directorial debut American Woman (2019). She has also written for The Romanoffs.
