Marjorie Conrad Biography

Marjorie Conrad (born October 1, 1988) is a French-American filmmaker and model. She is known for placing fourth on America's Next Top Model (Cycle 11), and for her narrative feature film Chemical Cut (2016).

Personal life

Marjorie Conrad was born and raised in Marseille, France. She is the daughter of French graphic novel artist Didier Conrad (of Asterix fame) and French-Italian graphic novel scenarist Sophie Commenge. In 1996, the family immigrated to Los Angeles, California due to her father's work on El Dorado with DreamWorks Studio. Marjorie and her brother Adrien learned English on the spot while entering public school. Marjorie discovered her passion for filmmaking at a young age, studying film production from 6th-8th grade at Pacoima Middle School's prestigious Performing Arts magnet program. Her 2002 8th grade 20-minute short "The Outfit" - an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" - won 3 PBS Video in the Classroom awards for best acting, production, and screenwriting. She studied with film teacher James Gleason at Grover Cleveland Charter High School before attending San Francisco State University, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2011 with a BA in Film Production.

Career

Modeling

In 2008, she was scouted at the San Francisco State University campus bookstore for the 11th cycle of America's Next Top Model. After being selected as a cast member, she was consistently one of the top five finalists to be called out first at the end of each episode, her portfolio frequently garnering much praise from the judges. On the second episode, she was called out first for portraying the political issue of immigration during the voting-themed photo shoot lensed by Mike Rosenthal. Marjorie excelled in the seventh episode: her high-fashion take on the "Hunchback from Notre-Dame" impressed Tyra Banks during the Signature Pose Challenge, winning her diamonds at Rafinity Jewelry valued at 12k, which she chose to split evenly with friend and contestant Analeigh Tipton. Her dramatic photo shot by Rosenthal in episode seven also won first place, where she embodied an award show mishap inspired by Tyra's Fiercee Awards. In episode nine, Marjorie was featured in a Seventeen Magazine holiday photo shoot with contestants Elina Ivanova and Analeigh Tipton. Marjorie was part of the final six cast members to make it abroad to Amsterdam. In episode twelve, Marjorie won the commercial shoot challenge with model Mark Vanderloo judged by Paulina Porizkova. She was rewarded with a 10k shopping spree at G-Star Raw, which she again elected to share evenly with contestant Analeigh Tipton. She was eliminated in the very same episode, placing fourth in the cycle.

Post-Top Model, Marjorie resumed her studies at San Francisco State University and signed with Look Model Agency from 2009-2011. Modeling credits included a cover and spreads in Fantasticsmag, opening a Marciano runway show, walking for the Parc 55 Hotel opening show, closing and a video shoot for the San Francisco Art Institute graduation show, several shoots and shows for diPietro Todd Salon, multiple shoots for Edo Salon, a shoot for Atelier Emmanuel, a trade show with Gina Khan Salon, in-store modeling for Neiman Marcus, and a video shoot for Macy's West and MAC Cosmetics. She has worked with San Francisco photographers Aubrey Trinnaman, Hideki Owa, Billy Winters, Tara Chumpelik, Christian Pollock, Tara Arrowood, Cody Rasmussen, RC Rivera, Jean-Baptiste Petispas, and Brittany McCall.

Film

Her 2011 graduate thesis film Limehouse won the Audience Award at the Juried Previews for the SFSU 51st Film Finals, was selected to close the Film Finals screening, won Best Narrative at the Excelsior Short Film Festival, and was praised by Sundance Feature Film Program Manager Cullen Conly. The short narrative film focused on San Francisco and featured legendary transgender pioneer Vicki Marlane in a rare and classic rendition of Lisa Kirk's Limehouse Blues.

After graduating with honors in 2011, Marjorie moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and set out to write her first feature script while working as a receptionist at World of Wonder Productions. It was there that she met her future cast members, including the late Ian Coster (son of Days of Our Lives actor Nicolas Coster, also performing in the film), Michael Lucid, Deven Green, David Keeps, and Stephen Saban, co-founder of Details. She fully funded the film using her earnings from World of Wonder, teaming up with SFSU alums Barret Hacia (Producer) and Mackenzie Mathis (Cinematographer). Marjorie wore many hats for the project: writer, director, lead actor, executive producer, and editor. Her surreal debut feature, titled Chemical Cut, world premiered at the top-tier 2016 Slamdance Film Festival as an Official Selection in the Narrative Competition. Marjorie was one of only two female directors accepted in the 2016 Narrative Feature lineup. In her dark comedy, "Irene, a 23-year-old artistic misfit, pursues a modeling career to escape her dead-end retail job but is quickly disillusioned by the cutthroat nature of the Los Angeles fashion world. Searching for identity and a kindred spirit while surrounded by competition, absurdity, and so many nude bras, Irene flounders until a mysterious woman's performance ignites her imagination." Programmer Marie Jamora explained, "Writer/Director/Editor/Lead Actress Marjorie Conrad developed the story from her own experience as a former model, and she shows us a world where mannequins are treated better than real women, verbal molestation is palpable, and the scariest predators of pretty girls are the other pretty girls."? Chemical Cut had a positive critical reception, including the following favorable reviews from Hammer To Nail, Film Colossus, Beyond Chron, The Film Stage, Eat Drink Films, and Slug Magazine. The following interviews with the cast and crew were conducted by Twitch Film, World of Wonder hosted by James St. James, Film Colossus, The Park Record, The Art of Monteque, Screen Prism, Serving Cinema, Filmmaker Magazine, and MovieMaker Magazine. Other local radio and television interviews were conducted by Entertainment Journal, Park City Television, KPCW Radio, KXRK 96 Radio, Attention Deficit, UNLV Rebel Yell, P3 Update, International Screenwriting Association, and Examiner. The film was singled out as a festival highlight by AMFM Magazine, Variety, Twitch Film, Hammer To Nail, and The Davis Clipper, and the festival trailer was initially released on Indiewire. Filmmaker Magazine called the film "beguiling" and "intriguing," Slug Magazine described it as "a beautifully wrought film of the often fraught search for identity" and argued "the film manages to deftly explore questions of identity and creativity"?perhaps drawing from Conrad"?s own experiences"?through opulent shots, outrageous characters and an exquisite backdrop of heightened reality." While at the festival, Recreation Media secured the film's international rights. It screened at the ArcLight Hollywood on May 10, 2016 and the ArcLight Chicago on May 18, 2016 as part of the Slamdance Cinema Club. The film was nominated for the Indie Spirit Award and won the Female Eye Filmmaking Award at The New Hope Film Festival. It was an Official Selection at the 2016 Buffalo International Film Festival in the Domestic and ArtHouse Feature category. Marjorie was interviewed for BIFFX by actress Tilke Hill as part of a Women in Film panel with feature directors Stavroula Toska (Beneath The Olive Tree) and Victoria Negri (Gold Star). According to the film's Facebook page, Chemical Cut will be released on VOD in fall 2017.

Filmography

Film

Film
Year	Title	Role	Festival Screenings	Notes / Awards
2011	Limehouse	Director / Writer / Producer / Editor	SFSU 51st Film Finals	Audience Award
				Closed Film Finals
			2011 Excelsior Short Film Festival	Best Narrative
2016	Chemical Cut	Director / Writer / Executive Producer / Editor / Lead Actor	2016 Slamdance Film Festival	Official Selection - Narrative Competition
				Best Narrative Feature (Nominee)
			2016 New Hope Film Festival	Official Selection
				Female Eye Filmmaking Award
				Indie Spirit Award (Nominee)
			2016 Buffalo International Film Festival	Official Selection

Television

Television
Year	Title	Role	Episode #	Notes / Awards
2008	America's Next Top Model (Cycle 11)	Self	2 - Top Model Inauguration	1st Place Photo Call-Out, shot by Mike Rosenthal
			7 - The Fiercee Awards	1st Place Photo Call-Out, shot by Mike Rosenthal
				Won Reward Challenge - Best Signature Pose, shot by Tyra Banks
			12 - Good Times and Windmills	Finished 4th
				Won Reward Challenge - Commercial Shoot with Mark Vanderloo