Taryn O’Neill is a writer, filmmaker and futurist whose work focuses on using storytelling and emerging technologies to invoke ‘Protopias’ (aka better futures). Her career spans early web series producing, acting, writing, and directing, with experience across traditional film, new media, and STEM-driven storytelling.

Her directing and writing credits include the fantasy feature films Wicked and Torn (based on the bestselling books by Jennifer L. Armentrout), the Sci-Fi short LIVE (released by Gunpowder & Sky), and the climate-fiction short The Assignment, created in collaboration with ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination. She has written for Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, BlackBox TV and has had semi-finalist and finalist scripts with the Sloan / Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Climate Spring and the New York TV Fest. She recently sold a Sci-Fi animated feature rooted in climate themes.

Taryn is the co-founder of Scirens, a collective advancing STEM and climate storytelling in entertainment. Her work with Scirens has led to panels at San Diego Comic-Con, with the Geena Davis Institute, collaborations with the XPRIZE Foundation and ASU, and appearances on Bill Nye Saves the World and StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

She publishes the weekly industry newsletter Future Film Fridays, tracking the intersection of emerging technology and entertainment. She’s also written Protopia: A New Horizon for Screenwriters for Script Magazine and A Futurist’s Handbook for Hollywood, all centered on how positive Protopian narratives can help society navigate change and uncertainty while envisioning more hopeful futures.