A queer creator who moves between film, television, and theater, Deborah Puette draws on over two decades as a working actor to tell sophisticated stories centering sharply observed female and LGBTQ+ characters claiming space in places that traditionally tell them to stay the eff out.

Adopted by an Irish-Catholic family of hunters who taught her to use a shotgun when she was eight, she eventually left that life of weekend crow shoots to study photography in Paris, work at a women's shelter in Alaska, and briefly deal cocaine in Chicago until a surprise pregnancy shut that shit down. Unwilling to wait for the L in sub-zero wind chills with an infant, she packed up her baby and their freaked-out cat and headed for the kinder climes of Los Angeles where everything is easy.

Deborah's first feature script, Cash for Gold, was a Finalist for The Black List x WIF Feature Residency, attracting the attention of Franklin Leonard who further championed the project. She co-directed and played the lead role opposite Farshad Farahat (Argo), David Sullivan (Argo), and JoBeth Williams (Poltergeist). Cash for Gold will make its world premiere in competition at the Sunscreen Film Festival in April 2024.

Deborah also wrote and directed Such A Pretty Girl, a short based on her semi-autobiographical series pilot, Play Like A Girl (Finalist, 2021 Writers Lab underwritten by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Oprah Winfrey). The short stars Sarah Drew and will play fests in 2024.