Debra creates painfully honest stories about goofy, flawed women like herself. She is best known for writing, directing and producing the indie feature THE TOLLBOOTH, which starred Marla Sokoloff, Idina Menzel, Tovah Feldhuh and Rob McElhenney. Her latest feature script, MALLWALKERS, won the NYWIFT/Ravenal Grant, and invitations to Cine Qua Non Lab and Stowe Story Lab, and a spot on the Wscripted List of Excellent Scripts at Cannes. Her pilot SKETCH was developed at the 2021 Athena Film Festival Television Writers Lab.
Previous work includes the pilot Frog Kissers, the web series The Happy Mommy Hustle, and the short, Changing Clothes. She has also written, directed and produced several promotional videos and EPKs as well as activist videos for the group Rise and Resist. Debra started and led a creative writing program for homeless adults at the Hoboken Shelter and led a creative writing workshop for “Prime Time” Women over sixty in Brooklyn, who helped inspire MALLWALKERS. Currently Debra teaches Screenwriting at Brooklyn College and Digital Video Production at Fordham University.
www.debrakirschner.com- The Tollbooth - Official Trailer
THE TOLLBOOTH comically explores a Jewish family from Brooklyn through the eyes of Sarabeth Cohen, a struggling painter in her first year out of art school. Sarabeth and her older sisters Becky and Raquel come of age and question the values of their traditional parents. The film was written, directed and produced by Debra Kirschner and stars Marla Sokoloff (The Practice), Rob McElhenney (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Idina Menzel (Frozen), Liz Stauber (Almost Famous), Jayce Bartok (Cake Eaters, White Collar), Ronald Guttman (Mad Men) and Tovah Feldshuh (Kissing Jessica Stein). To learn more, please see www.thetollboothmovie.com.