Lee Ross is a multifaceted artist with a career spanning comedy, theater, film, teaching, and technology, now residing in Fairfield, IA. Began training at High School of Performing Arts in New York City and continued with theater studies at Carnegie Mellon and with two years of corporal movement training at the Jacques LeCoq International theatre program in Paris.

Ross began his career as a stand-up comic in New York City during the mid-1980s, performing at renowned comedy clubs like Catch a Rising Star, The Improv, and Dangerfield’s. He has headlined comedy shows in the US, Canada, and Australia, opening for acts such as The Supremes, Carlos Mencia, and Kathleen Madigan. His theatrical career includes touring internationally with Cirque du Soleil in their show Saltimbanco, where he performed as both the lead dramatic role and the lead clown mime. He is also a master storyteller who wrote and performed a one-man show called mind in the waters, which toured worldwide.

As a screenwriter and producer, Ross’s first feature film, Downloading Nancy, starred Maria Bello and Jason Patric and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was directed by Johan Renck, an Emmy winner for HBO’s Chernobyl. He followed this with a dark comedy, Benjamin Troubles, and has written and produced several award-winning short films, including the noir thriller Kill The Light. Recently, he executive produced three short films shot in Fairfield, Iowa.

Currently, Ross is focused on the technology side of the film industry with his startup, Aloud Studios. The company uses AI voices to convert screenplays into audio, allowing writers to hear their movies with different voices assigned to characters.

In addition to his performance and production work, Ross is a dedicated screenwriting teacher. His teaching process is described as hands-on, simple, and clear, combining authentic writing, spatial awareness, and industry strategy. He covers fundamentals like character development, dialogue, and structure with an emphasis on “less is more”. Testimonials from his students highlight his ability to inspire creativity, enforce the discipline of deadlines and rewriting, and honor the artist in each writer. He sometimes uses somatic techniques to motivate creativity and is known for creating a productive and encouraging environment for writers.