When Stéphanie Kalfon came across a screenplay by pure chance as a teenager, the day changed her life. "Everything suddenly made perfect sense, whereas school just seemed to leave me confused", she says. Buoyed by this revelation, she continued to write, as she had done religiously since the age of six; take courses in theatre; and finally discovered that cinema combined all her passions – acting, film and stories. Despite her determination, she quickly realised that she would not be accepted into traditional schools and would have to take up the challenge alone. A masters degree in philosophy and postgraduate film director degree later, she self-financed the production of a short film to make sure that she was on the right track. "That first day standing on the film set, I finally felt free and completely at home", she recalls. It was while writing a new screenplay that she met Tonie Marshall and began working with her on a TV series project. "I put all my energy into keeping up and rising to the challenges she gave me one by one", she continues. From that point on, Stéphanie ensured that a pen was her constant companion, always on the look-out for the smallest idea. She even started writing a project that was closer to her heart – Fille de psy, a comical story of a psychiatrist’s daughter whose house is taken over by her mother as a consulting-room. Although based on experience, it is not an autobiography in any way. Stéphanie’s imagination is far too vivid for simple “faction” after all, and her weakness for Woody Allen is so great that she likes to laugh about it. So what does she do when she’s not writing for TV or the cinema? Song lyrics, of course.

Age: 28 I Passions: Cinema, TV, theatre, music, films I Philosophy in life: Always see the funny side of things I Goals: To always have a story to tell I Favourite TV series: Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Six feet under and Weeds.