Lynn Shelton Dies: ‘Humpday’ And ‘Your Sister’s Sister’ Director Was 54

Lynn Shelton, a director, writer and producer known for her work on Humpday and more recently the miniseries Little Fires Everywhere, died Friday in Los Angeles, a rep for Shelton told Deadline. She was 54.

Shelton passed away from complications of a previously unidentified blood disorder, her rep said.

The Hollywood veteran was a leading voice of the new American independent cinema movement of the 2000s, employing her signature style to award-winning films, including Your Sister’s Sister (2011), Outside In (2017) and last year’s Sword of Trust.

Her television directing credits included Mad Men, Glow, The Morning Show, Fresh Off the Boat, and as previously mentioned, Little Fires Everywhere, from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street and ABC Signature Studios, which premiered on Hulu in March.

Shelton was born August 27, 1965 in Oberlin, Ohio and grew up in Seattle. After high school, she attended Oberlin College in Ohio and the University of Washington School of Drama. She moved to New York and pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography and related media at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

She didn’t begin making films until her mid-30’s. After hearing French director Claire Denis speak at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum in 2003, and revealing she was 40 when she directed her first feature film, Shelton realized she still had plenty of time.

She went back and wrote and directed eight feature films over 14 years, including We Go Way Back, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2006, and My Effortless Brilliance, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2008 and led to Shelton winning the Independent Spirit “Someone to Watch” Award.

Next would come Humpday, which changed Shelton’s life after it premiered in 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival. Starring Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore and Shelton’s frequent collaborator Mark Duplass, the film was acquired by Magnolia Pictures for distribution and became a cultural touchstone for its depiction of male sexuality thru a female lens. The film received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award in 2010.

Shelton is survived by her son Milo Seal, her husband of many years, Kevin Seal, her parents Wendy & Alan Roedell and David “Mac” Shelton & Frauke Rynd. She is also survived by her brothers David Shelton, Robert Rynd and sister Tanya Rynd, as well as Marc Maron, with whom she spent the last year of her life.

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