Francine Daniels

ACTOR / WRITER/producer

ACTOR

A cultural stew of “da” Boogie Down South Bronx, Panamanian, and St. Lucian roots, Francine Daniels is a Black, queer, disabled writer and actor in no particular identity order. Oh, and she wears glasses too!

Her love affair with writing and acting was born out of reading 15 books a week as a kid and being enthralled by Broadway theatre. Her edgy and irreverent storytelling is often inspired by her own twisted family dynamics. She revels in writing about unconventional, uncensored, and morally flawed women, who don’t look and live like stereotypes. 

Francine’s creative mojo is fueled by travel. So far she’s been to 25 states in the US, lived in six, and visited 30 cities around the world from Paris, Cinque Terre to Oaxaca. She’s also worked as a journalist, homeless counselor, accidental social justice activist in the nonprofit sector, and legal contractor at NASA. 

Her childhood nerdiness paid off as she holds a J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law, M.A., Black Studies and M.A., Women’s Studies both from The Ohio State University (thankfully with full scholarships), and B.A., Liberal Arts, West Virginia University.

Francine has booked 34+ productions, working in mediums from TV, film, stage, voice over, commercials, print ads, industrials, web series, and sketch comedy. 

In 2024, she can also be seen as an uptight government official in the horror feature Mama Bear.

Francine co-starred as real estate agent Ava in AMC+’s ALLBLK hit show LACE in Season 2, Episode 5: “Seize Your Crown.”

She has appeared in Joss Whedon's short film "Unlocked", two national commercials for "Overstock.com": Oscar La Vista and Chris P. Bacon, Lifetime's "My Crazy Ex", and in indie and short films, "Darkroom," "Truth Be Told," "What's Your Number?," "Where Branches Break," "Paradise" and "Breathe." 

Francine has also worked in videos and sketch comedy shorts with a combined 2+ million views on You Tube and Facebook, including "If Natural Hair Were A Cult," "Parent in A Box," and the web series, "Riding in Cars with Girls".

Stage credits include, a regional production of the Tony-Award winning comedy "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" (Cassandra), Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore Award-winning "Sticky Fingers" (Beverly), "Captive" (Marla Kruse) and "A Raisin in the Sun" (Beneatha Younger) and in the critically acclaimed "Every 28 Hours Plays" (Michon). 

Her voice over work includes two national radio PSA’s for PETA's Holiday Campaign and Valentine's Day Campaign.

Francine was awarded an Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Improv Diversity Scholarship and a Film Independent: Project Involve Fellowship.

WRITER & PRODUCER

In 2024, the California Wellness Foundation and Hedgebrook awarded her a creative fellowship to support the goals of a woman writer living in California.

In the Summer of 2023, she was selected as a TV writing fellow for RespectAbility’s Entertainment Lab.

Francine was selected as a “Writer in Residence” at the prestigious Hedgebrook Writers Residency for Women in Spring 2023 for her TV series IN GOD WE GAY.

New Roots Residency, a Queer Artist Residency at Walhalla Farm also chose IN GOD WE GAY as a finalist in 2023.

And in November 2022, IN GOD WE GAY was awarded a fellowship for The Writers Lab. The lab is supported by Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Oprah Winfrey.

She was a top eight finalist for Kevin Hart’s Women Write Now Fellowship for her short comedy script VIRGIN HONEYMOON in July 2022.

Francine was also one of four writers invited to participate in Mara Brock Akil's Writers' Colony for IN GOD WE GAY and SKIN-KIN in Spring 2022.

The series was also a finalist for Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab placing in the top 25 out of 1,500+ scripts.

Francine is also a recipient of The Disruptors Fellowship for TV writers of color for her series' MOSAIC BLUES and SKIN-KIN.

MOSAIC BLUES was a Stowe Story Labs Fall Narrative Lab Selected Project and she received a scholarship to participate in the Stowe Story Labs Writer’s Retreat for her 1/2 hour dramedy SKIN-KIN, inspired by her life.

MOSAIC BLUES was also selected for the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College Virtual Writers Lab, co-hosted by the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting, a creative development workshop for emerging women writers.

Additionally, MOSAIC BLUES was a WE Screenplay Diverse Voices Screenwriting Lab semifinalist and a ISA International Screenwriting Fellowship semifinalist for the Stowe Lab. It also placed as a Quarter-Finalist for the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship.

She served as a director, producer and casting director for the stage production Homeward LA, a city-wide event, focused on raising awareness about the homeless crisis in Los Angeles.

Francine wrote, produced, directed and performed in a scene from MOSAIC BLUES as part of Broken Barriers’ New Normal Reading Series sponsored by The Black List, Final Draft and The Latino Filmmakers Network.

She executive produced, wrote, starred in, and cast the short film SOULS OF MY FEET for the 5 Day Easterseales Disability Film Challenge to raise awareness about invisible disabilities. The theme of the Challenge was “superheroes.”

Under her government name as a social justice activist, she created and executive produced season one of the 8 week live digital series, CLIMATE CURIOUS reaching audiences in 46 countries. 

She resides in Los Angeles with her two spoiled and beloved pups.

Theatrical and commercial representation by Jana Luker Agency. 

Lit representation by Brandy Rivers and Stephen Crawford, Industry Entertainment.

Ryan Goodell, Morris Yorn Entertainment Law Firm.