Annie J. Howell grew up in Cave Creek, Arizona surrounded by country music. She is a screenwriter and director invested in stories about family, race and class. Howell wrote the original screenplay for LITTLE BOXES, starring Melanie Lynskey and the late Nelsan Ellis, which premiered at Tribeca 2016 and subsequently sold to Netflix. She has co-written and co-directed two features with Lisa Robinson: SMALL, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING PARTS (2012, starring Anna Margaret Hollyman) and CLAIRE IN MOTION (2017