Lillie Gardner is an award-winning writer and director from Minnesota who tells stories about girls and women defying expectations. She’s especially passionate about creating animated preschool series that empower kids to love their own voices so they can grow up with the confidence to use them. Most recently, she’s written four episodes for Wondery’s kids podcast Whose Amazing Life?

Lillie is currently a 2025 Fellow in the Fred Rogers Productions Writers’ Neighborhood Program, a 2025 Fellow in the Hollywood Radio & Television Society Foundation Fellowship Program, and a series development mentee in Children’s Media Association’s 2025 Mentorship Program. She is also developing her first drama feature with the support of the 2025 Story Incubator Writing Lab.

As a screenwriter of both drama TV and animated kids scripts, Lillie has been Winner at Austin Film Festival of the Rooster Teeth Women & Animation Fellowship Award, Winner of Outstanding Drama Pitch at Catalyst Story Institute, and featured as a "Screenwriter to Watch" in MovieMaker Magazine. She’s also been a Top 3 Finalist in the Big Break Screenwriting Competition and a Finalist in ScreenCraft, Shore Scripts, BOLT, Roadmap, and other competitions. Lillie has received grants and scholarships for her screenwriting projects from Sundance Collab, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Next Step Fund, and Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy.

Lillie's heartfelt stories often explore how women wield femininity in a patriarchal world and how our belief systems can both help us and hurt us. She’s the creator and director of the Twin Cities-based comedy web series Vegan Please and the co-writer/co-director of phone-addiction horror short film You’ve Been Selected (in post-production). Inspired by her background as a classical pianist and piano instructor, Lillie’s kids series project Allegra Sparkle’s Guide to the Great Composers aims to teach a fun and inclusive history of classical music to the next generation—and normalize female genius along the way.  

Also a devoted writer of literary fiction and creative nonfiction, Lillie has been published in Quail Bell Magazine, Delmarva Review, Long River Review, and more. She serves on the essays reading panel for Hippocampus Magazine.

Lillie has taught writing classes at The Loft Literary Center, Minnesota Women in Film & Television, HippoCamp Conference for Creative Nonfiction, and more. She writes screenplay and novel coverage and does freelance writing and editing for a variety of mediums.

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Upcoming Classes & Events

September 17 - November 5, 2025: Screenwriting Workshop, The Loft Literary Center (Online Class)

October 4, 2025: Writing Dialogue that Speaks, Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference (Sauk Centre, MN)

December 6, 2025: Let’s Talk: Writing Dynamic Dialogue, The Loft Literary Center (Online Class)