About

Armenian-American Writer/ Director/Producer Michelle Peerali is fueled by the desire to tell and capture stories often unseen and unheard with a uniquely poetic eye. Michelle received her BA from UC Berkeley and her MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She began her career in Television on the hit sitcom, Friends, assisting and shadowing Showrunner/Director, Kevin Bright. Some of her past work in Television includes DP/Co-Directing Citizen Rose for E!, Co-Creating/Directing hit YA Original Series for Snapchat called Endless Summer, which is the highest viewed show on the platform, and most recently Co-Executive Producing / Directing Paris Hilton’s docuseries for Peacock TV, Paris In Love. Michelle also Directed and Produced the award-winning LGBTQIA+ comedic short film, Candis For President, starring the iconic Candis Cayne, which screened in Outfest, Toronto’s Inside Out Festival, NewFilmmakers’ LA Best of 2021, and went on to win Best Comedy Short in Boston’s Wicker Queer and the Audience Award at Seattle Queer Film Festival. Michelle also Co-Directed and Produced award-winning fashion and design documentary film, Interior Motives, which screened at LA Frieze 2020, Tribeca Film Center, Palm Springs Modernism Week, the DocNow Plus platform, and went on to win Best Short Documentary at the 2019 Berlin Short Film Festival, and the 2018 IFS Los Angeles Film Festival. In 2021, Interior Motives was inducted into the Rhode Island School of Design’s (RISD) film collection library. Outside of Television and Film, Michelle has Directed several music videos and brand films, shown video installations at the NY MOMA, and was a Featured Director in Smashbox Studios’ FACEOFF Competition, going on to win The People's Choice Award for best video. Throughout the years she has also written for and contributed to international editorial publications such as SOMA Magazine, Paper Magazine, Riposte Magazine, and A Shaded View on Fashion. Michelle’s love of design and culture lead her to become the Artistic Director on the founding team of Eaton Workshop, an Asian American woman founded company with local and global BIPOC leadership, where hospitality meets human progress. This past spring, Michelle Directed and Produced a very special coming-of-age independent pilot called, How Not To Be A Junkie, that explores issues related to addiction, LGBTQIA+ identity, and trauma, which she is currently developing into an episodic series. Michelle is Co-Founder of Hi Mom Productions where she is developing both narrative and unscripted projects for Television and Film.