Ashlei Shyne
Ashlei Shyne (she/her), is an LA-based comedy writer, actress, filmmaker, and activist hailing from Dayton, Ohio. Go Buckeyes! This actress–turned–filmmaker, is best-known in her starring role as Josephine Baker in the the Daytime Emmy winning sketch series “The Book of Queer” streaming on Max and Discovery +. As a writer, she is passionate about developing character-driven comedies centered around love, Black women, and the LGBTQ+ community. Ashlei is a alumni of Amy Aniobi’s (Executive Producer of HBO’s Emmy-nominated comedy, “Insecure”) 2021 Tribe Writers’ Fellowship. Over the years she’s honed her comedic timing, sketch writing, and improv performance at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, IO West and Second City LA. During her time studying improv. And, in 2017, she founded Rainbow Bright Comedy: a BIPOC LGBTQ+ improv troupe.
As an activist, Ashlei serves on the board of Still Bisexual. She has served on the Community Engagement Committee for the Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles and #Out4MentalHealth San Fernando Valley Task Force, as well as the 2018 and 2019 planning committee that brought the world’s first city-sponsored Bi Pride to the city of West Hollywood. Ashlei’s love for community and visibility has helped her create programs like Sacred Space: A Black LGBTQ+ Wellness Event, which centers around providing a safe space where Black LGBTQ+ members can receive healing from other Black LGBTQ+ wellness practitioners and Bi Visibility in Film, a one-day film festival that celebrates Bi+ stories and storytellers.
Ashlei's past time is spent traveling, Googling useless information, and tending to her forty-plus plant children.
“I create content for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists whose stories aren’t told authentically in comedy and mainstream media. I believe my writing will reach audiences from all walks of life, and the people of color who are often underrepresented will feel seen.”