Stella Velon

Stella Velon is an actress, writer, and director who works in both English and French-language films. She made her directorial debut with the psychological drama The Critic, which she wrote and starred in as the female lead, and which earned her multiple award nominations and wins,  including in Amazon Studios' inaugural All Voices Film Festival.

She was nominated for a Webby Award for Best Individual Performance for her role in The Critic.

Career
While in drama school, Velon worked as a professional model appearing in various ads and commercials such as  Calvin Klein, Oribe, and others.

She also made appearances on television shows and films such as Gossip Girl (alongside Sam Page and Blake Lively) and starred in independent productions such as Shutterbug, short films and music videos.

Velon co-founded her production company The Punk Floyd Company with former fashion and beauty photography agent Jean Gabriel Kauss (president of JGK Inc.). Their inaugural production was the short psychological drama The Critic written, directed, co-produced and starring Stella Velon opposite Alan Smyth as the two leads.

Velon filmed The Critic over the course of two consecutive days in one location in Los Angeles, California. The film deals with topics ranging from impostor syndrome, mental health, and substance abuse, to artists' and women’s place in Hollywood.

She was named Best Director at the 2018 UK Film Review Awards. She was also nominated for Best Individual Performance at the 2020 Webby Awards for her work in the film. She won the Best Short Film award at Method Fest Independent Film Festival for the film and was runner-up for the Women in Film award at the Kinofilm Manchester International Short Film Festival.