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We help kids in trouble turn their lives around
Create Now! changes the lives of high-risk and at-risk youth through creative arts mentoring, resources and opportunities.
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Home >> About Us >> Board/Staff >> Jill Gurr, Founder/Executive Director
Jill Gurr
Founder and Executive Director
Screenwriter and Script Supervisor
Jill Gurr graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree
in Broadcasting and Film. She's traveled extensively around the
world and is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. She was the
Public Access TV Coordinator for Theta Cable Television (now Time-Warner)
and worked as an assistant to producers at Twentieth Century-Fox
Studios and for several reputable agencies in Los Angeles.
Subsequently, Jill was the assistant to the V.P., Creative Affairs at Paramount Studios. In this capacity, she was also responsible for covering scripts as a story analyst. She's worked as a Script Supervisor (Continuity) on award-winning international feature, television and commercial productions with name actors and directors.
As a Screenwriter, two of her scripts were produced: Rigged was adapted from a novel by James Hadley Chase and stars George Kennedy, distribution by Kodiak Films. Socrates was a PBS pilot for "The Immortals" series and stars Ed Asner. In addition, Jill wrote additional dialogue on Yellow Hair and the Pecos Kid for Crown Pictures. Several of her original screenplays have been optioned.
In 1993, Jill initiated screenwriting workshops at two Los Angeles youth detention centers. She assisted the high-risk teens involved in the programs in creating two unique feature-film screenplays that reflected the reality of their lives. When the workshops were completed, not only did the scripts get optioned but several of the youths who had been illiterate had suddenly learned how to read and write. Others had gang tattoos removed and wanted to return to school or attend college. Due to the positive responses of these youths and the amazing transformations they went through, Jill was inspired to develop Create Now! as a nonprofit organization in 1996. The organization has been assisting thousands of high-risk and at-risk children and youth ever since.