Tessa Slovis is a director and actor based in LA and New York. Her career began in front of the camera and on stage, appearing off- Broadway and regionally at Playwrights Horizons, The Flea Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Berkshire Theatre Group and others. She has recurred and guested on Grey’s Anatomy, The Walking Dead, Law and Order SVU, New Amsterdam and Cooper Raiff’s SXSW winning feature Shithouse.
After graduating with an MFA in Acting from USC, she began self generating work and building a vibrant career behind the camera. Her Directorial Debut, Pizza Party, a magic realist retelling of the night before the Larry Nassar trials began, garnered her international and Academy qualifying festival attention. Pizza Party screened at 24 festivals over the course of one year.
Her subsequent film Falsies was nominated for best short at the Tallgrass Film Festival and Montclair Film Festival. She is currently in the festival circuit for her latest film, Aisles.
She is attached to direct Teen comedy, False Profits, penned by Madeline Mahoney. As well as the upcoming short Hunger Pains, a women-led revenge western written by award winning playwright Matilda Corley Schulman. Tessa has brought her directing talents to the stage, directing Luis Alfaro’s Mojada, at California State University Los Angeles, as well as traveling with actress Jen Ponton, directing her solo show, Sugarcoated at the Denver Fringe Festival and Off-Broadway at The Flea Theatre.
She is a 2026 STARZ X Alliance of Women Directors, Creative Leadership fellow and is currently in the 2026-2028 class of the DISNEY Entertainment Directing Program where she is slated to shadow and direct on HIGH POTENTIAL for ABC.