MARY LOU BELLI is an Emmy Award winner producer, writer, and director. This season she directed “Monk” starring Emmy award winner Tony Shalhoub and “The Wizards of Waverly Place” on the Disney Channel. Last season she directed “The Game,” the spinoff to “Girlfriends” on the CW which she directed for 7 consecutive seasons. She directed the pilot of  the Web series 3Way, winner of 2 Logo awards and The AfterEllen.com 2008 Visibility Awards.  With over 100 episodes to her credit, Mary Lou directed "Living with Fran" starring Fran Drescher, "Misconceptions" starring Jane Leeves, and "Eve" starring hip hop artist Eve, as well as  “The Hughleys,” “Charles in Charge," "Major Dad," and “Sister, Sister.” Mary Lou received BET nominations for directing "Girlfriends" and "One on One” as well as a Prism Award for "Girlfriends." After receiving a BA in theatre from Penn State, Mary Lou acted in musical theatre and soaps in New York, followed by a Los Angeles career producing and directing theatre with over 75 play productions to her credit. Among the awards she holds the dearest is her citation from the late Mayor Tom Bradley for her work with abused children.  She lectures frequently throughout the United States including many universities such as AFI, NYU, Northwestern, and UConn.  She is the co-author of two books: “The Sitcom Career Book.” and "Acting for Young Actors" and is the head of the Education Advisory Committee for 3 Minute Highschool.com. She has been served as judge and/or guest speaker for four consecutive years for the CSU Media Arts Fest, a judge for the Miss America Outstanding Teen Pageant, a lecturer at the Chautauqua Institute, and a panelist for Women In Film, the DGA, SAG, and AFTRA. She’s judged and lectured at for the California Independent Film Festival for the last 2 years and been a guest artist at the International Thespian Festival for secondary school theatre attended by thousands of teens and high school theatre teachers. Each summer Mary Lou teaches Acting for the Camera classes the U.S. Performing Arts Camps. Last fall, she judged the Sapporo Short Film Festival to Japan. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two teenage children….all actors!