Jill Soloway

Jill Soloway (born September 26, 1965) is an American comedian, playwright, writer and director. They won the Best Director award at the Sundance Film Festival for directing and writing the film Afternoon Delight. They are also known for their work on Six Feet Under and for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series Transparent, for which they won two Emmys.

Soloway was born in Chicago, Illinois, to public relations consultant, coach and writer, Elaine Soloway, and psychiatrist Dr. Harry J. Soloway, who grew up in London. Around 2011, Dr. Soloway came out as transgender.

Soloway's elder sister, Faith, is a Boston-based musician and performer with whom they sometimes collaborates. They both attended Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago. Their family is Jewish.

They graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a communications arts major.

Soloway's mother was formerly a press aide to Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne and was a former communications director for School Superintendent Ruth Love. After 30 years, Soloway's parents divorced. Soloway has a stepfather named Tommy Madison.

While at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Soloway was a film and television student of JJ Murphy and participated in the creation of an undergraduate experimental narrative film entitled Ring of Fire as the assistant director under director Anita Katzman. After college they worked as a production assistant in commercials and music videos in Chicago, as well as at Kartemquin Films on the movie Hoop Dreams.