
Cory Finley
Directing
Biography
Cory Finley is a St. Louis-born, Brooklyn-based screenwriter, playwright, and director. Finley wrote and directed the black comedy film Thoroughbreds, a feature film adapted from his play of the same name which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2017. He also directed the true crime dramedy film Bad Education starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney, which premiered on HBO and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie in 2020. He is a member of the Obie-winning Youngblood playwrights group at Ensemble Studio Theater, has received a commission from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation for playwriting, and was the inaugural recipient of the Gurney Playwrights Fund for his play The Feast at The Flea Theater.
Known For

Inspired by actual events—and the love story at the center of it all. WeWork grew from a single coworking space into a global brand worth $47 billion in under a decade. Then, in less than a year, its valuation dropped $40 billion. What happened?
WeCrashed

A socially awkward tween endures the ruthless hierarchy at a water polo camp, his anxiety spiraling into psychological turmoil over the summer.
The Plague

Lily and Amanda, two high school students living in suburban Connecticut, rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of drifting apart. Together, they devise a plan to kill Lily's abusive stepfather by hiring a lowlife drug dealer.
Thoroughbreds

A superintendent of a school district works for the betterment of the student’s education when an embezzlement scheme is discovered, threatening to destroy everything.
Bad Education

Years into a benevolent alien occupation, mankind is still adjusting to its new overlords. Their technology initially held promise for global prosperity, but rendered most human jobs – and steady income – obsolete. When two teenagers discover the aliens are fascinated with human love and will pay for access to it, they decide to livestream their romance to make extra cash for their families.
Landscape with Invisible Hand

Fran likes to think about dying. It brings sensation to her quiet life. When she makes the new guy at work laugh, it leads to more: a date, a slice of pie, a conversation, a spark. The only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.
Sometimes I Think About Dying

Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm, a couple in rural Michigan, build a peaceful, pot-friendly utopia called Rainbow Farm. When the two run afoul of local authorities and their young son is taken from them, a standoff ensues leading to one of the largest and most dramatic sieges America has ever seen.
Burning Rainbow Farm

An anxious and ungainly teenage boy struggles against bullies, puberty, and his fears of mortality when his parents send him to a summer water polo camp.