Shem Studied acting at New York's High School of Performing Arts and Juilliard and got an MFA in playwriting from The University of Iowa. Sensitive Skin is his 19th produced play. Notable others include The Job at Circus Theatricals which won the LA Times Critic's Circle Award for Best New Play, transferred to off-Broadway, and was published by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus; The Circle at Circus Theatricals in LA, a 2005 Pen/West Finalist; Ten Below at the WPA, starring Kevin Conway and Anthony Edwards, winner of the National Play Award; Peephole at Geva, winner of the Davie Award; Night-Side, a one-woman show at Actor's Theatre of Louisville starring Pamela Gien; The Ramp at South Coast Rep, winner of the Californian Playwright's Competition; Beijing Legends at the Pacific Jewish Theatre, winner of the Fund For New American Plays; Self Storage at the Odyssey; and Iowa Boys at The Actor's Studio, winner of the CBS/FDG New Plays Award. Produced films include: Lenexa, 1 Mile, starring Paul Wesley, Jason Ritter, Chris Klein, and William Baldwin; Peephole, directed by Shem; "Out of the Rain" starring Bridget Fonda; Off the Lip starring Marguerite Moreau; Tinsletown starring Joe Pantoliano and Ron Perlman; and Open House starring Jason Wiles. Shem has developed and acted in plays at The Mark Taper Forum, Sundance, the Midwest Playlabs, and Steppenwolf, and has written films for Warner Brothers, Dreamworks, Disney, and many independent film companies. He has taught screenwriting, playwriting, and acting in the Californian Prisons and in Beijing, China.