ABOUT NEAL
Neal Hemphill is a long-time actor who is now a director, screenwriter, and producer. He has worked in Hollywood and independent features, television, and short films. In addition, he’s worked on stage in 33 states and 3 foreign countries.
Neal grew up in Pittsburgh where he was the 4th generation on his father’s side to work in the steel mill in Tarentum, PA. A high school footballer, he went on to Penn State where he acted in mainstage productions throughout his four years there.
After a year in Denver, he returned to Pittsburgh where he acted in numerous stage productions - including his regional theatre debut at the Pittsburgh Public Theater - as well a few films and industrials as he geared up to head to New York City.
Studying at HB Studio, Neal began working off-off-Broadway, which led him to producing himself in Wallace Shawn’s solo show, “The Fever.” Neal was the first actor granted rights to the play after Shawn stopped performing it himself.
Doing avant-garde theatre work led in a roundabout way to securing an agent, and in no time Neal found himself doing a National Tour as Officer Krupke in “West Side Story,” a career change of epic proportions. Upon returning, Neal began booking film and tv roles, and more theatre. Later, he had the distinct pleasure of reprising the Krupke role at the magnificent La Scala Opera House in Milan.
In addition to acting, Neal has added the role of filmmaker to his pursuits by learning the skills of screenwriting, directing, and producing at The Independent Film School. To date, he’s produced 6 short films, 5 of which he both directed and wrote, while acting in three of them. He was also associate producer on a feature film that has played in over 40 film festivals.
Numerous projects are in various stages of development, and he has plans to get behind a camera for a couple more short films in 2022.