Pat Cavanaugh is a writer/producer/occasional music person who lives in Chicago, IL. Pat was born in La Grange, raised in Wheaton, and educated in Bloomington, IL before moving to Chicago. Pat studied English Writing and Political Science at Illinois Wesleyan University, contributing to the literary journal there and editing for The Argus campus newspaper.

After undergrad, Pat continued to write fiction, but also began to dabble in writing for performance. Pat adapted some original short stories into scripts, took some screenwriting classes at Second City and iO Chicago, and then got bored of writing works without producing them.

With some close friends, Pat wrote, produced, and did music for the web series Dear Dark Lord, which has won audience awards at multiple film festivals. With the success of Dear Dark Lord, Pat decided to pursue screenwriting more seriously.

Recently, Pat finished an MFA in Writing for the Screen + Stage at Northwestern University. There, Pat developed many new scripts with teachers like Jeb Stuart (writer of Die Hard and The Fugitive) and Stephen Cone (filmmaker of Princess Syd). Pat also had the privilege of teaching a course on the foundations of screenwriting. Pat’s open to both teaching and writing positions, if you have them!

Pat also has performed improv and sketch comedy in Chicago – which is a requirement for living in the city. Pat performed with the improv group Chunky Puppies at theaters around Chicago, including that one Second City place people seem to like.