Patrick O

Patrick O'Connor is a writer and director whose work spans narrative features and acclaimed documentaries. His first screenplay, ZOO, was purchased by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment/Universal Studios. Set to star an 11-year old Elijah Wood, sadly Spielberg never made the film.

His feature film credits include Ricochet River, produced by Gigi Pritzker, starring Academy Award nominee Kate Hudson in her first film. O'Connor also wrote and directed Sacred Hearts, which premiered at the Boston Film Festival.

O'Connor's debut documentary, The Invisible Patients, premiered nationally on PBS's America ReFramed in 2018 and screened at leading festivals, universities, and bio-ethics conferences across the country.

In 2021, he released Look Away, Look Away, chronicling the five-year battle that culminated in the removal of Mississippi's state flag. The film received the 2022 Erik Barnouw Award for Best Documentary from the Organization of American Historians.

His 2025 documentary, The Zebra & The Bear, follows a mother's extraordinary effort to fund a pioneering gene therapy for her daughter, who suffers from a fatal ultra-rare genetic disease.

He is currently in post-production on a new documentary about a 66-year old Irish ultra-endurance cyclist who set a Guinness World Record this past summer for the fastest to ride a bike the length of Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago.

A graduate of Santa Clara University, O'Connor earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas. He lives in Pass Christian, MS with his wife, the writer Margaret McMullan.