Born and raised in Tennessee, Teresa Simone is an emerging filmmaker. A lifelong fan of film and the performing arts, Simone distinguished herself in her youth as a director and actress with the company Stories That Soar, where she created original works based on children's stories to promote literacy in her community. She later earned a Bachelor's degree in German Studies, followed by a Master's degree in Gender Studies with an emphasis on the Performing Arts from the University of Arizona. She received her PhD in Theater from Florida State University, where she began working as a research fellow. After specializing in Physical Theater and performance creation, she began teaching at the University of Mississippi until she temporarily left this position to focus on making her first feature film, "Desire" (2026), starring Ludwika Paleta, José María Yazpik, and Óscar Casas.