Before the big move, Penny had 20 years of experience as a playwright, screenwriter, and advertising copywriter. She is the author of the stage play now then again, which premiered in Chicago, won a Joseph Jefferson Citation for "Best New Work" and was published by Broadway Play Publishing. Her screenplay adaptation, titled Love is Brilliant, won the Sloan Award at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. Penny is the author of numerous other screenplays. Her short film script, One in a Million, starring Carrie Coon, was produced with Fulton Market Films. She has received stage productions, workshops, and commissions from theaters such as Portland Center Stage, Milwaukee Repertory, Theater Wit, Shakespeare's Motley Crew, Bailiwick Repertory, Stage Left Theatre, The Old Globe, and Lookingglass Theatre. Penny is a former Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at Northwestern University. She has written articles on screenwriting for MovieMaker Magazine and lectured internationally on dialogue writing technique. Her book Talk the Talk: A Dialogue Workshop for Scriptwriters was published by MWP Books.
As an advertising copywriter, Penny has written national television, radio, and print ads for brands such as: Huffy Bicycles, Red Lobster Restaurants, Clearasil, Metamucil, Hardee’s, Kemper Financial Services, Hoover, Ameritech, and The League of Chicago Theaters. In addition to her produced advertisements, she has participated in market research and identity development for brands such as Chex Cereal, Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Coast Soap, Old Spice, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Head and Shoulders Shampoo, and Purina.
Penny has developed corporate communication pieces for clients such as The Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University Hospitals, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA Paper), Trane Air-Conditioning Systems, Mimic Technologies, and The Lab School of Chicago. In 2004, her television campaign for the League of Chicago Theaters won a Summit Creative Award.
Production, in all its forms, has been a thread through Penny's entire career. As a playwright, she's collaborated with directors and designers on the technical elements of live theater. As an advertising copywriter, she's been a creative voice on commercial production sets and had a lead role in casting, director selection, voice over sessions, sound design, and post production. As the owner of her own creative-content company, she acted as a producer (and sometimes a director) of projects. Working in vfx, she has brought all of those skills into the virtual world.