Grayson Taylor

Grayson Taylor is an author, filmmaker, and composer from New York City. After writing his first full-length novel when he was seven, he authored over half a dozen action-adventure, sci-fi, mystery, and dystopian novels. He has also written and directed several films. As a professional actor, he has performed in principal roles on Broad City (Oliver, the "Yas Kween" boy of the viral GIF), Blue Bloods, Billions, Team Umizoomi, numerous commercials and voiceovers, Mothers and Sons on Broadway starring Tyne Daly, and the Radio City Spring Spectacular, and has had multiple appearances on The Colbert Report and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He is the recipient of a 2021 Scholastic Gold Key for Novel Writing, a 2023 Gold Key for Filmmaking, and two 2023 Silver Keys for Novel Writing. He is the creator of the Taylorverse and the founder of Taylorfilms and Winter Forest Press.

Published Writing

Novels

Ice Lords (2015)
Future (2016)
Fallen Nation (2017)
Fallen Nation: Uprising (2018)
Fallen Nation: Downfall (2019)
Dark Waters (co-written with Ella Taylor) (2020)

Short Stories and Novellas

Short Stories Collection 1 (2014 - 2015)
Short Stories Collection 2 (2015 - 2019)
A Rogue Game (2021)
The Gemina Journals Vol. 1 (2021)
Tales from Enigma Island Vol. 1 (2022)

Released Films

Released Music

Singles

Albums

The Nature of Reality (Soundtrack) (2019)
Last Words (Soundtrack) (2022)

Acting

Grayson Taylor acted for more than a decade before retiring from the business in 2022.

Theater

Mothers and Sons (Broadway)
Mothers and Sons (pre-Broadway)
New York Spring Spectacular
On Borrowed Time (reading)
Snow Day
Petie
Eye of God (reading)
The Memory of Damage (reading)

Television

Broad City (ep. 208 and 408)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (multiple)
Royal Pains (ep. 708, 801, 802)
Inside Amy Schumer (Season 4)
Blue Bloods (ep. 403)
The Colbert Report (multiple)
Billions (ep. 107)
Team Umizoomi (ep. 316)
Playful Parent PSA (Nickelodeon)

Film

Who Framed Tommy Callahan? (feature)
Montana (short)
Falling (short)
40 Nickels (short)
Bloodflowers (short)

Voiceover/Animation

Crossbones (ep. 103 and 109)
The Michael J. Fox Show (ep. 112)
Bing Bunny (demo pilot)
"It's a Small World" (Disney app)
"Mo on the Go" with Mo Willems (Disney app)

Commercials

Multiple

Taylorverse Films

Awards

Nominations

Best Play - Mothers and Sons (Tony and Drama League, 2014)
Best Featured Actor in a Play - Mothers and Sons (BroadwayWorld.com, 2014)
Best Youth Film - The Nature of Reality (Astoria Film Festival, 2021)

Wins

Gold Key for Novel Writing - The Fallen Nation Trilogy (Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, 2021)
Silver Key for Novel Writing - A Rogue Game (Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, 2023)
Silver Key for Novel Writing - The Gemina Journals (Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, 2023)
Gold Key for Filmmaking - Last Words (Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, 2023)
Best Youth Drama Short - Last Words (Astoria Film Festival, 2023)

Press

Grayson Taylor, one of the best child actors that your reviewers have seen on a New York stage, more than holds his own amongst this roster of damaged characters as an open, affectionate, and enthusiastic Petie. – CultureCatch

For his part, young Taylor is not only letter perfect but pitch perfect as a boy who loves his two dads but wishes he had a grandmother to add to them. – Huffington Post by David Finkle

As Bud, Taylor is a real find who brings delightful levity to a room where the memories of a lost generation looms heavily. – Theatremania

And rounding out the cast is precocious youngster Grayson Taylor, who is so endearing. – Perez Reviews

That child, incidentally, is Bud, played effusively by Grayson Taylor, whose innocence and frankness overwhelm Katharine, and help to defuse an otherwise tense afternoon. – NBC New York by Robert Kahn

As the couple's son, Taylor is appropriately adorable... Taylor is in one of the most touching scenes in the play. Bud asks Katharine if he'll be his grandma, since he does not have one. Together, they can be one happy family, he says. – Asbury Park Press, New Jersey

It's then that the boy, played well by Grayson Taylor, pipes up and reveals that he might be the most honest one of the bunch. – Associated Press, Wall Street Journal

Her exchanges with Grayson Taylor's wide-eyed Bud—who, of course, bonds with Katharine instantly, both charming and further unsettling the adults—are genuinely disarming. – USA Today by Elysa Gardener

...impossibly cute little Bud Ogden-Porter (Grayson Taylor). – Variety by Marilyn Stasio

And finally there is Bud, the 6-year-old son of Cal and Will... For Bud, having two dads is no different than not having a grandmother, as he charmingly explains to Katharine when trying to persuade her to assume that role in his life. – Huffington Post

Petie... [is] lovingly rendered by a first rate Grayson Taylor as an adorably perfect kid. – Broadway World