Chilly fun in Fargo!

Just back from a wonderful weekend at Fargo Film Festival, which is - as you may have guessed - in Fargo, North Dakota. (You betcha!) Everyone involved with this festival is absolutely lovely, and I had a great time. It certainly didn't hurt that Fargo Theatre is gorgeous! A beautifully restored historic venue, and one of the prettiest we've had the pleasure to screen in.

Perfect venue.

And then of course there was the fact that it SNOWED! As someone who grew up on the East Coast, the lack of snow in LA is always a bit of a disappointment. So I took advantage :)

New besties.

Overall a lovely weekend! Thank you Fargo Film Fest for having me! It was an honor to share Girl Meets Roach with you.

Imbroglio Meets Girl Meets Roach

This was a very exciting weekend for King Fish Productions, because BOTH of our short films screened at the same festival! Imbroglio and Girl Meets Roach were both Official Selections of the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, right here in good old Los Angeles at the Regal Cinemas LA Live. And Imbroglio was even awarded Best Action Short Film!

Since the festival was local, we were lucky enough to have a bunch of our cast and crew in attendance. Here's the Girl Meets Roach gang:

Editor, composer, actress, director, writer/producer/actress, and actor. Oh my!

Both films have screened at a number of festivals by now, but this is the first time we've been able to appear at the same one, so it really felt like something special. Many thanks to HRIFF for making this happen!

Awards update!

Fun news from Copa Shorts Film Fest! While I unfortunately wasn't able to attend this festival in person, I heard today that Girl Meets Roach was awarded Best Comedy by the jury, and was also screened in the Best Of Fest screening block on the final night of the festival.

As you can see we're pretty happy about it!

We wish we could have been there! Thank you Copa Shorts! We are honored, and so glad you enjoyed our film.

NewFilmmakers NY / Happy Holidays

Girl Meets Roach had a great screening at NewFilmmakers NY this week, part of a holiday-themed evening of short films. It was a real honor to screen at Anthology Film Archive in Manhattan. The building is so beautiful, and has so much history. And for me it was especially fun because screening in New York meant that a bunch of my family members were able to attend. It was the perfect way to close out 2017. More festivals coming up early in the new year!

Happy Holidays to everyone, and best wishes for a healthy and productive 2018.

Oh, Canada

Hello from Toronto! I'm here for the ReelHeART International Film Festival, which is taking place all this week. The festival kicked off Monday night. There are people here from all over the world, and everyone is super-friendly, so it's been easy to make new friends. Last night, since it was the 4th of July, the evening party was a festive BBQ on a rooftop patio downtown, with ridiculously pretty views of the city skyline.

Not too shabby.

The films I've seen so far have been fascinating, and the weather has been beyond gorgeous, so I had to steal some time today to wander around and soak up the sun...and when I happened to walk past Tot the Cat Cafe, well, it seemed like the right thing to do to go in and say hello to some furry friends.

My new BFF.

Tonight Girl Meets Roach is screening as part of a "Girl Stuff" block at the Carlton Cinema in downtown Toronto, before an Irish feature called The Randomer. I've had the pleasure of meeting the producer and lead actress of The Randomer, who are both lovely, so I'm really looking forward to that one. Here's hoping everyone enjoys Girl Meets Roach!

Exciting news from Threadbare Mitten!

It all happened so quickly I didn't even have the chance to post about it, but Girl Meets Roach was accepted into the first annual Threadbare Mitten Film Festival in Charlotte, Michigan, which took place this past weekend. I was really happy about being part of this festival, because they were looking for quirky, unique films - which meant Girl Meets Roach was a great fit.

We unfortunately weren't able to attend the festival, so I didn't find out at the time, but I learned today that Girl Meets Roach won the People Pleaser Audience Award! It's the only Audience Award available to non-Michigan productions, so we're very honored to have received it, and so happy that the audience enjoyed our film so much.

We pleased the people!

Many thanks to the festival organizers and the audience at Threadbare Mitten! Next stop, Toronto!

Festival Updates!

Our festival run continues! This July, Girl Meets Roach will be screening at two different festivals - the ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto, and the New Hope Film Festival in Pennsylvania. I'm so looking forward to both of these festivals. I was born in Toronto (yay dual citizenship) so it's going to be such a treat to bring Girl Meets Roach to my native city. And New Hope is the coolest town - I used to visit there while growing up in New Jersey, and it's such a fun, artistic area.

Good times ahead!! Stay tuned for more details as they come in.

Farewell GSFF!

We had a really nice time at the Garden State Film Festival this past weekend. Christopher and I were beyond thrilled to have so many members of our family there to support us - our parents, our brother, a bunch of aunts and uncles and cousins. Our screening was in a beautiful event space at the Resorts Casino Hotel, and watching Girl Meets Roach with an audience was even more fun this time, since I'd gotten over the first-screening nerves.

A bunch of different groups of people approached us after the screening, to tell us how much they loved the film and how it made them laugh - one girl said it actually made her cry! And over the course of the weekend, other audience members who recognized me (a perk of being the lead in your own movie, I suppose) kept introducing themselves and saying how much they enjoyed Girl Meets Roach. Between that and the dance parties each night, it was a really fun time.

The best part of the weekend, though, was getting to share it with my family. The hardest part about living out in LA is being so far away from most of them. It's always a good time when we get to spend time together!

The Siblings Zatta

New Jersey bound!

It seems like we were just up at SLOIFF, but it's already time for our next festival - this time, Garden State Film Festival in Atlantic City, NJ! We can't wait to have our East Coast Premiere in our home state, not least because we have a lot of family coming to the screening. New Jersey here we come!

After SLOIFF

We got back from San Luis Obispo a few days ago, but I'm still smiling about what a great time I had. San Luis Obispo International Film Festival was the World Premiere of Girl Meets Roach, and I'm pretty sure having this as our first festival experience has spoiled me a bit - it's certainly set the bar high! From the personal festival concierge, to the amazing swag bag filled with local goodies, to the filmmaker tent with social gatherings every night, Wendy and Nancy and the rest of the team at SLOIFF went above and beyond to make us feel welcomed. I was a little nervous to head up to the Festival by myself on Wednesday (the rest of the Girl Meets Roach group couldn't join me until the weekend), but from the moment my train pulled into the local station and my concierge Amy was waiting to meet me, I knew I was in good hands. The first people I met at festival headquarters quickly turned into awesome new friends, and from there, my days were filled with excellent films and excellent people. (And excellent wine!)

Obligatory selfie with my badge.

Our two screenings for Girl Meets Roach were so much fun - it's hard to describe the feeling of watching the film with an audience for the first time, but it was a mix of elation and terror. The audiences really seemed to enjoy the film, though! They laughed in all the right places and asked some great questions during the Q&A sessions. One audience member came up to me afterward and told me the film was "painfully relatable" - which is pretty much exactly what I was going for, so I'll call that a success!

In addition to attending our own screenings, I had the chance to see a bunch of other wonderful films over the course of the Festival, including a large selection of powerful and fascinating documentaries, all of which completely blew me away. Getting the chance to talk to the people who made these films only enhanced the experience. It was fantastic to meet so many talented, friendly filmmakers and film lovers. SLOIFF is certainly an experience I will cherish, and I can't wait to go back!

Thank you SLOIFF!

Off to SLO!

The time has come! I'm on the train to San Luis Obispo for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival - and the World Premiere of Girl Meets Roach! Our screenings are on Saturday and Sunday at the Palm Theatre, and I'll also be participating in the Women In Film Panel on Saturday morning and the Filmmakers Panel on Sunday morning. If you're in the area, come join us!

Festival details, as promised!

Exciting news! The schedules have been released for both the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and the Garden State Film Festival. We're so excited to share Girl Meets Roach with audiences for the first time. Here's the info:

SLO Film Fest - our World Premiere!

Saturday 3/18 @ 1.30pm and Sunday 3/19 @ 1pm

Palm Theatre, San Luis Obispo CA

Garden State Film Fest

Saturday 4/1 @ 12pm

Resorts Casino Hotel, Atlantic City NJ

Tickets are available on the festival websites, and we'll be posting more news and updates on Twitter and Instagram so be sure to follow me (Twitter feed is to the right) and our production company @kingfishfilms to stay in the loop.

Festival updates for Amnesia Bachelor

This past weekend was an exciting one for Amnesia Bachelor - we screened at both the Sham Film Festival and the Broad Humor Film Festival in the same day! Crizazy. Unfortunately I was not able to attend Sham (alas, distance) but, along with a few lovely members of the Amnesia Bachelor team, I got to see it on the big screen at Broad Humor.

It was very cool to watch Amnesia Bachelor with an audience of people who (a) had never seen it before, and (b) were not affiliated with it in any way. It made their laughs even sweeter! Afterwards, one audience member, whom I'd never met, came up to me and said Amnesia Bachelor was her favorite short in the program. A better compliment I couldn't hope for! That, in addition to meeting some awesome and talented fellow filmmakers, made for a very enjoyable weekend.

Lindzi (with a Z), Linzi (with a Z but no D), Karen, and our co-directors!

'At The Maple Grove' Screening at The Alex Theatre

Last weekend was a big weekend for King Fish Productions! We held our first private screening of At The Maple Grove at The Alex Theatre in Glendale. First of all, what a beautiful space. Absolutely stunning, and perfect for our purposes. Everyone there was so friendly and helpful in organizing the event. We worked with Future Lighting for the projection, and I was so impressed by the gorgeous picture quality. I would highly recommend both The Alex and Future Lighting to anyone planning a film screening in the Los Angeles area.

Our fancy marquee!

It was great to see most of cast and a lot of the crew at the screening, and to hear how much they all enjoyed it. The film turned out amazingly well and I could not be more proud of the project!

Excited writer/director and actor/producer siblings before the show!

'Ambition of Love' wins Audience Choice at HollyShorts Monthly Screening!

More exciting news! As I previously mentioned, Ambition of Love recently screened at the HollyShorts Monthly Screening Series, which was awesome and a lot of fun. Afterwards, the audience members voted on their favorite film - and we won! Not only is it a huge honor to win the Audience Choice Award, but it also guarantees us a spot in the 8th Annual HollyShorts Festival, which will take place here in Los Angeles next summer, from August 9th - 16th. Yay!

Just because it's random...

Here's the trailer for Ambition of Love, but this time with German subtitles. (originally for the Lucerne International Film Festival)

Ambition Of Love goes worldwide!

So Dragon*Con was an amazing experience - and a great way for a whole bunch of new people to see Ambition of Love. But the fun isn't over yet! We just got word that Ambition Of Love has been accepted to - get this - four film festivals for the end of October! And not only that - they actually span the globe! Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, and Switzerland! Pretty cool, huh?

Here's the lineup:

Oct. 19-22: The 1st Annual Lucerne International Film Festival, in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Oct. 21-23: The 11th Annual Cape May Film Festival, in Cape May, New Jersey.

Oct. 28: HollyShorts Monthly Screening Series in Los Angeles, California.

Oct. 26-30: The 2nd Annual Buffalo Screams Film Festival in Buffalo, New York.

Ambition Of Love goes to Dragon*Con!

Hey guys! I've been waiting to announce this until the official list went up on the Dragon*Con website, but a few weeks ago we were notified that Ambition Of Love was accepted into the Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival!

It's taking place in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend and should be pretty darn awesome. Check out the list of short films that made the cut here. The guest list is phenomenal, too. I for one can't wait to try to catch a glimpse of Tom Felton!

I'm so excited to attend my first film festival. Congratulations to the entire Ambition Of Love team!