Happy Halloween!

One of my favorite times of the year - when I pick a character (usually a young female character) from a movie or TV show and recreate the costume - in detail - to the best of my ability. I usually go for more obscure choices (or at least something from more than ten years ago) but this year I gave into the current Stranger Things obsession and went full-on Eleven. Not bad, eh?

That is not a wig. That is my hair.

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!

Imbroglio update!

Time for some updates about Imbroglio! It's been a while since I've mentioned the action short Christopher wrote/directed, and I produced, last year, but we've been hard at work on it these past few months. Now, at long last, the editing, sound mix, color correction, etc etc etc are all done - and it looks GOOD. We're so happy to have it finished and to finally be able to share it with the world.

And fortunately, that's going to happen soon! Imbroglio will be making its World Premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal this July. Fantasia is a very cool genre film festival, and we're super-excited to be part of it. Looks like a few trips to Canada are coming up!

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.

Updates on the way!

Hi again! We have some more exciting news coming up regarding Girl Meets Roach, but I can't announce it quite yet...so stay tuned!

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