Monica Zanetti is an award winning Australian screenwriter and actress. Her debut feature Skin Deep, has now screened at over eight international Film Festivals and was hand selected by The Weinstein Company’s Dan Guando for the Honorable Mention Award for Best Narrative Feature at Austin Film Festival. The film also earned Zanetti a 2015 AWGIE nomination for Best Original Screenplay and will be released in Australian cinemas in 2016.
Since then, Zanetti has written the series Young Politicians for Oscar nominated producer Drew Bailey, and AACTA winning director Leon Ford, the short film On Hold For Taylor which was shortlisted for Tropfest 2015, and is also in development with Director Leon Ford once again for her new feature film script Amy‘s Baby.
Previous projects include The Sydney Fringe Festival play Still Seeking Other, which took out the Best Theatre Award at the Fringe in 2012 and also earned her a nod as the ArtsHub Emerging Artist of the Year, and the short film Guardian Elf. Most recently she is working as a contracted Development Consultant with the team at Jungle (previously JungleBoys) and a writers assistant at Essential Media.
What are you working on? I’m currently working on a comedy web series that I wrote about a rural radio station. I’m also writing a TV pilot and a film- I like to be really busy! I’ve also been doing work at a large TV & Film development company called Essential Media as an assistant on larger scale projects.
How did you break in? I definitely forced my way in! Skin Deep was the first feature film I wrote and I’d never even stepped foot on a film set before. I was really lucky to have a friend in Rosie (our producer) who believed in my script enough to help me drive it forward.
What is your favorite film? My favorite film is probably still Strictly Ballroom– I just love everything about that film.
Major turning point in career? The unexpected success that Skin Deep has seen has been a real game changer for me. Being invited to premiere at Austin Film Festival was where it really started and it’s been a matter of making sure to not lose that momentum ever since.