Queer, gender nonbinary, asexual actor, writer, filmmaker Margarita Zhitnikova chats with author and Emmy-honored casting director Bonnie Gillespie about enoughness, community-building, and the role of rebellion in #CreatingTheHollywoodWeWant.
Here’s the transcript of our interview!
Here’s the chat from our live session!
What are your key takeaways from Margarita’s interview from the SMFA Summit? Share below in the comments! 🙂
Margarita Zhitnikova (they/them) is an award-winning actor, writer, and producer. As a child, Margarita and their family immigrated to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, as Jewish refugees from Russia. Dedicated to smashing the patriarchy, Margarita co-founded Besties Make Movies. Margarita has received several best actress nominations for their work in the award-winning short film Jones. 2 Weeks, their short film about asexuality, premiered at the Oxford Film Festival, screened at NFMLA, and won Best LGBT Short at Indie Short Fest and IndieX Film Fest. Their short film Appetite premiered at the Oxford Film Festival 2021 and is now on the festival circuit. The feature film Triple Threat — in which they play one of the lead roles — world premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest Film Festival 2021! Most recently they have been cast as Christina in the new TikTok drama @DarkSprings. Their short film script Zasha (available on Kindle) which they co-wrote, has been doing festivals and recently won Best Horror Short at the Oregon Short Film Festival. They are also honored to be a judge for the Revolution Me Film Festival and so excited about all of the wonderful films they get to watch from up-and-coming artists.