Annette Apitz wrote, directed and was a producer of the feature film FIGHTING FISH, starring Val Emmich, Anna Moore and Halley Feiffer. The film, a Slew Pictures production, premiered at the 2010 Nashville Film Festival, won Best Feature at the LA Femme Film Festival and won Best Actress at NY Visionfest. The script was a Top 25 Finalist for the Sundance Feature Film Lab and a Chesterfield Paramount Finalist. After streaming on Hulu and Amazon, it is now available on Apple TV, Tubi, and others.
Annette’s award-winning short films have screened at Tribeca, Hamptons, Florida, Austin, BBC and Palm Springs as well as at MoMA, the Baltimore Museum of Art and on PBS, HBO Latin America and WB.
Her screenplay adaptation of the novel "The Homemaker" was brought to the 2018 Stowe Story Lab by Emmy-Award winning producer Jennifer Latham, where it was a Vermonter Fellowship finalist.
Annette has written for documentary features, feature films and documentary series, and works as a producer for documentaries and image films. She has been a panelist and moderator for New York Women in Film and Television and The Brooklyn Arts Council, and is a member of Film Fatales. She is a co-founder of Transatlantik Film, based in Berlin.
Annette has an M.F.A. from Columbia University's Film Division and a B.A. from McGill University. She teaches screenwriting and directing and loves helping her students tell their stories.
FILMS
• KIT KEITH: THE COMFORT OF MEMORY (2014) short documentary, DV, writer/director/editor
2014 St. Louis International Film Festival
William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis
• FIGHTING FISH (2010) feature film, HD, writer/director/producer
Starring Val Emmich, Anna Moore, Halley Feiffer; produced by Slew Pictures
2011 LA Femme Film Festival: Best Feature
2011 Visionfest, Opening Night Selection and Best Actress
2010 Nashville Film Festival, New Director's Competition
2010 Talking Pictures Film Festival
2010 Rhode Island International Film Festival
Amazon, Hulu, AppleTV
• RE-SPITE (2007) short film, Super-8, writer/director/editor
2008 Hamptons International Film Festival
• A WARM, COMFORTING HOME (2006) short doc film, Super-8, writer/director/editor
2007 Tribeca International Film Festival: Best Documentary Short Finalist
2006 Hamptons International Film Festival
• A RIVER IN INDIA (1999) short film, 16mm, writer/director
Starring Ali Morrison, Isabelle Townsend
2000 Crested Butte Reel Fest: Best Student Short
2000 Film Fest New Haven: Audience Award Best Dramatic Short
1999 Austin Film Festival: Audience Award Best Student Short
1999 Columbia University Faculty Selection: Most Original Film
2001 East Lansing Film Festival
2000 Alcala Short Film Festival
2000 BBC British Short Film Festival
2000 Brooklyn Film Festival
2000 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival
2000 Florida Film Festival
2000 Women in the Director’s Chair Intl. Film and Video Festival
2000 Palm Beach International Film Festival
1999 Brooklyn Arts Council International Film and Video Festival
1999 N.Y.U. International Student Film Festival
HBO Latin America; WB television
• ALASKA (1997) short film, 16mm, writer/director
Starring Merritt Wever, Brenda Currin
1997 Rosebud Film Festival: Rosebud Award;
1997 Filmfest D.C.
Baltimore Museum of Art; PBS
• THE VISIT (1996) short film, 16mm, writer/director/editor
1997 Back Maria Film Festival: Director's Citation Award
SCRIPTS
• THE HOMEMAKER, feature screenplay adaptation, 2018 Stowe Story lab
• PHOENIX, feature script, Finalist Sundance Writer's Lab
• FIGHTING FISH, feature script, Finalist Sundance Writer's Lab, Chesterfield Top 50
WORK HIGHLIGHTS
Film and Video Production
• Video Producer and Field Producer for Moto Films, Odyssey Networks, Daily Beast, EMP Studios, UWF. Produce image films and short docs (2008-current)
• Script re-writes for feature films MAD and CAN HITLER HAPPEN HERE? (2016/18)
• Additl. Writer (uncredited), Showtime's YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (2014)
• Additional Writer, STUCK, feature documentary (2013)
• Writer, THE HOMEMAKER, feature film adaptation (2009-2010)
• Writer, Director, Producer, FIGHTING FISH, produced by Slew Pictures (2009)
• Production and Art Department Coordinator for MJM Productions, Winton DuPont, Nickelodeon, Sussan Group (2000-2004)
• Producer's Assistant for The Coproduction Office (Lars von Trier) and for zero film (Hal Hartley); Berlin, Germany
• News editor for French Television TF-1, RIAS-TV, Deutsche Welle; Berlin, Germany
Teaching
• Adjunct Film Professor at CUNY's New York City College of Technology and Borough of Manhattan Community College (2018-present)
Pro-social/Digital
• Digital Content Producer at MTV.com, UNICEF USA, and UWF (2005-present)
LINKS
FilmThreat: "Annette Apitz has made a strong film with some tough subject matter.. it’s a character study of flawed individuals that is memorable in its execution."
Women and Hollywood VOD Picks of the Week (Fighting Fish)
Women and Hollywood Guest Post: "Fighting Fish - The Story of Making an Ultra-Low-Budget Indie"
EDUCATION
• Columbia University Film Division, New York, M.F.A.: Film - Directing
• McGill University, Montreal, B.A.: English - Film and Communications
LANGUAGES
• German, English, French