We were lucky to catch up with Annabella Leonetti recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Annabella thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

In February of 2024, I was laid off from my full-time job as a General Manager of a bar in Brooklyn. Having been working full-time in restaurants and bars since the pandemic while the film industry was suffering, I felt trapped in hospitality. When the bar I was managing at the time had a difficult financial quarter during the winter of 2023, and could no longer afford to pay my salary, I was laid off with little notice and no back-up plan.

Around the same time, an opportunity to fast-track a script I had written 3 years prior into full-blown production arose, and I decided with all of the changes happening in my work and personal life, it was time to take a risk. By gathering a team of hard-working filmmakers, and leaning on my community for support, my first screenplay, ‘Nothing Felt Like Her’, was born.

I was nervous to have such a personal, intimate, and close-to-home project be produced and eventually premiered at a festival in NYC, but I was excited to finally have my work seen by others. Writing such an emotional script that many queer people can relate to and feel proud of was super important to me, and I was so proud to see how the end result turned out.

Now, in 2025, the film is still in the festival circuit, and I am working full-time in film as a writer, producer, and first assistant director. If I hadn’t been laid off from my bar job, I never would felt the need to complete that project, and probably would still be working in hospitality.

Annabella, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started my career in film back in 2018 in the Camera Department, before transitioning to writing, producing, and assistant directing. This past year, I’ve worked on dozens of short films and music videos in a variety of genres – as well as two original screenplays titled “Nothing Felt Like Her” and “I Saw God”.

In the fall of 2024, I decided to work on starting my own production company, Two Boots Media. With a focus on queer stories, I wanted to create a company that tackled issues I’ve experienced myself as a queer freelancer in film, such as promoting healthy on-set etiquette with safe working environments, and producing projects that were accurate depictions of queer relationships.

The art and creativity that comes from indie, queer creatives is always at risk, and in our current political climate, stories that queer people feel represented in and proud of are becoming far and few.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The hardest lesson I’ve had to unlearn as a filmmaker is that nothing gets done without a team, and that it does indeed take a village to produce a film. Growing up extremely independent, and managing businesses almost entirely on my own for years, it took months for me to understand that doing all of the work myself, hardly ever delegating out tasks to others on my team, was a losing game. In film, the best projects come from a well-oiled, strongly supported group of creatives.

As a producer, part of my job is leading a team of talented professionals, often working with people I have never been on set with before. By getting to know the people I am working with during the pre-production process, and by working alongside crews on set, I was able to learn how to work well with others to create beautiful pieces of art.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As a child, I always dreamt of working as a writer, thinking I’d someday write an award-winning novel and make it big as an author. Going on to start college with the idea that I’d be better off as a doctor, I put writing and the arts aside, and started working towards a degree in biology pre-medicine.

After meeting so many creatives, artists, and other filmmakers during those pivotal years, I realized I had given up on my dream of working in a creative field. It was then that I started working in film in the camera department, originally starting out by working with on-camera dance and music videos in Los Angeles.

For me, the most rewarding part of working in a creative field is truly the freedom of expression, and seeing so many other creatives and artists come up with things I’d never even think were possible. To meet other likeminded filmmakers, and to work alongside such driven, talented individuals, is always such an honor and continues to motivate me to work on my craft.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://acleonetti.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annabellacolleo/