Hi, Gia! Thank you for granting the interview. We’re excited to chat about your body of work! Tell us about your latest production.
Thank you for this opportunity. I really appreciate it.
The project that I am most proud of is the latest film that I co-produced and starred in called Miss Nobody. I’ve been pursuing acting since I graduated from Long Beach State University in 1999. I didn’t waste any time jumping right into film and film production.
It wasn’t until 2015, 16 years later, that I feel everything had finally paid off. In this film, all of the elements of acting, training, production knowledge, the production value, the director Adam Hodge, and crew all came together to create a beautifully shot and executed film.
The script was originally written for someone else as the lead. In the beginning stages of production, the lead actress, the director and myself weren’t seeing eye to eye so we let her go and I stepped in for the role. I had never played a part like this and boy, was I scared. I trained for several months for the fight scenes with a professional fighter and stunt choreographer, Johnny Alexander. I had production scheduled perfectly and the end result far exceeded any expectation I had of the film.
You recently won an award for her lead role in the short film MISS NOBODY at the Action on Film Festival. Tell us more.
The acting school I attended for many years, Playhouse West, has a film festival every year for its body of students. Miss Nobody was accepted and the evening of the awards night, I was out of town. Adam Hodge was in attendance and I was awarded Best Actress for the film which was voted by the audience. When I received the call from Adam, I can honestly tell you being honored this way for the first time, felt like I had won an Academy Award. I was in shock for days and really just in total disbelief. Incredibly honored.
Action on Film was another festival I had received Best Actress in as well as an award for Best Action Sequence. Again, the feeling is indescribable. I suppose like winning the lottery.
You have starred in several short films. How has the appearance shaped your career?
For me personally, when I first moved to Los Angeles to get into film acting, I enrolled in all of the Extras Casting agencies. This was a huge opportunity for me to learn how a film was made. I found this to be extremely beneficial and also to get my SAG card. This leads me into producing my first feature film a year later. From this experience, I learned how to put an entire production together from casting, to budgeting, hiring a crew, finding locations and a very awesome and always delicious meal plan. Since then, I’ve produced several other feature films such as The Special Dead, Condo Hell, The Writer’s Ghost, and Strangers in a Strange Land which was filmed all over the world in many different countries. I’ve produced and starred in several short films, but Miss Nobody was a role I’d never played before. With all my prior experiences and Meisner acting techniques I had learned at Playhouse West, it all came together for this film.
Your career is soaring. Are you happy with the direction it’s going in, thus far?
In all honesty, I’m never happy with where I’m at. This is the battle I constantly fight with myself in this industry. When I’m in pre-production, I’m the happiest. In production, it’s always a challenge to balance producing and being 100% committed to my character. Miss Nobody was the first film I think I was able to balance perfectly, but I had a tremendous amount of help from Adam. We work really well together. Adam is uniquely talented in his vision, creativity, breaking down the script and getting his crew together while I’ll handle the production and business side. I have complete trust in Adam and his vision.
Adam has written the feature film for Miss Nobody so if that’s a project we can get off the ground, I’d be really happy. Usually, though, it’s a lot of ups and downs, negative thoughts about where I’m at in my career and what’s next. It’s very hard.
Is there a particular role you would love to play in a production?
If I could be in a play, I’d love to play the role of Luba in The Lady and the Clarinet. Years ago, I hired a writer to turn the play into a movie script and was able to get in contact with Michael Cristofer to buy the rights, but he felt the play wouldn’t translate well into film. I’m not sure if he ever did read the script version, but I thought it was pretty fantastic. This would be a dream role for me.
I would have never imagined myself playing an assassin, holding and shooting guns and fighting against big, strong men, but now, if I could continue to play action roles like I did in Miss Nobody, I’d do it all the time. I’d also love to be in a Star Wars movie or a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Thus far, what has been the best experience working in the entertainment industry?
When I was an extra, I had some awesome opportunities with some big actors at the time. I was plucked by Harold Ramis in Bedazzled to be the groupie that Brendan Fraser kisses backstage. I had another moment with Mark Wahlberg in Rock Star. I’ve met incredible people along the way that didn’t amount to anything, but still value the friendship. There have been many memorable moments for me, but I can’t say that I’ve really gotten a taste of Hollywood in that aspect. I haven’t reached that level yet, but I hope I do one day. For now, what I’ve done thus far, I feel that I am lucky to be doing what I’m doing and I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. Except to live in Italy.
Do you have any upcoming projects that we haven’t mentioned?
Trying to get funding for the feature film, Miss Nobody. That’s ongoing. The film Strangers in a Strange Land that I produced and was directed by Tracy Pellegrino and also produced by Mark Pellegrino is near completion. We can’t wait to see that on the big screen. Concurrently, I’ve been shooting footage of our family’s wine business, Bronco Wine Company, a family history that has been around for over 100 years.
Complete this sentence, if I had an opportunity to do anything I want, I would_______ . . .
. . . eat anything I want and not get fat especially pasta and bread, produce and act in films and actually get paid for it, make Africa rain so the elephants would have water, have babies, be a horse, always be kind and grateful, get rid of Isis, and take the sadness away. And I’d like LA to get more rain!
Connect with Gia:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GiaFranzia
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/GiaFranziaOfficial
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/officialGiaFranzia
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