Raised in the shadow of New England’s multifaceted Beantown, Annabelle mixes a puritan work ethic with Bostonian tenacity when throwing herself into her passion: bringing great drama to life. Whether it’s shadowing the police as they chase down a suspected gang member or running after a Moroccan thief who brazenly stole her camera right off her wrist, Annabelle is not afraid to get up close and personal with life’s most riveting events.
At age twelve, her family was hit by a gut-wrenching tragedy when her twenty-one year old cousin rented a hotel room downtown, crept out onto the ledge and jumped. The bleak days leading up to his funeral were a blur but she’ll never forget sitting on the plush carpet in his parents’ sun room, watching friends and relatives recite joyous stories about him, filling the room with their warmth and affection only to have it linger there, unrequited. She walked away that afternoon at a loss, not knowing what to do with all that pain. A few months later she found the theater and suddenly, her pain had purpose.
She focused her talents on the stage, where she worked with actors, crafting their performances in plays like Jean-Paul Sartre’s NO EXIT and Michael Weller’s MOONCHILDREN. She was also selected to workshop famed Australian playwright Tee O’Neill’s THE LAST ANTIGONE at the Exile Theater Company’s summer program in 1999, which ultimately culminated in a performance at Cork University.
Post college, she couch-surfed around the city while rehearsing Alan Bowne’s BEIRUT in a black- box theater in mid-town Chicago. It opened in late fall and while she was thrilled to see it off on its run, she knew by then theater was not a perfect fit. There was a visual side of the story she was missing. So she moved to Los Angeles to break into the film industry.
She spent those early months juggling gigs like assisting Sebastian Gutierrez on his feature, JUDAS KISS, while spending the weekends rollerblading along the LA river or dancing her stress away on rooftops as traffic helicopters circled overhead. Wanting to get back into the director’s chair as quickly as possible, she sought out a directing fellowship at The American Film Institute. There she built on her talents, using the camera to enhance performance and elevate story. Her thesis film, SIDE SHOW, premiered at The Mill Valley Film Festival in 2003 and won the Platinum Award at the Worldfest Houston Film Festival in 2005. It was at AFI where she also met her future husband, an aspiring writer whose own ambitions fell naturally in sync with hers. Together they navigated film school, ultimately marrying on a rainy spring afternoon in rural Vermont before returning to La-La Land to launch their careers.
Despite the allure of cinema, her heart truly resides in the small screen. Where else do you get to fall in love with characters week after week? So she joined CSI (CBS) during season three where she assisted and shadowed producing-director Richard J. Lewis for seven episodes. From there, she transitioned into post-production, working up the ladder on multiple series at CBS, ABC, The CW and Fox. She became a sought after Post Supervisor known for her diligent work
ethic, just ask her daughter who was nestled in her womb as Annabelle worked multiple all- nighters at the Bad Robot headquarters while on JJ Abram’s 2010 pilot, UNDERCOVERS (NBC).
Raising a young child meant some time at home, during which she started writing. She won a scholarship with The Writers Bootcamp where she worked on developing an original pilot about undercover cops in high schools. She followed that up with a spec of ABC’s CASTLE and simultaneously, just for fun, wrote a forty-thousand word detective mystery.
Then television called again, offering a chance to produce. She worked on several pilots before landing the hit series, GOTHAM (Fox). There she built a successful post department from the ground up, balancing the creative process with the budget, season after season. The show also gave her the power to shape VFX and sound. She couldn’t be more proud of the multiple Emmy noms GOTHAM garnered in both categories, or more humbled by the shout-out she received at the 69th Annual Creative Arts Emmys when Cosa VFX accepted their Best Supporting VFX Emmy for episode 322 “Heavydirtysoul”.
While at GOTHAM she wrote and directed the short film, G[R]O[W]ING UP, which premiered at LA Shorts International. The success of the film opened doors for her and a few months later she was attending the 2017 Warner Bros. Directors’ Workshop in preparation for directing episode 414 “Reunion” for GOTHAM. All the while, G[R]O[W]ING UP continued to screen at festivals amassing awards for directing, cinematography and performance. It completed its run at the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at Cannes in 2018.
In 2019, Annabelle was accepted into NBCUniversal’s Female Forward Initiative but ultimately couldn’t attend as she was booked on GOD FRIENDED ME (CBS) at the same time the program wanted her to shoot an episode of CHICAGO P.D. (NBC). However, the execs at Female Forward invited her to shadow Geary McLeod on COUNCIL OF DADS (NBC) later that year, which she valued immensely.
Then the pandemic hit, giving Annabelle yet another opportunity to return to her writing. She wrote a horror short, completed a pitch deck for a police procedural and executed early drafts of a low-budget feature. But her most creative endeavor was welcoming her second child, a baby boy, into the world.
Annabelle continues to write, shadow and attend acting classes through Howard Deutch’s WORKSPACE in Hollywood. She enjoys applying her vast skillset and collaborative spirit to everything she’s a part of, including her kids. She hopes to be directing more episodes of television soon.