Imagine that you wake up hanging upside down in a tree, not knowing how you got there. You look down and see zombies. What do you do? Most of us have seen enough episodes of The Walking Dead to know how to handle the situation. You get down as quickly as possible, avoid the zombies, and try to find living companions to band together with in order to survive. Easier said than done…and what about that troubling amnesia? That leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It’s an interesting premise; part horror movie and part action film. These are the thoughts of Bruno Nunez Romagnoli when he decided to make his first film Zombie Games. Bruno wanted to film his first big project in his homeland of Argentina with a large cast and zombies are…well, popular for lack of a better word. He reveals, “It’s not that I’m the biggest fan of zombie movies. I’ve seen the films and television shows that most people have seen. I wanted to do something new with the genre. The premise is that of a zombie film but it is actually an action movie. The twist in Zombie Games is that it actually takes place in a videogame. It is a computer reality.”

Romagnoli plays the lead character Dennis in Zombie Games. In the tradition of Hollywood icons like Sylvester Stallone, Bruno not only starred in his first big film but he wrote and directed it. This is a herculean task to say the least, made somewhat more ominous by the fact that it was not planned. Romagnoli recalls, “I had studied acting and directing in my homeland of Argentina and I wanted this first film to be a big production. I had written it and planned on throwing myself heavily into the role. I knew that I would have to be in the best possible shape to be believable to the audience as a real action leading man. That was already daunting enough. It turned out that it was just going to work out better if I was directing because I had this unique idea in my mind and it was very difficult to describe the approach. In the end, it was just going to happen more efficiently and more accurately if I directed myself. Sometimes you have to bite off more than you can chew. I know that there are people who can act and direct at the same time without much difficulty but it was hard for me on this film. I had a second director on some of the shoots because there was physically no way for me to do both. That added a lot of time due to the long conversations between the two of us in order for me to explain how things needed to look.”

The biggest reason for the difficulty in having another director on Zombie Games was the original direction and the look that Bruno wanted. Zombie movies were everywhere but his movie would be at its core an action movie that takes place with the characters trapped inside a video game. Romagnoli explains, “The new approach to the film is that the character are basically trapped inside a videogame, a computer reality where the creatures are the zombies. The editing of the movie itself is determined by the videogame, the glitches, mistakes, holograms, technology; it is kind of a futuristic place. I wouldn’t say that is a horror film, it’s science fiction with action and adventure.” While many movies are creating video games from the premise of a movie to generate revenue, Bruno is reverse engineering this process. His original video game concept didn’t translate completely and he had to tweak some of his concepts. He confirms, “It was very hard to manifest all of the things that I wanted for the film. The first idea was to do it in the forest but with futuristic weapons to create a contrast but it didn’t have the exact look that I was going for.  I have to admit I changed the script about five times before I decided on the final version. Some things were changing while filming, but that’s normal for me because I like to improvise a lot.” One of Bruno’s costars in Zombie Games, Lautaro Bertoglio, was well aware of Romangoli’s tendency to be impetuous commenting, “, Bruno was one of the greatest partners I’ve ever had on set; we got each other’s energy so quick. The connection was powerful in front of the camera. He likes to improvise a lot. He really surprised me in one of the scenes. I was supposed to take a gun out of my bag and point it at him. He didn’t tell me but, he had taken it out of the bag before the scene started. Here I was in the middle of the scene and I was looking for my gun while the camera was rolling…in front of the entire cast and crew! Bruno whistled, I looked at him and he threw me the gun. The reactions were amazing! I was stunned with actual fear in my eyes. He loved it, so it stayed in the movie.”

Although wearing three hats on the making of Zombie Games was quite daunting, Romagnoli is certain that it is what enabled him to successfully achieve the goals he set out for the film. He reveals that, “In all movies you have a hero; the secret to a great lead character is the small details. My character was an antihero. You can see that he doesn’t treat people nicely, so how could the audience like a person like that? What you have to do is just add a small scene where you push the audience to like him. In Zombie Games I made Dennis an Elvis Presley fan. People like these small details. They start liking the character because they recognize something of themselves in him. I think it is also very important is to keep some parts of your character’s life a secret. When the audience knows your character completely they become bored. In real life you don’t know everything about another person; what their true motivation or intent is. Dennis knows how to fight against zombies but you don’t know why. You can see that he knows things about that world that we don’t.  Those details keep the character interesting. As a writer, keeping those things in mind helped me a lot to achieve the character in the moment of filming. If I didn’t have all of these perspectives, I might have pushed for something to be more or less obvious but as the writer/director/lead actor, I knew just how much should come out on camera to the audience. It added to the intrigue and suspense.”

Bruno Nunez Romagnoli is one of those young determined triple threat talents in the vein of Kevin Costner and the aforementioned Sylvester Stallone. He has vision, talent, and the determination to make films even when it seems impossible. It is perhaps most eloquently stated by another of his costars in Zombie Games, James Bonfiglio, in his remark, “The thing I can say about Bruno is that he has presence anywhere he goes. He also has a powerful voice. He can carry a movie on his shoulders without a problem. A lot of actors want to do that but not many can command your attention the way Bruno does. He can take it out and be a leader to the rest of the cast.”

“There is no I in TEAM.” We all know the phrase and exactly what it means; don’t be motivated to be the star. Yet, in some situations there are those individuals who are team players that still manage to get noticed. Monika Smith is one such individual. Although she has spent her entire life being part of a group, she has carved out a very unique career for herself. As a successful model, improv comedian, and actress, she has established herself in Hollywood as a “go to” actress with the skill, looks, and intense work ethic to make any role believable. It is ironic that by spending her entire life aspiring to be part of an ensemble she has become the most memorable person in any group. In a conversation with Smith, she continually directs the praise to those she has worked with and often refers to influences that are ensemble players. Actors frequently use the word generous to describe those acting partners whom enable them to explore creativity and enhance the scene with honesty. If this is the acting benchmark, it seems that being a generous person has resulted in Smith becoming one of Hollywood’s most noticed comedic actresses.

As a young girl, Monika was always pulled towards comedy. It was always the edgy and experimental forms that gained her attention, such as Saturday Night Live and Canada’s own Kids in the Hall. From an early age, Smith knew that she wanted to act and that comedy was the correct expression of that desire. Years later Monika would work with Cheri Oteri (SNL) and Kevin McDonald (Kids in the Hall) while being one of the stars of TBS’s Who Gets the Last Laugh. Smith states that she considers it an important personal achievement, “Making Cheri and Kevin laugh so much was a very gratifying moment for me. When someone who has had such impact on you from a very young age proceeds to give you such compliments and praise about how funny you are it is almost unbelievable.”

Before devoting her life to acting and comedy, Smith had a bright future with both the Ford and Elite modeling agencies. Working as an international model may have been lucrative and enticing for a young girl but she soon realized that denying her true passion of comedic acting would only serve to frustrate her. Charging forward, she began to work with the Second City Touring Company in Toronto. Soon realizing that Los Angeles held even greater opportunities for someone who is driven, she relocated and began working with the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) as well as Second City and Nerdist. Improv sketch comedy was instinctual for her and it wasn’t long before she was teaching at these sketch comedy institutions, including travelling to China to help start their first long form improv school and direct their first show. Second City and UCB have given us some of the most important and recognizable names in comedy including; Bill Murray, Tina Fey, John Candy, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, among others. Smith confirms that her time with these groups taught her one of the cornerstones of improv sketch comedy. She states, “I think the most important skill I learned from improv is ‘yes-ing’ your partner and what they say to you. It’s a wonderful thing to trust another person implicitly and know that whatever they say I’ll add to and we’ll create something together. I have no idea how many improv scenes or shows I’ve done at this point, but all of them have been different and special.” This perspective and demeanor led to Monika’s starring roles of multiple seasons of shows like MTV’s Disaster Date and TBS’s Who Gets the Last Laugh. These type of shows required actors who were at the highest level of improv comedy. Nick Kriess (Who Gets the Last Laugh producer) comments, “Who Gets the Last Laugh? was a hit due in large part to Monika’s extensive improv background.  Monika has managed to make a strong career out of her fantastic comedic sensibilities and her amazing way of always knowing the best direction to take a scene in no matter what is thrown her way.” Joel Zimmer (Disaster Date producer) adds, “There was no possible way that Disaster Date would work without Monika taking control.  The show called for Monika to play her character for hours at a time.  There were no cuts like a normal production.  Only an actor with an abundance of improv talent like Monika could convince unsuspecting contestants that this was a real date and that she was a real person.”

While becoming established as one of LA’s most in demand comedy improv actors, Smith has also directed her career path towards film and television. Adult Swim’s Newsreaders, The Tonight Show, and even Funny or Die (which garnered Smith a best actress award at the 48 Hour Film Festival for ‘Les Douchbags Horribles’) have all made use of Monika’s exceptional talent, among many others. Actress Brea Grant (Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Dexter) is one of the many highly notable actresses who recognize Smith’s abilities and presence. Grant comments, “Monika Smith is one of the best improvisers in Los Angeles right now. She has worked very hard to hone her skills and is both a great teacher and performer. I love working with her because she is always professional and hilarious but also really supports and lifts up anyone who she is working with. She is a comedian to watch as she will be huge in the next few years.”

Most recently, Monika has been known to viewers as Sylvia on the STARZ series Blunt Talk. Playing a porn star involved with Adrian Scarborough (Gosford Park, The King’s Speech)’s character and acting in scenes with luminaries like Patrick Stewart (the star of Blunt Talk), she brings an endearing side to her character’s provocative profession. The ensemble cast could easily be intimidating for any actor but Smith seems to handle herself with the same confidence and comfort she has exhibited in so many less scripted venues. Duncan Birmingham (writer/producer for Blunt Talk) declares, “Monika is one of the best actors I have worked with during my illustrious career.  I have worked with the likes of the tremendously gifted, Oscar nominated director David Fincher, and currently, the legendary Patrick Stewart (who was nominated for a Golden Globe for Blunt Talk), but Monika holds her ground with those luminaries with ease.” Smith’s performances became so successful that her role, which was added part way through season one, was added to the second season of Blunt Talk.

Monika Smith’s story is literally the Hollywood Dream. A small girl from another country, with stars in her eyes, works hard to become a peer to the gifted creative individuals who inspired her. With self determination, hard work, and a large dose of talent, Smith has created the situations that have led to her success while constantly challenging herself to evolve. Part of what makes it so endearing is that she is constantly focusing on the opportunity to place focus on the talented professionals with whom she is surrounded. As the arc of her career continues to ascend, it will be exciting to see the new challenges that she will undoubtedly take on.