Gabriela Anez-Urdaneta

Maria Gabriela "Gaby" Anez is an American-Venezuelan screenwriter, director, producer, and actress. She grew up in Maracaibo, Venezuela and attended Bellas Artes (Beautiful Arts), a private art-focused school that represented the perfect compromise between her early passion for the performing arts and her mother's desire for her to have a strong scholastic foundation. She participated in various artistic activities and was a core member of the school's theater group. As a young kid she lived in Mexico City for three years where she continued to perform in theater plays and school shows.

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She also started writing lyrics, poems, and short stories at a very early age, and by the time she was twelve years-old she wrote her first play titled "La maldición de los Jefferson" (The Jefferson's Curse), one that she later produced and directed to be premiered at the school's annual show. In 1998 she graduated from the University Rafael Urdaneta (URU) with an Industrial Psychology degree and started a successful career in the Oil & Gas industry, but continued to compose lyrics and write poems and stories through the years.

 

In 2006, shortly after moving to the US, she was cast in her first English speaking role at the University of Texas in Austin for an original play titled "Ashes, Ashes" to be premiered at the Cohen New Works festival that year. Inspired by this experience she decided to start writing in the English language and has placed as quarter-finalist and semi-finalist in various International screenwriting competitions. She has written multiple screenplays and lyrics, and has directed and produced three short films and continuously collaborates with other artists in various projects in Texas and California.

 

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