“I always had a camera growing up. I know that’s cheesy, but I didn’t know it could be a job,” says writer-director Anna Zlokovic. “I didn’t know what to do with that interest. No one in my family did film. No one I knew did film, so I ended up going to music school to study music-business.”

While at USC, Zlokovic realized it wasn’t a fit. Across the street from music, she found Film School. She took a few classes and made a movie, but thought she might get into sound. Eventually, feeling out multiple jobs led her to writing and directing.

“I got some feedback from my first project, but at the time, I was cripplingly shy. Directing and writing gave me permission to have a voice and share my perspective. I’m still trying to do it ten years later,” she jokes.

The goal wasn’t always horror, as she didn’t grow up watching horror films, but she did have any interest in monster films. “My parents had a box of movies. I watched E.T. and Jurassic Park over and over and over again. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. Then I watched Eraserhead in college and thought, cinema can do this?”

In Appendage, "A young fashion designer's life spirals as her darkest inner thoughts manifest into something gruesome- that won't stop growing.” Zlokovic said she saw some crossover with E.T. in her latest project.

“Horror somewhat came as an accident,” she clarifies. “The first movie I made came from a very dark place, where I was trying to have a cathartic experience through my art. It was sad and dark, but people [liked it], so that sort of naturally led into horror.”

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