Isabella Ares is a writer and director from Atlanta who applied to film school without telling her immigrant parents. Raised by a Brazilian mother and a Syrian-Lebanese father in the Deep South, her multicultural background informs her filmmaking.

A graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts, Isabella’s work is characterized by the use of exaggerated, surrealist elements that serve as a metaphor to the inherent comedy and irony in cultural expectations, gender roles, and other “taboo” issues. A keen storyteller and observer, she strikes the delicate balance between social commentary and absurdist humor. She wrote and produced “Becoming Bigfoot,” which is currently in post-production, and co-wrote & co-directed “Holy Smokes,” a Big Break Contest Quarter Finalist (2021), Sundance Feature Development Track Finalist (2023), and Winner of Kevin Smith’s Comedy Screenplay Award on the Coppola-founded website, DCP.