Ana-Marija Stojic (She/HER)
Originally from Yugoslavia, Ana-Marija is a versatile comedian, writer, and performer. Most recently she performed in the Just For Laughs Originals taping at Dynasty Typewriter in 2021. Her original screenplay, Stefan, was selected as a Finalist at the Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition 2020, the quarter-finals of the 6th Annual TV Writing Contest in 2021, the Scriptation Showcase quarter-finals 2021, and the Creative Screenwriting Competition quarter-finals 2021. She was also a staff writer for The Beaverton, an online satire news site, in 2020. She was a recipient of Netflix’s 2018 Diversity of Voices fellowship at the Banff World Media Festival and was one of 20 applicants selected for their industry pitch program.
Describe your writing style in 3 words.
Empathetic. Fun. Honest.
What’s the film/TV show that made you want to become a writer?
I know it’s going to sound cliche, but it was The Wire. It just blew my mind regarding the attention to detail and how life-like every character was. Even the characters who were supposed to be doing bad things, I wanted to take them out for a coffee and ask them about their day. Not the actors. The characters.
What’s a film/tv/game (anything) that you’ve watched that made you go “I should’ve written that” or that you’d like to write for (if it’s still on air)?
Good Girls by Jenna Bans. Such a fun story. Such great characters. I loved the blending of comedy and drama in it. Sometimes you get a show that calls itself a “dramedy,” but it’s just a drama with one or two jokes in it. It was such a great melding of the two genres, and I love that about it.
What are your current career goals?
I would love to get signed with a literary agent and get into a writer’s room. But, whichever comes first, I’m not picky.
Why do you write?
I write because I can’t not do it. These stories come in my head, and it bothers me, like the sound of a buckle in a laundry machine. It’s just clunking around in my head until I can take it out and put it on paper. And then I feel better. For like a second. Then I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this isn’t good enough; I need to edit it for eternity now.”
Are you a cat person or a dog person?
I am a cat person! Dogs are too codependent. I thought I was a dog person for so long. SO LONG. My WHOLE life, I lived under this illusion that I was a dog person. Maybe it’s what I wanted to be; maybe it’s what I thought I was supposed to be. But after many years of being untrue to myself, I’ve learned that I am, in fact, a cat person. They are the perfect animal.