Arabella Sharkey

Arabella Sharkey is a half-British, half-Taiwanese writer and director based in New York. She is drawn to magical realism and drama for their ability to blend fantasy and reality to challenge perception and explore identity through metaphor.

 

Her films have been selected by and won awards at festivals including the Beverly Hills Film Festival, New York Shorts International Film Festival, Tokyo International Short Film Festival, and the Big Apple Film Festival. In 2023, she won the Bronze Award at the Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards & Festival, and two of her short films screened at AMC Times Square in New York City.

 

Arabella recently graduated with a BFA in Film & Television Production from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She has worked at Warner Bros., Full Picture, and Partizan, gaining hands-on experience across creative development, branded content, and commercial production.

 

She has creatively worked with several YC-backed startups, including Absurd, where she made AI commercials end-to-end, and Martini, where she made AI films. She also edited robotic videos for the company Physical Intelligence (PI) and directed a commercial for the blockchain startup Seismic Systems. The opening hook she conceptualized of eccentric grandmas playing poker, caught many eyeballs online. These roles have given her vast experience in both traditional filmmaking and generative AI video and image canvases and workflows.