A few weeks ago, I watched a beautiful short film, What’s Your Number? It’s a story about a Holocaust survivor who comes full circle sharing his life story with an African American child he meets at the park. The survivor and his sister’s lives were saved by the heroic action of an African American soldier during World War II.
Yesterday, I had the privilege to interview its writer, director and producer.
Sigal Erez was born to a Moroccan/Spanish/Jewish family. She has travelled extensively around the world and speaks four languages. She is the daughter of a merchant marine who became a rabbi, from whom she learned to appreciate the deeper meaning held within the bible and its teachings. Often, she holds spiritual gatherings and teachings at her home by the beach. Sigal is a mother, and her greatest accomplishment is being a mother. Her very vivid imagination and creative vision are her strengths. From a very young age, Sigal always said she would one day own a studio and write and direct great movies.
She completed the full program at Lee Strasberg New York and was later accepted to a master’s program in screenwriting at UCLA’s acclaimed Writer’s Program. As a newcomer in Los Angeles, she landed roles of many nationalities, including television shows such as Santa Barbara, Star Trek, and a lead in a pilot called DEA, as well as others. Sigal also scored the lead role in two feature films, that were either shelved or never made—Shape Shifter and Arrive Alive.
Although Erez is skillful at acting, improvisation, and a variety of international accents, her main passion is storytelling. She believes creativity is a platform that can raise the level of consciousness in the world.
In 2000, Sigal’s screenplay, Across The Line, was produced into a motion picture starring Brad Johnson. Sigal played the lead role of Miranda, winning acclaimed reviews. She was invited as a special guest to speak at Texas A&M University. Distributed by Lion’s Gate, the film won the Silver Award at the Houston Film Festival and Best Film at Texas A&M. The film received a new distribution deal with all the major networks in 2017.
Sigal also worked as a television writer and created 13 episodes for the TV drama— Hotel San Miguel for Televisa, under renowned writer and showrunner, Sabina Berman.
The screenplay, The Battle of Evermore, which Erezco-wrote with Martin Spottl, advanced to the semi-finals at the prestigious Nichol’s Fellowship. She was then hired to write creative proposals that led to successful ventures.
In addition to screenplays, Sigal writes lyrics and poetry. She has a charismatic personality and an ability to captivate an audience. In 2000, Sigal hosted a music festival with Mark Brown at the Hollywood Bowl and co-hosted the opening of a Latin theatre event with Colombian film star Rodrigo Obregon.
In 2018, Sigal wrote, directed, and produced the film What’s Your Number?, about the unlikely friendship between a holocaust survivor and an African-American boy. The film has been shown at many festivals and won many awards, including the Best Film Award at the Women’s Only Entertainment Film Festival and the Social Impact Award at the Marina Del Ray Film Festival. What’s Your Number? also won multiple awards at the South Cinematographic Academy of Film & Arts, including Best Lead Actor In A Short Film, Best Young Actor In A Feature Film, and Best Costume Design In A Short Film.
Her latest project, Serial Beauty, is currently in post-production. The movie is about a serial killer who targets beautiful women and poses their bodies in exquisite tableaus. Without any leads in a dead end of clues, the LAPD brings back two detectives who find mystical subtexts that lead to the unlikely killer.
Sources
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0258852/?…
https://www.highwaterfilms.com/
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