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Geretta Geretta, a versatile artist, has worked worldwide—from Northern Ireland to South Africa, Rome to New York City—as a writer, director, and actress.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Geretta developed an interest in acting during her school years. Though she moved to Los Angeles, her acting career began in New York’s "off-off Broadway" theater scene at Theatre For The New City and with the improv group Rusty Nails. She later moved to Italy, where she lived for over a decade and appeared in more than 20 feature films, including Smithereens (1982), Rats: Night of Terror (1984), and Demons (1985), directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by horror icon Dario Argento—the father of Asia Argento—before earning her MFA in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute.
Her on-camera experience inspired her to transition behind the camera to create films. She moved back to Los Angeles and graduated from AFI, writing and directing shorts such as "When Fish Fly" and "Love To Share," as well as producing public service announcements for California water conservation and spec commercials for Levi’s. Influenced by Irish cinema like Circle of Friends (1995), Waking Ned Devine (1998), and The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), Geretta relocated to Ireland in the early 1990s. Originally planning a three-week stay in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she was captivated by the culture and arts scene and remained for two years. She interned for six months with the award-winning Northern Visions film collective, where she led cross-community writing workshops for both Protestant and Catholic writers, from beginners to professionals.
While in Belfast, Geretta received several film grants, including a Northern Ireland Film Council Study Grant—the first awarded to an American. She was also the first American to receive a grant to attend University College Dublin's Writing the Screenplay course, where she completed the script for her feature film Sweetiecakes (2001).
Geretta worked as a television producer for Ulster Television, hosting the segment series "Geretta Geretta Looks At . . .," Belfast’s first foray into lite news. She also directed the short film "Homesick," produced with generous material grants from the BBC.
Drawing on her multicultural experiences, Geretta’s fluency in Italian—gained during her years in Italy—was essential in writing, directing, and producing "100 Voices Against Apartheid," a compilation of 100 filmed anti-segregation testimonials featuring Odessa, Billy Bragg, Miriam Makeba, Roberto Benigni, Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, and others for the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid and UNICEF. She premiered "Homesick" at the Tribeca Film Center and later staged readings of "Sweetiecakes" across Manhattan to help fund the project. When Swiss producers acquired it, Geretta adapted the screenplay into German and relocated the story to Winterthur, known as "Switzerland’s biggest little city." The film was shot and completed in Switzerland in summer 2001, earning her Best Female Director at the 2002 Melbourne Underground Festival and marking her first feature film. Her film Whitepaddy (2006) has since completed production.
When not in Hollywood, Geretta resides on a small island near Portland, Oregon, where she grew up, working on her new sexy comedy, "The Art Of Spooning.
