Biography
Michal "Hali" Zebede is a first generation American writer, director, and producer with Costa Rican roots. She made her screenwriting debut with The Humbling, a Philip Roth adaptation directed by Oscar winner Barry Levinson, starring Academy Award winners Al Pacino and Greta Gerwig.
Ms. Zebede has sold film and television projects to ABC/Disney, Hulu, AMC, Sony, Freeform, and Amazon Prime, among others. These include the Party of Five reboot (2020) which garnered a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, along with the original series Queen of the Jungle for AMC Networks, with Oscar winner Michael London executive producing.
Ms. Zebede also created and directed the original docuseries ASPIREist (2016-2017) on CNN's HLN, which won the prestigious National Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Innovation, featuring George Clooney, Adrian Grenier, Zoe Saldana, Russell Brand, and Ben Affleck.
Previously, Ms. Zebede wrote a column at TIME Magazine at the intersection of social impact, women & girls, gender equality, minorities, and innovation. She is fluent in Spanish and Italian. She has lived in Venice CA, Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Italy, Madrid, London, NY and Miami.
