Biography
Anna Fishbeyn grew up in an immigrant family in Chicago, who encouraged her to excel in school and pursue a practical career. But Anna was in love with the arts. While attending the University of Chicago and majoring in psychology and statistics, she painted in secret, wrote poetry, and joined the University of Chicago Improv Group. Eventually she moved to New York City to study the arts full time: she received a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Literature from Columbia University, and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from New School University. While reading a short story, called "The Philanderer" for her New School graduating class, Anna realized how much she loved everything about the stage - the writing, the acting, and the audience.
After giving birth to her two children, she performed her first solo show, called "Conversations With My Breasts" at a small underground performance venue called Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City. Soon after, she was offered the opportunity to perform a solo show at the iconic Flea Theater. That show was called "Sex in Mommyville," and its early buzz and press attention changed the course of Anna's life. "Sex in Mommyville" was recommended by Bloomberg News, called " comic genius" by WCBS Radio, compared to Ibsen's "A Doll's House" by Jewish Week, and described as "shattering all the myths around women" by the Huffington Post. While still performing the play across numerous venues in New York City, including La Mama and the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Anna began studying acting at HB Studio with Austin Pendleton.
Her second play, "My Stubborn Tongue," opened off-Broadway at the New Ohio Theatre in New York City, where it was recommended by the New York Times, New York Time Out, Huffington Post, and numerous other media outlets. Anna was also invited to appear on Fox TV and perform a segment from the show. "My Stubborn Tongue" went on to be performed on West End in London at the Soho Theatre, where it was recommended by the London Evening Standard, Radio Gorgeous London, and received brilliant reviews from numerous British publications.
Anna began working in film during that same year: in 2015, she wrote, produced and starred in the award-winning series, Happy Hour Feminism, which won for best comedy and was selected at over 17 festivals. She starred and directed her first short film, "Invisible Alice," which won for best musical, best actress and director at numerous festivals, has a 9/10 rating on IMDB and is streaming on Gudsho Video. Her stand-up cabaret show, Anna on Fire and Uncensored, was recommended by NiteLifeNyc and CBS local news. She is the star and director of the "cult classic" feature film Galaxy 360: A Woman's Playground (2023) and creator of the innovative new platform, Movement360.TV. "Galaxy 360: A Woman's Playground" was a finalist at Sundance New Frontier, an official selection at the Big Apple Film Festival and Marche Du Film Festival de Cannes, sold out at the Toronto International Film Festival Market, played in New York City in a limited release in the fall of 2023 at the iconic Angelika Film Center, and will screen again at Cannes to celebrate the opening of a new cultural venue during the Cannes Film Festival 2024.
Set in 2195, Galaxy 360: A Woman's Playground (2023) explores a future where women rule the world and men dream of getting married during a hilarious male beauty pageant. Anna plays the leading role of Illumina, the notorious larger-than-life media personality who whips the male contestants into shape in order to help them win the crown and a wife. The film garnered impressive critical and audience responses in the opening weeks of the New York Premiere. "Galaxy 360: A Woman's Playground" was ranked "Number One Funniest Movie Right Now" by Newstrail, described as "Revolutionizing Gender Roles" by FilmDaily, and called "A cult classic in the making" by New York Weekly.
Anna is also the creator of Anteriya World (2023), an AI animated series that offers inspirational confidence-building advice to women. Her upcoming film and television projects include, The Infidelity Club, Healthy Nuts, and How To Seduce Your Dinner Guest. Anna has been featured on numerous television shows, podcasts and magazines: NBC, FOX, CP24 (Canada), CoWorking Channel (France), Ticker News (Australia), PX11, BroadwayWorld, Wrap Magazine, New York Times, WomensENews, London Evening Standard, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, FilmDaily, and many others.
She is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel, "The Matrimonial Flirtations of Emma Kaulfield," which has been compared by critics to Nabokov, Austen and Tolstoy, and which landed in its opening weeks at the front houses of national Barnes and Nobles Stores.
By using comedy and gender reversal as her tools, Anna has devoted her career to creating films that empower and embolden women to be truly themselves, and hopes to inspire empathy between men and women in order to lead us to gender equity and a deeper understanding for one another.
