Julianna Brudek

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Julianna Brudek spent the 80s speaking both Polish and English. Her father, having arrived in America a few years before her birth, delighted in telling her stories in Polish and joyously listening as she recited them to others in English, sometimes adding her own personal touches. From an early age, Julianna demonstrated a passion for the art of filmmaking. Her first hobby, writing plays and screenplays with humor and heart, captured the attention of her high school drama teachers. They urged her to continue her studies at a college or university with a film program. She left Detroit for Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2006 with a BA in film and Video and was one of seven students chosen to participate in the prestigious Semester in Los Angeles Program on the CBS lot. Julianna started her career in Los Angeles by holding up cue cards at Family Feud, Ellen, Jay Leno and other popular shows that still use this fast-paced live-to-tape method. She entered the world of Reality TV casting in 2007 and landed her first job at ABC. Eventually, she settled down for a few seasons as the Talent Booker at MTV for their hit shows, "Next," "Exposed," and many more. Later, she went on to produce, direct, and write her own indie films, placing in the semi-finals in the 2015 Script Pipeline Contest, the top 100 in The Emerging Screenwriter's Competition and the 2016 Academy Nicholl Fellowship. The TV series, "LA a la Cart: Homeless in Los Angeles," she co-created and pitched to networks was recently bought and is slated for production in the upcoming year. Brudek's most ambitious project took place four years ago, following the Pulse massacre in Orlando, when she picked nine members of the Los Angeles LGBTQ community and drove cross country, filming a documentary that culminated in an anti-gun violence rally held in Washington, D.C. Look for "Disarm Hate" on streaming platforms now. She lives in Los Angeles and responds to "Jules."