In only two weeks after she moved to Los Angeles from Chicago, Monica Zaffarano, owner of A Zaffarano Productions print and productions, has booked her first job, a print job for Ulta Beauty.
The 20-year industry veteran said taking the business in a new direction was “a personal decision. Time of Life. The energy of LA,” she says, wearing a “Chi-beria” regulation black ski hat and matching down jacket.
“Last winter did me in I felt I needed to make a lifestyle change. I needed to be close to a body of water that didn’t freeze. So here I am.”
Zaffarano, who set up shop in Marina Del Ray, cited the new goals and dreams that influenced her decision to expand West.
“Mainly cars. Ever since I worked on Harley-Davidson, I have been determined to break into the auto industry. LA made sense in that regard.”
Zaffarano feels she has made inroads into large automotive agencies, such as Saatchi & Saatchi/LA, Toyota’s agency.
It wasn’t just her company’s high-end work that interested the LA agencies, but also the work of her non-profit Fini! “It’s a way of collecting unwanted production goods — everything from props to wardrobe to furniture – and donating them to people and places that need them,” she says.
“We have given ‘back-to-work’ clothes to battered women shelters. We just donated an upright Crate & Barrel piano to the Hubbard Street Dance Company.”
Zaffarano expects to launch the charity in LA later this year and believes it will be fully embraced “since there’s nothing here like it here.”
The ideas of expansion and reinvention are nothing new to the producer. She began as a SAG actress and model, but wanted to do more. “I wanted to be in the mire, not just the pretty one on set. I wanted to get my hands dirty and be collaborative.”
This passion led her to open A Zaffarano Productions in 2009. It quickly became a “go-to” collaborative resource for independent directors, producers, photographers and agencies.
Her company has produced advertising campaigns for clients including Harley-Davidson, Bank of America, Crest, DePaul University and Hampton Hotel.
Zaffarano widened the company’s scope into entertainment when she produced director Larry Ziegelman’s award-winning superhero fan film, “Little Man of Steel.”
Next on her list of aspirations is to direct. “It’s going to happen. I’m in talks to possibly produce and direct an LGBT-targeted web series.”
Former Chicagoan, Colin Costello, is an LA-based screenwriter whose most recent credit is the PBSKids science series, “Moochie Kalala Detectives Club.”
