Hidden Gems: Meet Rob Zazzali of Swim Swim Entertainment

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Zazzali

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I moved to LA to pursue an acting career and was fortunate to quickly book a few national commercials and a costar in an NBC series alongside Rick Hoffman from “Suits”. Recognizing the likeliest path to a successful acting career is creating your own work, I began to write screenplays. Then a colleague and I created an unscripted series which sold to Country Music Television. Somehow, the CMT exec trusted me to be Executive Producer and run the series. For the next decade I produced series for Discovery, History, MTV, TLC and others. Having never gone to film school, I learned many facets of filmmaking in the trenches.

But the call to act and write stayed loud. A few years ago, I left the unscripted world to focus on filmmaking. I created a web series that won multiple festival awards, and I booked co-starring roles on “Modern Family” and “This Is Us”. These were welcome affirmation that I was back where I was meant to be.

I recently reunited with an actor/writer friend to shoot our first feature film, “Shark Girl”, which was picked up for distribution and premiered on Apple TV+ and Amazon in July 2024. It’s available now on multiple streamers: https://linktr.ee/SharkGirlMovie

It’s a fun creature feature that delivers all the thrills and suspense of a classic indie horror. We’re proud of what we executed in a short time without a studio budget and it is quickly drawing a cult following. Our follow-up film premieres in fall 2024. We are taking numerous scripts to market to capitalize on our early momentum and secure funding for our film slate.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No. THE struggle is trying to enter and remain in an industry that does not have a wide entryway. My endgame is to be a working actor, but it is one of the hardest professions to control your fate. You hear “no” so often it becomes ambient white noise. So you go write screenplays, which is the most difficult discipline in Hollywood, at least to do it well. Which still leaves you seeking a job from the one person likely to hire you: Yourself. But you only get the gig if you can find the money and create a product you’re committed to defending against every fire that threatens it.

Thankfully, I’m stubborn enough to keep my eyes on the prize. That perseverance is supported by the work ethic I inherited from my parents. I try to make the best films I can, no matter our resources, pouring my heart into each one. I’ve learned that as seemingly impenetrable as this business is, it does reward tenacity, hustle… and a little naiveté. So I keep my head down, surround myself with hardworking, ethical people and trust that the work I do now will get us to our destination.

We’ve been impressed with Swim Swim Entertainment, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Justin Shilton I recently launched Swim Swim Entertainment. We’re currently focused on producing independent horror and thriller films. We are proud of our ability to do a lot with a little, stretching indie budgets far enough that viewers forget they’re watching a smaller film. We do this by being intimately involved with every aspect of the movie. We co-wrote and co-directed our first two films and did every task of “Shark Girl” from pre-production to post. We edited it. We did the color correction, sound mix and special effects. This gave us invaluable knowledge and appreciation for every aspect of movie-making.

With each subsequent film, we share more of the responsibilities with our growing team. This allows us to scale up the amount of films we do each year without sacrificing that hands-on, personal touch essential to delivering a movie that connects with an audience.

What’s amazing is even after one film, people are reaching out to us to co-produce our next ideas, as well as partner on their projects. It’s rewarding that our efforts have lead to people trusting us to collaborate with them. It doesn’t hurt that we have a blast doing what we do. I believe that the joy you have writing and shooting a film shows up on the screen. We work hard but work healthy. Our actors thrive in this environment and you see it in the final product.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Justin Shilton. He epitomizes my biggest piece of advice for anyone trying to break into this industry: Find a partner you can trust personally and creatively, and who works as hard as you do. It’s everything.

Kipp Tribble. He cast me in his first feature film years ago. He’s gone on to produce countless successful feature films. His wisdom and guidance for making our first film and starting a company has been invaluable. There’s not a more selfless guy in the industry.

My wife, Nikki Zazzali. Without her support and inspiration, I’d be toast. She gets it though. She’s an entrepreneur herself, running Revive Jewelry, a charitable jewelry company making a true impact in people’s lives. I often turn to her for business advice but also how the heck to properly raise our two young kids.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/SharkGirlMovie
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharkgirlmovie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharkgirlmovie/
• Other: https://www.robzazzali.com