JULIA KOSTENEVICH | Producer UPM Prod Coordinator
Julia was born in Moscow, Russia to a family of Russian, Jewish, Armenian and Polish descent. Due to her diverse ancestry, she was brought up in a bohemian environment and learned at early age how to swim against the tide and overcome the unpredictable.
At the age of 13, guided by a family friend, she took her first acting classes at the oldest and largest theatre school in Russia, GITIS. After graduating the high school, Julia spent one year to prepare herself for the major audition -- the entrance exam to the most prestigious Russian drama school. During her preparation, she worked on classical repertoire by Shakespeare, Chekhov and Pushkin.
After a long exhausting auditioning process, beating 350 other contestants, Julia was finally accepted to the M.S. Shepkin Higher Theatre Institute. Associated with the State Maly Theatre in Moscow, it is one of the oldest drama schools in the world.
During her student years, Julia became frequent on Russian Television as a Guest star in various shows such as Mech, Ya Lechu, Krest v Kruge and Russian version of How I Met your mother.
After receiving her BFA, she moved to Los Angeles to study Method acting in The Lee Strasberg Institute and Meisner Technique with Janet Alhanti. Her journey in the theatre continued with the role of Marlene Dietrich in MACHA Theatre. She also appeared on the screen in various productions. Among them was Shazam And The Lost Path, featuring amazing talents form the Cirque du Soleil and Face, which was the Horror selection at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Her latest role was in Jack’s Jacuze, a web series produced by the Monkey Sheriff Company. She worked as well as a Russian voice over for the Rosneft- Sochi 2014 edition and Expo 2020-Yekaterinburg bid commercials, directed and produced by Rupert Wainwright.
Julia didn’t want to limit her opportunities and recently started as a producer. Her debut was a dark comedy Tragiometry, set in the 19th century England. She also produced few commercials, including one for an upcoming event app IMAGINACTION.
Julia constantly seeks for new ideas and possibilities, so she can fully explore her creativity, passion and enthusiasm. All she wants is to find an unordinary way to touch people’s souls and inspire them with beautiful stories.