Read more about Natalija!

It was a dark and stormy afternoon, and after an extensive labor, Natalija was born in spring of 2005. She emerged from the womb with a smile on her face, indicating to her parents that the party was about to begin. And a party did in fact start, and is not planning to end any time soon. 

Natalija had a very fun childhood. She grew up with two parents, who loved her very much and always supported her, and a younger brother. Her parents, who immigrated to the United States in their teenage years, decided to raise Natalija and her brother in their respective cultures. Natalija grew up learning Serbian and Spanish as her first languages, hearing them from both of her parents speaking at home while also being taken care of by both of her grandmothers. She also spent most of her vacations visiting family in Serbia and Mexico, furthering her connection to her cultures. Her best childhood memories come from hanging out with her cousins and friends in Serbia. Because of her unique upbringing, Natalija wants to tell stories about others who may have similar experiences growing up Serbian or in a multicultural household. 

When Natalija was almost eleven years old, she saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015) for the first time. This started the four year long rabbit hole that she entered into where she became obsessed with the Star Wars franchise. Because of constantly obsessing over these films, Natalija decided she wanted to make films of her own. In eighth grade, she started taking Video Production at her middle school, and instantly fell in love with it. She realized that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. When she started high school, she continued taking film classes all four years. Even though the film program at Natalija's high school got worse after COVID-19, she persisted by making work outside of the class and furthering her career through freelance commissions and on set experience. 

As Natalija started college, she was ready to move her life to a big city and start making films. In college, aside from pursuing an education in film, Natalija was able to get on several film sets throughout the years, with roles ranging from directing her own independent short film, to assistant directing, to production coordinating, and even starting out as a production assistant. Natalija loves being busy, especially with film sets and preproduction. She loves taking a challenge and risks to new things she has not tried before. She loves overworking herself and working on multiple projects at the same time while giving each project the attention it needs. She currently has a development internship at both Cold Iron Pictures and Parallel 42 Entertainment in which she reads and evaluates scripts. As of May 2026, Natalija moved to Los Angeles to participate in Columbia College Chicago’s Semester in LA, and after completing, she will start her professional career there. Natalija has always dreamed of living in Los Angeles and is excited to start her career in the film industry!