Maria Zatulovskaya

Maria Zatulovskaya, born January 9, 1987, is one of those behind-the-scenes forces in film that most folks don’t even realize are running the show. She’s got this knack for picking projects that explode off the screen—think “Hardcore Henry” (2015), that wild, first-person action flick that basically felt like being trapped in a video game with a jetpack strapped to your back. That movie turned a lot of heads, and a lot of that chaos and energy behind the curtain? Yeah, Maria had her fingerprints all over it. Then there’s “Searching” from 2018, which, honestly, flipped the whole thriller genre on its head. The entire story unfolds through screens—phones, laptops, you name it. It takes some guts to pull off a movie like that and actually make audiences care, but Maria helped guide it into this tense, twisty experience that kept people glued to their seats (and maybe made them eye their own tech a little differently). Before both of those projects, she had a hand in “Apollo 18” (2011), that found-footage lunar horror that basically made you never want to look at the moon the same way again. She’s not just about picking cool stories, though. Maria’s reputation is all about getting things done, even when the budget’s tight or the production’s a mess. Folks in the industry know she’s got this mix of creativity and sheer stubbornness, making her the go-to person when a project needs a steady hand. She’s not exactly a household name, but in movie circles? Maria Zatulovskaya’s a big deal.