Zara Symes

ZARA SYMES is an Australian-Scottish writer and director working between Sydney and London. Her stories explore shifting identities, the female experience, and sexuality, often through inventive, genre-driven worlds that feel both thrilling and deeply human.

Her feature script A TO Z was awarded The Athena List 2025, celebrating screenplays that amplify women’s voices in STEM. Zara’s most recent short film, HE DIED BUT WOULDN’T LEAVE was funded by the BFI and produced with Euras Films, examining end-of-life care of ageing parents through a genre lens. Written and directed by Zara, the film is now in post-production.

Zara has brought her talents into high-profile spaces, joining the writers’ room for an upcoming AppleTV series and developing projects with The Forge, The Imaginarium, Ruby Rock Pictures, Tall Story Pictures, and Intaglio Films. She has recently completed a four-part television adaptation of Victor Hugo’s THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME for Intaglio Films, with Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance attached, and a television adaptation of C.J. Tudor’s bestselling novel THE TAKING OF ANNIE THORNE developed for The Imaginarium with Richard Armitage attached. She is currently developing originals and adaptations in the UK, US and Australia.

She began her career at NBCUniversal working in the Distribution, Research and Programming departments, and later served as script consultant on the studio’s Venice and Berlinale-nominated VR/AR series ELEVEN ELEVEN, showcasing her fluency across both traditional and emerging storytelling platforms.

A member of BAFTA Connect, Zara is carving out a distinctive voice in international film and television, creating stories that entertain, unsettle, and stay with audiences long after the credits roll.