Francesca is a London-based writer and director.
They trained in performing arts at Goldsmiths, before forging skills in production and the wider industry by working with companies including Universal Pictures, New Regency and See-Saw Films.
Francesca’s short UNDONE, about an encounter between a young woman and an older married woman, screened at Aesthetica, Inside Out, NewFest and Pan-African Film Festival amongst others, and was picked up for distribution by Peccadillo Pictures. Previous work includes THE FLOOD, an allegorical short about the climate and migrant crisis commissioned by the Central School of Speech & Drama, and LYNCH, a short about social phobia and paranoia commissioned by ad agency DLV BBDO.
Francesca was mentored by director Gina Prince-Bythewood, with whom they worked extensively on Netflix’s film THE OLD GUARD, starring Charlize Theron. They worked with producer Andrea Cornwell and writer Anna Symon on Apple TV+ series THE ESSEX SERPENT, directed by Clio Barnard. They were also a visiting writer on Season 3 of HBO show, SUCCESSION, as part of the HBO UK Directors Program.
Affiliations & Awards
BAFTA Connect Member
Women In Film Pathmaker Awardee (2021)
Encounters FF Widening The Lens: Shorts to Feature Scheme (2017-2018)
Contact
francesca.castelbuono@gmail.com
Strange Machine
www.strangemachine.uk