Filmmaking is often thought to be a male-dominated pastime; no doubt that's probably true most of the time, but Ortner has always been able to hold her own. In fact, on set she becomes "just one of the guys." Ortner confides this is deliberate on her part. "When I'm working on a set, it's t-shirts and jeans all the way," she says. "A lot of guys treat me differently otherwise, either by dismissing me because I'm female and they think I must not know what I'm doing, or they just act weird around me." She jokingly adds "Plus, skirts don't really jive with this sort of work."
The other obvious reason Ortner is able to hold her own is because she's great at what she does. She is a Renaissance Woman when it comes to filmmaking, which has served her well, both behind the camera and in front of it: "Being an editor has made me a better director because I know how much coverage to get. You find that out when you sit down and realize you have nothing to cut to. Watching actors perform on the computer screen over and over and having to act myself has definitely made me more empathic as a director and a writer."
Her current project, Under The Bed, is a thriller that takes place between a psychopathic killer and two sisters. Ortner has written the story, and is producing and directing it. Asked how she could have conceived of such a dark and twisted concept, Ortner smiles, "I've just got to be me. I tend toward that sort of thing -- for what reason, I don't know. I like to watch action and horror, so I like to make action and horror, but I don't think that's the end of the road for me."
One thing is certain: Angela Ortner is just getting started.
