Arielle Reitsma

Arielle Reitsma was born in California and understood early on that in Los Angeles, image is a currency that changes value quickly.

Her first steps in the industry didn't come in front of a film camera but in high-fashion photo shoots. Still, modeling was just the necessary toll for getting into the offices where casting decisions are made.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2015, she appeared in Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, a Paramount production that taught her how a major studio machine works. She wasn't chasing critical praise with that role. She wanted to learn how a multimillion-dollar set is managed while the makeup team applies latex to dozens of extras.

Behind the lens

Many actors sit around waiting for the phone to ring. Reitsma decided her name should also appear in the production credits so she wouldn't depend on luck. In 2017 she worked on Small Town Crime and The Scent of Rain and Lightning, two projects that marked the turning point toward a drier, less commercial kind of cinema.

It hasn't been a straight path.

Because the American film business punishes anyone without a Plan B, she began getting involved in financing and developing stories that moved away from the spotlight of the red carpet.

She wanted total control.

Maturity in the action genre

In 2021 she joined the cast of the new version of Gossip Girl for HBO Max. It was a return to television with a more defined profile. But her real career breakthrough came in 2024 with Breathe, a survival thriller in which she shares the marquee with Jennifer Hudson and Milla Jovovich.

Filming Breathe demanded a level of physical preparation that Reitsma had never faced before. The film was shot under the direction of Stefon Bristol with an estimated budget of $20 million. At this stage of her career, she prefers scripts that raise moral dilemmas in extreme situations.

In late 2024, her focus shifted to creating independent content through her own company. The goal is to produce at least two feature films a year without interference from the major studios in Burbank.