Margarita Zhitnikova

MARS (they/them) is an award-winning actor, writer & producer. As a child, MARS & their family immigrated to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, as Jewish refugees from Russia. Dedicated to smashing the patriarchy, MARS Co-Founded Besties Make Movies.  MARS has received several Best Actress nominations for their work in the award-winning short film JONES. Their film 2 WEEKS about asexuality premiered at the Oxford Film Festival, screened at NFMLA and won Best LGBT Short at Indie Short Fest and IndieX Film Fest. APPETITE, a short film they wrote and starred in, premiered at the Oxford Film Festival. The feature film Triple Threat in which they play one of the lead roles is now streaming on Peacock after taking home several awards on the festival circuit! This summer you can catch them as Jeanine in AppleTV+'s Presumed Innocent. Their script ZASHA, which they co-wrote, has been doing festivals and recently won Best Horror Short at the Oregon Short Film Festival.