Leonardi is known for writing with an intimate, vulnerable, yet explosive exploration of the darker side of humanity, peering into every character's soul - her stories often coming to life through the lens of a female character.
Gabriella Leonardi is a multifaceted talent whose work spans screenwriting, poetry, acting and modelling, consistently garnering critical acclaim and awards. Her debut screenplay, The Little Boy and the Duck on a Cliff’s Edge, has won multiple prestigious awards, including Best Drama Screenplay at The New York Screenwriting Awards, Best Drama Screenplay and overall Winner at the 2024 Gil International Screenwriting Awards, Best Young Screenwriter under 30 at The Chicago Script Awards, Best First Time Screenwriter plus Best Drama Screenplay at Best Script Awards London and Best Drama Screenplay at the Oxford Script Awards. She has now completed a further three feature scripts, with WELCOME TO ESCAPATORIA being her fourth screenplay. She is also a best selling Poet of the series ‘The Art of a Damaged Soul’.
She has just launched her own production company 'Damaged Soul Productions' with her debut short as slate 1 ‘ created with a zero budget - 'The Mirror That Consumes You' a neon soaked, poetic exploration of body image, distorted beauty, and the quiet unraveling that happens when chasing a dream in an image obsessed world.
On the brink of thirty, THING an aspiring actor, is stopped mid stride by a growing unease with her own reflection. Caught between mirrors, screens, and ambition, she wrestles with self image and the quiet fear that she may never be “enough” - for the industry, the audience, or herself.
Told through a neon kaleidoscope of memory, imagination, and distortion, the film captures the suffocating pressure of beauty in a world built on filters and perfection. It’s an intimate exploration of what it means to chase a dream in an image obsessed culture and how easily that dream can turn into a mirror that consumes you. Blending her poetry, evocative imagery, and haunting soundscapes with the electrifying pulse of anxiety, she conjures a neon chaos - a dazzling kaleidoscope of emotion and light with Body Dysmorphia having its own character portrayed by the red light. This film is currently in the festival circuit.
