Biography of Azita Zendel
Writer-Producer-Director, Author

Azita Zendel is the writer-producer-director of the movie CONTROLLED CHAOS, a hilarious tale of a Hollywood Assistant based on her four years as Oliver Stone’s assistant, when he directed JFK, HEAVEN & EARTH, NATURAL BORN KILLERS and NIXON.

Azita Zendel is also the author of the career guidebook HOLLYWOOD APPRENTICE: How to Break Into Hollywood & Survive the Toxic Boss Syndrome.

Azita Zendel has appeared as a guest expert on numerous national radio and local TV shows, with hosts of such varied opinion as National Public Radio’s Warren Olney and KABC’s Larry Elder.

 Azita Zendel has been extensively featured in several books, "The New Yorker" magazine, "The New York Times," "The International Herald Tribune," "The Los Angeles Times," and many other newspapers.

Azita Zendel’s talking points are just as varied, and reflect her diverse background and experience. Azita Zendel has lectured for prestigious organizations like the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

Azita Zendel has also lectured for educational associations like The Media Workshops, a non-profit foundation that introduces young people to the workings of the entertainment industry. The Media Workshops has maintained a national reputation as the best-organized and run media program in the country, and  has earned the support and participation of the major film studios and TV networks like Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, Walt Disney Company, Paramount, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox networks.

Ms. Zendel’s educational seminars and consulting advice have helped High school and College students secure jobs in the film industry, and she has personally hired and trained over fifty assistants and interns.

Azita Zendel was a reporter and a producer for KRSI radio, an international radio station that serves a similar function to the voice of America. KRSI tackles topics that are related to the Middle East, Islam and Iran and gets broadcast to a worldwide audience via satellite and the internet.

Azita Zendel spent her childhood in Iran and experienced the Iranian Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war first hand. Her family was suspected of being western sympathizers because they were Jews. Her father was jailed and tortured for ten years and was eventually executed on a series of trumped up charges. She escaped to the United States with her mother and brother.

Azita Zendel worked in several medical offices and insurance companies, tutored kids, and worked as a legal secretary for three years in order to put herself through college.

Since Ms. Zendel had been taking ballet and singing classes ever since she was six-years old, she  sang and danced in several plays and musicals in high school. She also competed at the prestigious acting competition of the DTASC Drama Festival in Los Angeles.

Azita Zendel attended the UCLA Undergraduate Film School, where she wrote, produced and directed the short film ASHES. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors from UCLA with a degree in Communication Studies and conducted extensive research on the impact of gender roles and mass communication systems on society.

Azita Zendel temped for such high-profile film production companies as Carolco, the producers of BASIC INSTINCT, and the TERMINATOR and RAMBO movies series. Azita Zendel was offered an internship by the head of Oliver Stone's production company and was quickly promoted to the position of Mr. Stone’s second assistant by his executive assistant.

When she wrote a detailed critique of one of Mr. Stone's scripts, Mr. Stone incorporated her ideas in his script and placed several of her scenes in his movie intact. He also offered her a position as his executive assistant.

She worked with Oliver Stone during the four years that turned out to be the most prolific period of Oliver Stones bio filmography, when he wrote and directed four films and produced the following nine additional films: