Gianna Barberia

Born and raised in New York, Gianna was exposed to the arts and developed a love for creative expression at a young age.

Gianna is an avid writer and received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Northeastern University.

She currently works as a social media editor at The Wall Street Journal. Some of her previous newsrooms include The Boston Globe, NBC News and CBS News.

In her free time, you can find her writing scripts at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Her full-length play INTERVENTION was a second rounder in the stage play category of the 2026 Austin Film Festival Script Competition, and her ten-minute play GALAGA was selected as a semifinalist for the 2026 PlayList project with Cry Havoc. Her half-hour comedy pilot YOUNG BUCKS was a second rounder in the comedy teleplay pilot category of the 2026 Austin Film Festival Script Competition, as well as a quarterfinalist for the 2025 ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition and an honorable mention for the 2024 Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Additionally, her half-hour comedy pilot CO-OP was a second round selection for the 2025 ISA’s Fast Track Fellowship.

Her short play Z-A-K will be performed at the 16th Annual Tri-State Theatre Festival in Spring Lake, NJ, in November 2026.