BIO
MISHKA TRACHTENBERG CARDENAS is a first-generation American-born daughter of a Soviet Jewish “refusnik” couple comprised of a puppeteering pixie woman, and her wounded but resilient engineer/mechanic beast of a husband. The pixie woman often insisted on taking costumes and life-sized puppets to the public park and create plays and films with Mishka…siblings in tow. And thus her love for theatre and film was born. Mishka received her MFA in acting at the FSU Asolo Conservatory where she fervently read as many scripts as she could and performed/understudied in many productions, including; INVENTING VAN GOGH as Hallie, THREE SISTERS as Masha, and AMADEUS as Constanze. After grad school, Mishka made the move to New York City where black box indie theatre became her savior, her most delicious of roles as Wendy in MYSTERIOUS SKIN. After a few years and a handful of very close “big breaks,” Mishka decided to come back to California. She shifted her focus to filmmaking, entering the biz by way of costume design. Mishka spent the next four years on set, designing for an array of Indies from Japanese horror, to Sci-fi, to the good ole College Classic. But Mishka wanted a family, and that came soon after. Pregnancy and birth was challenging…go figure…and forced Mishka to take a hiatus from being on set. But like all hardships, an opportunity was presented. The opportunity to write. And so she did. Nonstop. And over the course of seven years, her writing samples grew and grew, as well as a production company RABIOSA PICTURES and multiple successful short films/web series. Mishka has always been drawn to the period piece (exploring character through the context of different eras), and that is true for her style of writing. She leans into dark, salacious, accidentally hilarious, character-driven, dramedy. Exploring the human psyche, exposing their limitations, and pushing their boundaries. With that said, she’ll rarely miss an opportunity to sprinkle in physical touch and deep love.