Zia has made several successful short dramatic films including Pieces Together (2002), which won the Kodak Award at the 15th Annual Wellington Fringe Festival, and her most recent short, Eating Sausage (2004), which was officially selected for the London and Pusan International Film Festivals. Her short documentaries, entitled Footrot Raps (2003) and Making Fire (2004), have been broadcast on New Zealand television.

Zia currently lives and works in Auckland as a freelance writer, editor and director.