My journey actually began in musical theater. Growing up, I went to matinee performances of Singing in the Rain, Annie, The King and I, and The Wizzard of Oz, with my mother and three younger siblings. Then I would rent VHS tapes of the same musicals and watch them over and over again. The moment Dorothy stepped from her sepia-tone world into technicolor, I saw the power of visual storytelling for the first time which ignited my imagination as a storyteller. I promptly wrote, directed, and edited my own version of The Wizard of Oz with marionette puppets using my parent’s 90s camcorder. It wasn’t until I took the backlot tram ride at Universal Studios and saw how movies were made that I realized I could become a filmmaker. At sixteen, I enrolled in my community college’s only film class and directed my first film on black and white 16mm. Then came film school – I went to Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts to study directing. After taking an elective design class with the late production designer Lawrence Paull (Back to the Future, Blade Runner), I discovered I have a knack for visual storytelling through production design. Over the last decade, I’ve designed 30 feature films such as A LITTLE WHITE LIE starring Michael Shannon and Kate Hudson and the Emmy-nominated television series DARK/WEB for Amazon Studios. After directing a series of short films that garnered attention at Dances With Films, HollyShorts, and the Santa Monica International Film Festival, my directorial debut, TANGLED, a romantic comedy based on the series by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Emma Chase premiered in 2022. The film stars Katherine Hughes (MY DEAD EX) and Josh Plasse (ICARLY) and is available on Amazon.

I’ve had the pleasure of directing numerous genre-blending films over my career from period dramas to thrillers, to rom-coms, to most recently a dark comedy, and learned invaluable insights that I’ve added to my toolbox. I’ve grown in my craft and confidence as each new challenge arises from collaborating with new people, in new locations, with new actors, and have become a more well-rounded human become of it. My perspective has also been shaped by life experiences from recently traveling to Switzerland, becoming an aunt to four nieces, attending a Ludovico Einaudi concert, snorkeling with nurse sharks, and reading lots of books! I’m curious about everything, always wanting to learn new things about myself and my craft.

Blood, Sweat and Cheer is a dark comedy inspired by real events about a woman who impersonates her daughter, goes back to high school, and joins a cheer team to fulfill a dream she never achieved of competing in her senior dance competition. Think Mean Girls meets Heathers. It was an opportunity for me to lean into the psychological aspect of our heroine’s point of view in a stylized over-the-top fun way. I was greatly influenced by Black Swan and the downward spiral of a character becoming obsessed with being the best and fulfilling a dream, no matter the cost. The film is now streaming on Tubi an add-supported free streaming service with over 64 million monthly subscribers.

For me, the filmmaking process is super hands-on making moment-to-moment decisions and solving problems when they arise. I love thinking on my feet and collaborating with everyone on a film set to bring the story and characters to life. It’s my happy place!

I’m currently attached to a number of features that I’m taking out with my agent (once the strike is over), going on lots of general meetings, and looking to option a number of books. Also excited to expand my craft to episodic directing this year!

As an emerging director, I’m looking to elevate my craft with higher-budget feature films, working year-round on the projects I’m most passionate about, while also expanding into episodic television directing. It’s also very important to me to mentor the next generation of up-and-coming female filmmakers through my alma mater and various other ways.

Published by HOLR Magazine.