When I was fourteen years old I sat three rows away from the screen in a packed movie theatre on the opening night of Fellowship of the Ring. This was the first time I can remember realizing that there was something fantastic about the creation of a film. I stayed in my seat long after the last scene had faded to black, watching the names of the hundreds of people who had worked on the film slowly scrolling upwards.
I have always been a storyteller – using my dolls as actors, writing in cramped cursive in my school notebooks and sometimes with a flashlight in the darkness to scare my sister before bedtime. From an early age I had a desire to connect with people, and when I went to university I realized the way I wanted to do it was through directing.
I love collaborating with others – to bring in new voices and to find hidden strengths that people often don’t know they have. I love the feeling of the makeshift family that comes with weeks of planning, meetings and rehearsals that run late into the night. I want to tell my stories in a way that deeply impact both the audience and those involved in the production.
Earlier this year I directed my first short film out of university, after switching majors from performing arts to filmmaking. I co-wrote the script, worked for nearly two years to raise the budget and then thrived for a weekend of sixteen hour shooting days. We had twenty people in our cast and crew and by the end of the shoot it wasn’t just my project anyone – there was a sense of pride and ownership from everyone involved.
I’m at the beginning of my career as a director, and I’m really excited to work on new productions, work with new people and learn everything I possibly can.