ARTISTIC STATEMENT

I’ve always loved stories. They make much more sense than the world around me, and I believe that fully experiencing someone else’s art is the closest I can get to truly understanding their human experience. Beyond film’s place in art and media, I value it as a mode of communication and connection.

Because of this, I’m drawn to films that feel deeply personal. The work I want to consume and create has an earnest, raw, jagged edge no matter what the focus. I value expressing truth in emotions and instincts over literal realism. The heart of truth in the meaning, feeling, and expression. Creatively, I am inspired by the striking moods and visuals of German Expressionism, the quirky, character-driven naturalism of mumblecore, and the eerie, delicious pull of nostalgia.

Growing up, one of my favorite children’s book characters was Amelia Bedelia. You know her, she took things literally and did what she was told… just wrong. It’s not what people wanted, or expected, but it always made perfect sense to her, and to the readers who understood her. There’s a sense of finding your people that I hope to cultivate in my own work (all of it, not just my grindhouse-style horror adaptation where Amelia herself is an exploited serial killer).

I explore themes of identity, mental illness and neurodiversity, relationships (romantic, platonic, and familial, all of which can be equally important and equally devastating); I like to find the joy and humor in moments of sadness, and the deep sorrow that burns through joy. As a writer, I want to know what plagues my characters–what sits inside of them and lingers under the surface as they live their lives and make decisions. Destructive secrets, primal urges, the masks they wear.

There is always something that keeps us up at night. The characters, the audience, and me.