Tell us about how you got started in the industry and what you’re
currently pursuing.
I’m currently prepping a short film I’ve written and will direct called “cat.”
about a woman who signs up for a dating coaching service in search of
her soulmate but ends up marrying a cat. It was a semi-finalist at
Women in Media’s CAMERAderie initiative in fall of 2020 and will be my
final project at UCLA Extension, where I’m currently the 2021 recipient of
the Ingrid Skulstad Williams Scholarship to complete my Certificate in
Directing.
I always danced around my room and told jokes as a kid; I grew up in
Chicago, it was miserably cold so I had to keep everyone amused. I
studied theatre at Northwestern, acted a bit in Chicago then moved to
NYC and choreographed Off-Broadway, came back to Chicago &
opened a union theatre company which I ran for 7 years. I was granted a
space, which was pretty cool, and I would host singer-songwriters on
Monday nights, and most of them were women, and I always had a
crush on film and I asked a couple of them if I could shoot their music
videos. From there I got a Driehaus/MacArthur grant to study music
video at the Rolling Stone Music Video program at NYFA in NYC. I
figured I would be ready for the moment when I would shoot the film of
the Broadway show I directed, but I just kept getting work in film. I

directed music videos in NYC and eventually choreographed one in Los
Angeles. The crews were sick and the sun was out and it was February
and I said, okay, I’m in. So I moved. “The Last Croissant” was my first
official foray into narrative filmmaking from music video and it’s going
well for me, so this feels like my jam: taking that kid who skirted around
the living room dancing to the opening theme of Happy Days and then
sitting down and watching the comedy. Both choreography and comedy
are a big part of my life now, and now I get paid to do it. I’m pretty
grateful.
What sort of stories are you drawn to telling? I like telling absurd
stories about women because what better way to deal with a world that
tells us there’s only one way to be. It’s changing though…mercifully…

Do you have a genre of choice? Why?
I work in many arenas but comedy has become my true north – I think
it’s a service, and the best way to process the strange things that occur
in my life. As Joan Rivers says, “If you’ve made someone laugh, you’ve
given them a small vacation.” I think we need that always, and especially
now.

How are you approaching forging a path for yourself in this
industry?

Well I hope I already have, but I’m making my own work with the best
collaborators who radiate excellence not only in their craft but in their
work ethic. That’s the secret sauce. I am holding on to collaborators who
enhance my work and mine theirs. That’s the dream, really. I work with
terrific actors and crew members and these are the people to whom I will
be loyal as my career progresses. I also know myself at this point, and
I’ve started to learn who and what won’t work for me. That’s sometimes
equally important as knowing what will. My goal is to direct things like
The Hangover but for women, or Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle –
dealing with the complexities of female friendship and co-existing in this
world while societal standards pull us in one direction or another and
how those judgments and circumstances can affect our own
relationships. I am very active in women’s groups – Alliance of Women

Directors, Women in Media, Women in Film, and Glass Elevator. I’m a
big fan of each of them and I believe the only way all women are going
to rise up is if we are 100% inclusive and advocate for one another. It is
crucial.

Your Process
Tell us more about your process as you prep for a film, or as you’re
on set. What’s the first thing you do when you get a script?
I read it. Then I decide if I want to work on it or not, if I have something I
will bring to it. Sometimes it’s something I’d rather see than make – I
have to be specific with that distinction. I know when it’s my gig or it’s not
– if I can get into the story, then it’s a yes, if I can apply my experiences
to it and enhance it, then cool. I’m in. Count me in. I also work as a
choreographer when there’s not a global pandemic and the same gut-
thought process applies.

At the moment I’m writing my own work and I write it with my gut and my
bones – it’s very visceral, and then I have trusted eyes and friends give
me notes. That’s an important part of the process as well – knowing
whom to ask and knowing whom to listen to. #1 is your gut.
What’s one lesson you learned working on your last film?
Make it. Edit comedy fast or you’re thinking too much. I filmed AIRWAY
on February 26, 2020 and I didn’t know if it was funny or not once I
started editing in March, because not much felt funny. I didn’t know if
anyone would ever fly again or if I had just shot historical fiction but,
hindsight is 2020 (see what I did there) and I’ve learned the move is just
to plow through – if you overthink every shot in a comedy you take the
fun out of it and while I’m very meticulous, there’s a difference between
being detail-oriented and particular, and it’s the particular that just isn’t
funny. I don’t know why, but it isn’t. Maybe because there’s judgment
associated with it. But if you laugh, trust it. If an audience laughs, trust
that. I edited AIRWAY over a course of months, which makes it a good
film but I didn’t know anymore if it was funny. At the Alliance of Women
Directors we have a monthly Works in Progress Program in conjunction
with Canon and I was assured the results had aligned with my intentions,
thankfully!

Also, make your films, don’t dawdle. I got this in the can before the world
shut down and I’m glad I acted quickly to create a sequel to Last
Croissant. You (apparently) never know when there will be a global
pandemic or there will be a bear in your neighborhood. (There is
currently a bear in my neighborhood and it will be the subject of the next
short I write.)

Any other practical tips for producing or for indie filmmaking in
general?
Find people with whom you click, aesthetically and energetically. It’s
really important. Stay on budget. I’m a big fan of working with women –
AIRWAY was created by a 98% female crew. Since my last film was
shot in February 2020, I’ve learned, which I already knew but has since
been reinforced – never take a day of filmmaking for granted, it is a true
gift. And: there will always be a next film. Trust (good) people who are
good at marketing with your marketing – it’s a different practice than
making a film.