“Radical and warm at the same time” – Huff Post
As a multi-award-winning filmmaker, my films have screened at Sundance and the United Nations, garnered Best Documentary and Visionary Awards on the festival circuit, and been featured in Variety, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Forbes, NBC, and ABC. While the subjects vary, each story is rooted in my core values: curiosity, equity, and serenity.
How they’ve materialized has really been about being in the right place at the right time.
My first documentary film began with a two-month trip to Thailand in 2007. One day I wandered into an Elephant Hospital, where I met two elephant landmine survivors–the precocious Baby Mosha and the wise Motala–and the FAE Hospital founder Soraida Salwala. Soraida told me she was going to help Mosha and Motala walk again using prosthetics. I told her if she could do it, I would come back to film it. Five years and two trips later, the result was the 10-time award-winning documentary, THE EYES OF THAILAND, narrated by Ashley Judd and twice honored by the United Nations.
My second documentary film came out of a chance encounter with filmmaker Jamie Redford. I was on my way to produce a corporate brand film and happened to walk by the cinematographer, John Kiffmeyer, where he was having coffee with Jamie. Apparently, Jamie had just finished saying, “Do you know any producers with an educational background?” John knew I taught with Teach For America, so he waved me over. A few conversations later, I was producing THE BIG PICTURE: RETHINKING DYSLEXIA, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and on HBO.
In 2014, I was living in Colorado and recreational sales of cannabis had officially begun. Women were not only leading the fastest-growing industry but succeeding. I thought that was a pretty cool idea for a documentary, so I began filming MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED. The film features over 40 women across the United States, including Grammy-award-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge, and garnered Best Documentary and Visionary awards on the festival circuit.
All three films are available for educational and community screenings. Click to learn more.
Do you need help producing your film? Let’s chat! Book a 30-min virtual coffee with me.
