I remember toddling down the stairs, hearing him belt out Burning Love. Mom came out later and my folks split up. She worked two jobs most of the time. She’d drop me at the Akron Cineplex and I’d stay there all day, pay for the matinee then sneak into one or two more. The movie theater was like a second home to me. I fell in love with the magic of storytelling. It made me long to grow up and tell my own stories — to be a writer — but that always seemed like a fantasy.
Got my first gig at 12 washing dishes at Tommy Bruno’s Bar & Grill. Paid under the table. When I got out of high school I roamed the states for years trying to figure out who I was. Four years in the Navy tracking submarines. Two years studying music. File clerk in a police station. And a brief bout as the world’s worst waitress. I wrote about my experiences. About my family. All the strange, surprising people I met along the way. And I finally realized — I am a writer.
So I transferred to NYU. Terrified to be alone in the Big Apple, that huge city I only knew from episodes of “Taxi.” But I fell in love with it. Worked as assistant to a very eccentric artist. Production intern for the editor of Ken Burns’ “The West.” Edited school books at McGraw-Hill. I sang in a rock band. Wrote some songs.
And discovered my passion for writing screenplays.
My life since then has been a love letter to storytelling. A heartfelt affair that sometimes feels like a bad boyfriend I can’t quit. My screenplay Loved Ones was developed at Amazon Studios and came oh so close to winning Best Screenplay of the Year. My girlhood as a latchkey kid inspired my film Love’s Baby Soft, starring Alexa Swinton (“Thunderbolts*,” “And Just Like That…,” “Maestro”). I wrote radio scripts for Wynton Marsalis and a teen comedy for Applause Films. Fulfilled a childhood dream when I sailed to the UK and spent three months exploring England, Wales, and Scotland.
Now I’m living in New Jersey as a filmmaker, writer, web producer, and ice cream addict. Current gig is helping Carnegie Hall maintain their website. My first children’s book, What Do Trees Think? is available on Amazon. And I recently produced a documentary about Mom’s struggle with faith in the wake of Alzheimer’s. In the Night I Remember Your Name features Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden. It’s streaming on PBS.
I'm so proud of all the honors and blessings my films and screenplays have achieved over the years, from those insecure first steps to sharing Mom's story on PBS.
As a kid I knew deep down music and movies would be the path for my deepest connection to God. My truest source of joy. Mom showed me that with a little faith and a lot of courage I could achieve any dream, and that kindness must come above everything, or those dreams won’t mean anything.
