My inspiration to stay in this cuckoo bananas industry draws from the creative sensibilities of folks like Mike Nichols, the Zucker Brothers, Agnès Varda, Mike Leigh and Christopher Guest. They taught me to have fun, leave things unspoken (unless they’d be hilarious if spoken), never let your characters off the hook, and above all, to stay curious.

I used to consider myself a storyteller, a notion that has become so ubiquitous as to have lost all meaning. Beyond “telling,” I discover, develop, mess around with, question and craft share the stories I am involved with, from 30-second commercials to hour-long branded content documentaries to Oscar-winning feature films to emerging podcasts.

I’ve been writing stories in some form since I was about 7 years old, and while my skill and sensibilities have matured exponentially since then, I still laugh at fart jokes.

It takes pluck, luck and follow-through to survive in the film industry. That magic combination has brought me opportunities to work with some of the most creative filmmakers of our time, including Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, and Mira Nair. Across budgets ridiculously large and ridiculously small, with A-list talent or unlikely documentary subjects, the projects I’ve been a part of have introduced the world to unforgettable characters, unimaginable realms, and reveal the messy beauty that is life.