Blackjack dealer; master carpenter for a metropolitan opera; high school drama teacher; pharmacuetical delivery driver; editorial assistant at the North American Review, the nation's oldest literary magazine; and game show contestant.  Not many writers could list all of those things on their résumé, but I can.  For me, life has been about new possiblities, taking chances, and exploring the road untraveled.  These experiences have made me a wiser, more intuitive writer, naturally weaving humor into the dramatic and drama into the comedic.  

 

Along the way, I earned three college degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the University of Southern California.  I studied with acclaimed writers and critics, including Roland Joffe, Nelson Gidding, Ben Masselink, Velina Hasu Houston, Elizabeth Wong, Paula Cizmar, and Peter Exline.  During this time, as an intern at Nomad Productions, I assisted Anne Bancroft in revising an original screenplay, and I worked as a script analyst at Echo Lake Entertainment and Creative Artists Agency.

 

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Awards & Recognition

The Adventures of Vagabond & Vixen, an original screenplay

          BlueCat Screenplay Competition 2015 – Semifinalist (Top 2% of 4494 entries)

          Beverly Hills Film Festival Screenwriting Competition – Finalist

          Landlocked Film Festival Screenwriting Competition - Semifinalist

          Gotham Screen Film Festival Screenwriting Competition – Semifinalist

         Back in the Box Screenwriting Competition  - Semifinalist

 

Barestage Theatre

         Winner, Six 10s @ Eight Annual 10-Minute Plays Festival, Love Bound

 

Final Flights Playwriting Contest

          Playwriting Semifinalist, The Dentist

 

 

Professional Productions - Theatre

Writer                                          Love Bound                                  University of Northern Iowa          Cedar Falls, IA       

Writer/Producer/Director        Phallic Pholklore Phantasy       Iowa Fringe Festival                         Des Moines, IA       

Writer/Producer/Director        The Iowa Cycle                            Iowa Fringe Festival                         Des Moines, IA       

Writer                                          Love Bound                                  Barestage Theatre                             Red Bluff, CA            

Writer/Producer/Director        Ten Men                                        24th Street Theatre                          Los Angeles, CA          

 

 

Guest Lectures

Christopher Vogler and the Mythology of Screenwriting, Iowa Motion Picture Association