BIO

I was raised in a small, rural town in north Florida. The only high school in town was across from a cow pasture if that tells you anything. Growing up, I did not watch much TV or play a lot of video games. Don't worry, it wasn't because my parents thought SpongeBob or Halo would make me a satanist or anything. We just didn't have cable or a lot of money. But we did have books and movies, lots of both. My childhood was filled with stories of everything from Magic Tree House to Charlie Chaplin.

With that level of immersion in books and movies, it was inevitable that I became a storyteller. My passion for telling stories manifested itself slowly and indirectly through a love of creation. At first, I it showed itself in how I made my friends laugh by acting goofy and telling jokes. That gave me the confidence to try acting. I began performing on the stage and in short films. Then came my movie making, my photography, and my 3D art projects ranging from miniature model houses to a coffee table made from pallet wood. I love making things with my hands and with my brain.

Despite my various creative outlets, there was one thing I thought I wasn't. I never considered myself a writer. My movie ideas came to me in images, not words. And my scripts were more outlines than actual scripts. Good writing seemed like something only actual writers could achieve. In my mind, I simply was not a good writer, and therefore did not deserve to be called a writer. College changed that opinion.

In college, it felt like I was writing all the time. I was constantly working on a draft for my ENC class or working on a history paper. In addition to the constructive criticisms, I started getting positive feedback on my work. Then it dawned on me. The first movies I made were not good. My first art project was a failure. And yet, I still called myself a filmmaker and an artist then, and still do now. It was through those failures that I earned those titles. Even when I was writing poorly, I was still a writer. It was only through college, when I started to show improvement, that I could finally see I am a writer. An improving writer, but a writer nonetheless.

"You are who you choose to be."

-The Iron Giant