i was…
born in Bulgaria
raised in Chicago
educated across New York City, Florence, and Copenhagen
i hold…
a BFA from NYU’s Film and TV Department
[with minors in Creative Writing and Sociology]a MA in Media Studies from the University of Copenhagen
Inspired by the theorist-directors of the past, I love engaging with moving images through academia and filmmaking alike. My masters thesis combined a theoretical and practical approach to film, not only analyzing non-traditional approaches to narrative structure, but also utilizing them to complete a full length feature screenplay, Bravado, which would go on to become a Semi-Finalist in the Best Music Screenplay category at the Nashville Film Festival.
My films and screenplays often use non-traditional modes of narrative and storytelling, including multiple perspectives and multiple chronologies, to explore pop culture subjects through techniques and approaches of ‘art’ cinema. I often return to themes of dis/connection, place as an expression of culture, emotion, and history, and manipulating time and space through memory, fantasy, and desire.
Or, more simply, I make strange and moody art about pop stars, superheroes, and the glamour that haunts our collective conscious.
I also love teaching storytelling and film techniques to young filmmakers, and coaching rock climbing. I’m currently working on a project to bring media, arts and storytelling education to a wider audience, with the goal of empowering young and traditionally underrepresented voices to become a more prominent part of the creative industries.
When I’m not writing screenplays, teaching, or making films, I do my best to cling onto skateboards and climbing walls, lurk on Formula One forums, and practice the art of finding the most atmospheric cafes in any city I step in.
three truths and a lie
I nearly studied Biology instead of Filmmaking
My favorite place to skate is Venice Beach Skatepark
The screenplay I wrote in high school was optioned when I was 19
I’ve moved to multiple countries without having visited them first