Bio
I’m a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a concentration in Dramatic Writing. My book The Truth About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Rowman & Littlefield) is in its second printing. Popular in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, it has launched a domestic educational speaking tour and film. I received a Nissan FOCUS award for my screenplay Sticking Together and the Best Historical Screenplay award from the Houston Film Festival for my period drama Black and White. My dramatic screenplay Shadows In The Dust was an official selection of the Independent Feature Film Market, a semi-finalist for the Chesterfield Film Writer's Project, and launched the NYU Staged Reading Series, directed by Vincent Schiavelli. Three of my projects have been optioned for A-list actors.
Writer
Speaker
I draw from my book as well as my experiences as a patient and advocate. A former board member of the Los Angeles Repetitive Strain Injury Support group and the Cumulative Trauma Disorders Resources Network, I have been part of a global grass roots patient movement for 20 years. I’ve written over a dozen articles and made appearances at the California state capitol, KCBS Los Angeles, NPR, the Grammy Foundation, the American Federation of Musicians, Local 47, the Musicians Institute, the Musicians Foundation of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Public Library Main Branch Health Matters series, among others.
Filmmaker
I produced Imagine a School … Summerhill starring Rebecca DeMornay, Jake Weber, Tom Conti, Orson Bean and Peter Coyote. Directed by William Tyler Smith (The Third Mind), the film is about an alternative education school in England. It won four awards, including Moving Pictures Magazine's prestigious Excellence in Filmmaking and a Kids First! Award for Best Feature Film Ages 12-18. I also produced the narrative feature Letting Go, starring Todd Stashwick, Bokeem Woodbine, Christopher Knight, Eliza Roberts, Peter Scolari, and legendary music producer David Foster, in his debut performance. That film won Best Romantic Comedy at the Houston International Film Festival, and several other awards. Before starting my own company, I spent 7 years in development under the studio system at Universal Studios and Sony Pictures.
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My work in foreign sales and as a foreign correspondent covering the market circuit for The Business of Film magazine, taught me how to use publicity to raise equity financing and build a pre-release audience. Now as a consultant, I leverage these and other techniques from Hollywood to secure publishing contracts, game deals, equity financing, and world building as brand strategy for my clients.