Northern Illinois University
Department of Communication
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Associate Professor
Media Studies

Education and Experience

• M.F.A., Columbia College Chicago
  • Specialties: film and video production
• Program Coordinator, Digital Media Production Certificate 
• Program Coordinator, Film and TV Studies Undergraduate Certificate

Courses Taught

• COMS 357: Introduction to Studio Production
• COMS 358: Introduction to Field Production
• COMS 427: Advanced Narrative Field Production
• COMS 436: Advanced Post-Production
• COMS 463: Advanced Studio Production
• COMS 466: Narrative Scriptwriting

Recent Filmography

Documentary

• Go Penguins! (2017) 84 min. Director, Executive Producer, Editor.

A feature-length documentary that follows a theatre troupe’s journey to produce a Broadway-style musical featuring children and young adults with developmental disabilities in lead and ensemble roles. Recipient of Illinois Humanities Council Production Grant and NIU Division of Research and Innovation Partnership Opportunity and Completion Grants.

Festival Screenings in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Indianapolis, Chicago. Winner of Best Feature Documentary at the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival.

Go Penguins! Trailer.

• Altered Barbie Workshop (2015) 10 min. Director, Producer, Editor. 

Done in Collaboration with NIU’s Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality. 
A series of young people reflect on and re-envision their Barbie dolls in this eye-opening documentary short. Winner of a 2015 CINDY (Cinema in Industry) Award.

• Toward the Blue (2009) 10 min. Director, Producer, Editor, Writer.

Looking back at film footage of his West Hollywood neighborhood, a filmmaker wonders how his dreams fit into the world of gay adult film stars. 
Winner of Best Experimental Film (Second Place) at the 2010 Columbus International Film + Video Festival, featured in Volume 25 of the Journal of Short Film and screened in fifteen international film festivals. 

Narrative

• The Pin (2017) 15 min. Director, Executive Producer, Editor.

When the boss’s son harasses the openly gay receptionist, a closeted mechanic must stand up for what he knows is right. 
The project was crewed by media students from NIU’s Department of Communication and made in collaboration with the NIU Department of Theatre and Dance. Festival Screenings in Washington DC and Florida.

• Sylvia’s Spell (2011) 13 min. Director, Executive Producer, Writer.

An amateur witch must undo a magical spell when it has unexpected consequences on her gay best friend. Festival screenings in San Diego, Philadelphia, Tucson and Mumbai.

• Beverly and Roger (2009) 12 min. Director, Executive Producer, Writer.

When Beverly discovers what her husband, Roger, has hidden in the trunk of his 1954 Chevy, she must ask him to give up the one thing he loves most in the world so that their thirty-year marriage can survive. Festival screenings throughout the Midwest.

• Dolls (2008) 9 min. Director, Executive Producer, Writer, Editor.

When a garage sale turns violent, a mother is forced to come to terms with her teenage son’s sexuality. Festival screenings in over forty film festivals on five different continents. Winner of 2008 Best Men’s Short Film at Q Cinema Film Festival in Fort Worth, Texas, and Best Gay Short Film from the 2008 Great Lakes Film Festival. 
Currently featured in Frameline Voices online streaming video series.