ABOUT ME
I am a mother, artist, & avid gardener, in addition to acting, directing, and storytelling. Willingness to explore many paths and allow them to inform each other is at the core of who I am and how I create.
As an actor for the past 20 years, I have appeared in dozens of TV shows, films and commercials; Amazon Studios The Power, NCIS: Hawaii, Good Trouble, American Sniper, Arrested Development, NCIS, The Mentalist, Sons of Anarchy, Masters of Sex, Six Feet Under to name just a few.
As a director, I specialize in period pieces, including the Peabody nominated "King of the Bingo Game" for PBS, starring Colman Domingo and adapted from the story by Ralph Ellison, "Darling, Darling, Wendy", which garnered numerous awards on the festival circuit in 2020, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Sensible Thing", and the humorous series "The Wisdom of Children" for Nick Mom, as well as many plays. I directed the dark thriller "Donner Pass" starring Erik Stocklin and Adelaide Kane that aired on Showtime and had a wide digital release.
I also write and/or direct work for myself, and am currently touring a full length solo project entitled Imagining Rachel that explores the life and work of environmentalist Rachel Carson through the lens of my experience as a mother and fellow daughter of Pittsburgh. Past self-produced/directed vehicles include comedy sketches The PTA Rap, the Sex Negotiators, and Mommy Tell Me a Story, all on the MomMayhem youtube channel.
I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, then made my way halfway across the country to Northwestern University, where I studied directing, acting and literary adaptation, and minored in fine art. After college, I continued my trek west, landing in San Francisco, where I began my career in the film industry as a character painter on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. I went on to do scenic work on numerous features, and supervise the art department for ABC's stop motion cartoon Bump in the Night and my own model and character shop with clients ranging from Will Vinton Studios to Sony and Atari, before transitioning into directing.
I am Mom to two amazing girls, Stella and Sadie, and If I’m not on set, writing, or driving the girls to their various activities, you’ll probably find me on a ladder fixing something at the house or in my tiny urban garden, where I grow everything from asparagus to zucchini (see my daily pics on instagram @1thingfrommygarden ).