Can you speak a bit about this piece? How did it come about?
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This piece was really a form of catharsis for me after over a decade in the modeling industry. I think at that point I wasn’t even conscious of the effect the industry had had on me. I was really into watching early Marina Abramovic and Ulay videos at the time, and was definitely inspired by them. I just wrote this weird piece, and told my friend (David Roemer who produced the short) and he was like cool, let’s make it.
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I believe you made the original footage ten years ago when you were still modeling. Now that you’re directing documentaries and you’ve left modeling - do you see it differently? What has shifted in you since that period?
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Oh, so much. There have been so many iterations of this piece, and it has never felt quite right until now. I basically took all the old footage, re-cut it, and added some music I composed and field recordings to express her inner dialogue. Sort of a model going mad if you will. Maybe that was the point I had reached at the time I filmed this. Something I wasn’t aware of at the time, but in hindsight seems quite obvious.

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I know you have a conflicting relationship with modeling - can you speak about your time as a model? What did you enjoy? What were the darker sides of the industry that you saw/experienced that we don’t see from the outside?
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There were so many amazing experiences — I traveled the world, lived in different countries, ended up making some pretty good money, made friends for life, and was immersed in creativity. I loved so much of my time in the industry and wouldn’t change it for the world, but I still wouldn’t let my child model.

I think being thrust into a very adult world as a teenager causes one to grow up rather quickly. There’s a lot of abuse and exploitation, both financially and physically. You’re put in situations that you aren’t capable of handling yet, and models are very easily groomed because they start at such a young age and are still trying to figure out who they are in the world. There’s this glamorous misconception that modeling is a very lucrative profession, but the majority of models are actually on the poverty line or tens of  thousands of dollars in debt to their agencies. One thing most people don’t realize is that models sign over their power of attorney when they sign with an agency, granting the agency full control of their finances without any requirement for the agency to act in the model’s best interests or be fiscally transparent. That is something we are aiming to change at Model Alliance with our proposed bill, the Fashion Workers Act

Can you speak about how you transitioned to the film world? ‍

People laugh when I say this, but I actually cold-called over 500 ADs on the DGA list until someone gave me a job as a PA. I went from modeling all over the world to holding up traffic in the middle of the night in Queens, and I had never been happier. I think I was picking up cigarette butts in the woods when Mimi Leder asked me to be her assistant, and from there I became Assistant Showrunner on The Jim Gaffigan Show, all while directing my own projects on the side.

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‍Now that you’re directing documentaries, what topics inspire you? What are you working on?‍

Everything inspires me haha. I am endlessly fascinated by everyday people going about their lives. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in a stranger’s life.

I’m currently working on a few documentary projects with my production company, Moxie Pictures, but can’t really reveal more than that at this moment. I can say that two of the projects are fashion-adjacent.

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‍Can you speak about your artistic influences/inspiration? You’re also a painter? Can you speak about how you channel your influences in the creative process?

‍I’m inspired by so much. It could be another artist or something I see or hear in passing. I am constantly taking photos and field recordings of the world around me, and sometimes I end up using them in projects years down the road. As I said earlier, for this piece, I was inspired by early works from Marina Abramovic and Ulay. Also, one of my favorite shorts, shown to me by fellow director and friend Martin De Thurah, The Perfect Human by Jorgen Leth. Spending my most formative years surrounded by artists has been hugely inspirational to my creative process. I remember Roemer showing me Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Repulsion when I was 17 — they changed my life and are two of my favorite films to this day. Frankenthaler and Kandinsky have definitely influenced my painting style.

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What do you find most rewarding and most difficult about your profession?
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Sharing meaningful stories with the world is so rewarding, and if my work results in someone questioning a previously held belief or judgement, even better. Ideally, someone would look at my work and feel empathy and compassion for the subject, even if they come from very different walks of life.

You don’t go into documentary work for the money, that’s for sure. There are so many highs and lows in the film industry, much like in modeling. I’ve had development deals with major studios only to be told they won’t greenlight a year later. I could be making great money one day, then not work again for several months. There’s a lot of rejection, which I think modeling primed me for in a way, and you have to have a lot of gumption and strength to persevere.

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When you’re not working, what are you doing?

I love to paint and draw. I try to read at least a little bit every day, and I really enjoy cooking. I play the drums and piano quite poorly, and compose music for some of my projects which is really rewarding. I also love being in nature and spend a lot of time upstate with my dog.