How did your time at Oakwood help shape who you are today, both personally and professionally?
Oakwood was a place where any creative impulse was encouraged, and that really shows up in how I tend to take things too far, both personally and professionally. But in all seriousness, having that non-judgmental support during those years helped me discover who I was as an artist, and develop the confidence to stand by it. I also think Oakwood’s focus on global humanity – going on the trip to Chiapas with Mickey, for example – also helped shape me into an attentive student of the world. I may make bonkers comedies, but they are born from a deep, deep care for people.
When you graduated from Oakwood, did you have a clear sense of what you wanted to pursue?
I knew I wanted to perform, and acting and opera singing were my focus. I had that laser focus throughout high school. My recent step into writing and directing was an itch I think I always had, and I really love adding that dimension to my work.
Was there a class, production, teacher, or Oakwood experience that had a lasting impact on you?
There are many to choose from – being in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying helped me hone my comedic skills on stage; I loved Choir with Rich, English with Nathan and Lynn, the aforementioned Chiapas trip with Mickey – but I think the Creative Writing elective stimulated me to explore what stories I had to tell. Turns out, they’re all really weird. Dave Badger’s Physics class also helped me realize that Physics was absolutely NOT my ministry. I carry that with me to this day.
Have you had mentors, at Oakwood or beyond, who played an important role in your creative journey?
Oakwood was a wonderful collective mentor through my teenage years, and I feel very lucky to have reconnected with the community so much lately – especially with Melissa and The Pad Project. When I was doing Shakespeare, I performed a lot with a wonderful British actor named David Melville. He’s a comedic genius. I loved watching him work, and being on stage with him was like attending a masterclass in timing. I’ve had wonderful folks like David come in and out of my life during stints with various companies and productions. Now, however, with the recent success of the film, I’m looking up at a very steep learning curve. It’s got me thinking, “Oh, this is what mentors are for.”
Your career has taken many different forms, from opera and theater to television, film, and digital media. Can you share a little about that journey and how you found your way across so many creative disciplines?
My parents are both classical musicians, so opera singing wasn’t a leap. I’m also a bit of a ham, so performing came naturally. I loved it all, and was talented enough that I kept getting work. I pursued everything and anything all at the same time, and was able to work my way up to some pretty high levels. Despite the upward trajectory, many, many people along the way told me that I needed to pick one discipline. Call me stubborn, but I just didn’t want to. Besides, to me, all the different media I was pursuing fed into each other. My Shakespeare training helped my German diction in opera become much more dynamic and meaningful, for example. One fateful day in 2019, I had an impulse to combine some of the things I loved – classical singing, comedy, pop culture – in a stupid little video that ended up going viral. It was the kick in the pants I needed to start creating my own stuff. I spent a year writing, producing, and performing in sketch and musical comedy on YouTube. Always wanting to make bigger things, I eventually made the leap to cinema and made the short film Jane Austen’s Period Drama, a satire about menstruation. It ended up getting nominated for an Oscar. The whole journey has been affirming in many ways, but most amusing is that I seem to have built a body of work where the common thread is: these things shouldn’t go together, but for some reason it works?!
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Jane Austen’s Period Drama?
Well, I love a dumb pun, so that’s where it began: a period drama about periods. It was supposed to be a 3-minute sketch for my YouTube channel, but I asked some women for funny period stories to help inspire it, and the floodgates opened (no pun intended). They told me about all their varying experiences with periods, cysts, PCOS, endometriosis, the healthcare system, on and on. I was overwhelmed. I wept. So much I didn’t know about the women in my life. So much I didn’t know about my own body. I sat down to write the sketch and 76 pages came out. So Steve (my writing partner) and I decided that this idea had the humor and the heart that we wanted for our first film together. So we expanded it into a full-length feature script, and made the short film as proof that these things shouldn’t go together, but for some reason it works???!!
What was it like to see the film earn an Academy Award® nomination? Can you tell us about that experience?
There was much screaming. At 5:45 am. When they announced it on the Academy livestream. I think I blacked out. Because, by all accounts, comedies don’t get nominated for Oscars, let alone comedies about menstruation. We had done really well on the film festival circuit, and among audiences, but an Oscar nomination is the stamp of approval from the mainstream industry. So more than anything, Steve and I were excited at the prospect that this might help us tell the big stories we want to tell going forward. So far, it is very much doing that. The Nominee Luncheon and the Oscars themselves were awesome. We didn’t win, but I truly feel nothing but pride and joy about that night.
What do you love most about the work you’re doing today?
I get to write every day with my best friend Steve, and we’re making movies no one’s seen before. And the movies are gonna make people laugh and think and cringe and cry. I want to be additive to the world, so I’m right where I’m supposed to be.
Looking back on your own journey, what advice would you share with Oakwood students who hope to build careers in the arts or entertainment industry?
This is more for the artists: Figure out who you are (this takes some time), figure out what you stand for, figure out what you have to say, and say it with your chest. If you fail, fail gloriously.
Do you have a favorite memory or moment from your time at Oakwood that you’d like to share?
I remember my friend Noah Olsman singing “Killing In The Name Of” by Rage Against the Machine at Arts Fair, and slaying. This song was very off-brand for Noah, who was way more academic than artsy or musical. I remember being so surprised and delighted, and screaming for him. I guess you could classify it as two things that shouldn’t go together, but for some reason it works. Perhaps that’s what my favorite part of Oakwood was: it was a place that allowed, and even celebrated, such an unexpected convergence.
