Artist Statement

One night when I was five years old, I woke my mother up crying because

“all those people” had died on the sinking ship. “All those people” happened

to be the majority of the cast of the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, which

my father, a film professor, had shown to me that evening. My mother was less

than pleased with him.

Although no eight-year-old wants to watch any film in black and white, or even

worse--in a foreign language--I received a film education from my father whether

I wanted one or not. It took a long time for me to realize that somewhere over the

years, I had begun liking film on my own.

Many of my friends growing up cultivated the same passion for film and

filmmaking that I did. We would spend hours upon hours in the basement of my

best friend’s house, watching anything and everything from The Handmaiden to

The Grand Budapest Hotel to The Pokémon Movie.

What does all this matter for my personal artistic desires? I don’t really know.

I’m still waiting for my love of film to turn me into a real filmmaker. My parents

often tell me when I go on long-winded rants about the flaws of Hollywood that

I should make what I want to see, and I suppose in a way that is my inspiration.

My love of film is wrapped inside a hatred of many of its problems, including the

sexism, racism, and homophobia that permeate much of modern cinema. It would

be amazing if someday I could make something to prove that a movie does not have

to follow Hollywood’s worst conventions to be something great.

I’ve heard that any artist needs to make a hundred bad films before they make a

single good one, and I can’t wait to get started. I’m itching for experience, and

more than anything, wanting to actually produce consistent content.

At the moment, I admit I don’t quite know for certain where I want my love

of film to take me. I’m intrigued by so many aspects of the industry, while also

being slightly terrified. However, film has been a part of my life as long as I can

remember, and I can’t see a path into the future without it. No matter what I end

up doing, I know film will be involved. I wish I could look into my own future,

but for now, I will be satisfied with the hope that I will be able to become a

better filmmaker.