What was your first job?
Right after I got my BA from FSU I got an unpaid internship at Free Speech TV in Colorado. I moved in with a family to nanny because I had no money for rent. Within 2 months the internship turned into a very intense job as Production Coordinator for a weekly news show. That was my first “real” job, which I did from 9am to 7pm after waking up early to nanny. The hustle is real out there!
If you were to write a personal memoir, what would you name it?
Hoop Dreams (and Other Documentaries I Wish I’d Made)
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in rural southern Indiana and my family moved to Miami when I was 16—two very different kinds of growing up.
What is your favorite class you’ve taught?
I’m really enjoying my Computer Graphics & Animation course this semester. It’s like teaching magic.
What is your favorite place to grab dinner in Tallahassee?
I like Clusters & Hops, Vertigo, Siam Sushi, and El Viroleno
What are your hobbies outside of work?
I love being outside, especially in this part of the country. I like hiking, kayaking, camping, running, biking. I travel a lot. I love cooking and I really love eating.
Have you always wanted to teach?
No, but I’ve always loved learning and school so it makes a lot of sense. I’ve really enjoyed it.
What is your favorite place you’ve traveled to or where would you like to go?
I have great friends who live in Volterra, Italy, which is a little hill town in Tuscany. I had an amazing time there last summer and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for somewhere off the beaten path.
How many football games have you attended?
I went to most of the games my first few years as an undergrad. I love live sporting events but I definitely prefer basketball.
Proudest career/life moment?
I was producing a live, national newscast and our host hadn’t shown up. I had to step in and host the show, and our teleprompter broke right before we went live. Our guest for that evening was one of my heroes, Amy Goodman, so I was pretty proud to have gotten through that without any embarrassing mistakes.
What’s your favorite band?
Tough question. Lately I’ve been listening to Atlas Sound, Dan Deacon, Laura Mvula, Matthew E. White, Flying Lotus, Sylvan Esso, Talking Heads.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Be true to yourself. Don’t let fear guide your decisions.
If money were no object, how would you spend your days?
Making movies, watching movies, making and watching movies in foreign lands.
What is your favorite book and why?
Hard to name a favorite. I really enjoyed Simone de Beauvoir’s The Mandarins—a vaguely fictionalized account of her personal and political relationships with Sartre, Camus and other intellectuals in post-WWII Paris. Important times, fascinating people, tough choices. It’s a toss-up between that, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and the 1987 Memphis, TN phonebook. Classics.
If you could be famous for something, what would it be?
For my films. Or my ping pong skills.
What Jeopardy category could you clear, no problem?
Wading Birds of the Southeast (I’m a bit of a birder)
Do you have any pets?
Nope. Had a huge banana spider in my driveway for a while, but she’s gone now. Seriously considering a fish.
When did you start working at Florida State University?
August 2014
What was the last movie you saw in theaters?
At the Miami International Film Festival I saw They Are All Dead, a Spanish film about an agoraphobic former punk rocker whose dead brother (and former band mate) is now a ghost who comes back to help her take care of her son and dying mother. Not as good as it sounds.
What is the best part about your job?
I really enjoy the people in the School of Communication—faculty, staff and students have been wonderful.
