Official selection - NY INTERNational children’s film festival, SF Shorts, Washington West, VIMEO STAFF PICK

Room for Change

Room for Change was a passion project - envisioned, produced, filmed and edited in just over a week, during the 2018 anti-gun violence March for Our Lives protests.

A few days before the event, I heard a group of students from a Maryland High School talking on the radio about how families from their school were hosting out-of-town marchers. I sought them out, and eventually came across the story of Phil and Theresa Sturm - a local couple who had agreed to take in around 20 young protestors for the weekend. “Just bring pillows,” said the Sturms. 

 Phil, Terry and the incoming students agreed to let us into their weekend as well; and we are eternally grateful to have met them all. The arc of history, under their influence, will bend towards justice.

 

Middle East PR Awards 2017

"Our Hands Tell a Story"

Best Use of Digital PR - Silver Award

Sewing new hope in the West Bank, building schools in Jordan, planting trees in Lebanon, training youth in Morocco and uncovering treasures in Egypt. Over the past four decades, the American people, through USAID, have been partnering with the people of the Middle East to move education, health, prosperity and peace forward.

In 2017, USAID and Weber Shandwick launched a regional digital campaign aimed at fostering good well and friendship in five priority Middle Eastern countries. The result, "Our Hands Tell a Story," adapted content I produced in the field and reached millions of citizens throughout the region, taking the Silver Award at the 2017 MEPRA Awards.

 

Addys and webbys 2016

 

2016 was a big year for the Extreme Possibilities Storytelling Hub, a project which I envisioned and led over a period of 18 months for USAID, collaborating with a team of designers and developers at Olgivy, PR in Washington and a handful of talented freelance photographers and cinematographers in the field. 

In March, the site took home five Gold ADDY® awards at at the 2016 American Advertising Awards-DC - taking the top honor of every category it was nominated for.  The American Advertising Awards is the industry's largest competition and recognizes the best in advertising creative excellence.

A few months later, the site was named 2016 Honoree by the Webby Awards, the “best of the internet,” for its art direction and visual style.

 

  • Gold ADDY®: Online/Interactive, Microsite

  • Gold ADDY®: Elements of Advertising, Responsive Design

  • Gold ADDY®: Elements of Advertising, User Experience

  • Gold ADDY®: Elements of Advertising, Interface & Navigation

  • Gold ADDY®: Cross Platform, Online/Interactive Campaign

 

Official Selection - Washington West Film Festival

“Our Power is Our Pain” was the most challenging and the most rewarding film I’ve directed. Set against the backdrop of the Middle East conflict, it touches on grief, forgiveness, friendship and reconciliation. Needless to say, I cried constantly on this shoot and when I returned home, I needed weeks before I could sit with the material and start to script. 

The theme of the 2016 Washington West Film Festival was “Story Can Change the World,” and I believe that if more people were exposed to stories and people like this, we would inhabit a kinder world.  I was especially honored to have “Our Power is Our Pain” feature in the Washington West Film Festival Official Selection in 2016.