Hello! And welcome to the bio section of my website. Let me tell you a little/a lot about myself and what I've done in my career.

 

I attended Brown University in the lovely city of Providence, RI. Fun fact, Providence is only one of two cities to elect a convicted felon as mayor! Oh, Buddy Cianci, you rascal. Another fun fact, Buddy was married to a woman named Nancy Anne. So her name was Nancy Anne Cianci. I wish I was making that up. Anyway, back to me. I graduated with a BA in Art/Semiotics. What is Art/Semiotics? It's the study of signs, symbology, and visual representations in art and media. It was such a popular concentration (yes, we called them concentrations, not majors) that I was one of two people to graduate with it and it's no longer offered as a concentration. So, I'm a pretty big deal.

 

After graduating, I packed my bags and my Star Wars collection and moved to LA with a hope and a dream: to get coffee for a major Hollywood producer for zero money. Just kidding. I first began working with producer Laura Ziskin (Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, Pretty Woman, What About Bob, ect.). Subsequently, I was hired as writer's assistant on Spider-Man 2, working directly with 2-time Academy Award winner, Alvin Sargent (Julia and Paper Moon). Shortly into pre-production on Spider-Man 2, I proved my writing skill to Director Sam Raimi and was asked to write portions of the final shooting draft, including the last line of the movie. Go get 'em, Tiger.

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After Spider-Man 2, I landed a job shadowing director/producer, Shawn Levy on several film and television projects, learning valuable directorial knowledge as well as in depth development and producerial skills. It's weird that "producerial" doesn't appear as a real word when we all use it so much. Hint hint Oxford English Dictionary. You added "bruh" and "awesomesauce". Maybe look into this. Sorry, back to me. Alongside Levy, I was involved with the hit Steve Martin comedies, The Pink Panther and Cheaper by the Dozen 1 and 2, as well as the 20th Century Fox mega-hit, Night At The Museum, starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Rami Malek, and Dick Van Dyke. I oversaw Night from pre-production all the way through release, making key casting and producerial decisions as well as being responsible for all on-set rewrites during principal photography. I also directed 2nd Unit MOCAP with Gentle Giant studios, shot a ton of BTS footage including a DVD featurette titled Directing 101, and got flicked off of Ben Stiller's shoulder in the movie (who needs a stuntman?).

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After four years at 21 Laps, I furthered my career with director/producer, Ben Stiller, on Tropic Thunder, and in the writer's room on Brüno, working side by side with Sacha Baron Cohen. In 2009,  Ned Adams and I formed Cherry / Adams Entertainment, penning several projects and serving as producers on Nigel & Oscar vs. The Sasquatch! (currently released as Sasq-Watch! on streaming services) starring Tim Meadows and Neil Flynn. In addition to feature and TV work, Cherry/Adams has also produced work in the new media space for clients like GoSwype anti-bacterial device wipes and FluBok influenza vaccine.

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But what about your own projects and other fun work? I'm glad you asked! I have received accolades for writing and directing the short film Neighbors, which has screened at film festivals nationwide and won two Grand Jury awards for best comedy short film. My short film Relative Danger won Best Director, Best Film, Grand Jury Award, Audience Award, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best of Fest amongst other awards (is this a humblebrag or just a brag?). It screened at Filmapalooza in Rotterdam, representing Los Angeles. I previously taught screenwriting and ran film seminars as the artist in residence at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, FL as well as at MI’s Westside Comedy Theater’s Training Center in Santa Monica, CA.

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In my spare time, I have mentored with The Young Storytellers Foundation, teaching elementary students the fundamentals of screenwriting. I have also developed and taught a comprehensive screenwriting course around the country, teaching the fundamentals of storytelling and screenwriting to all ages and skill levels. I am also a trained comedian, performing improv and stand-up comedy in LA and Austin and touring nationwide with an award-winning improv/trivia comedy show I created called Nerdology.

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While continuing my passion for writing and directing short films, TV and features, I have also been prolific in the creative marketing space. Since 2014, I have run creative production, copywriting, and served as executive producer at two advertising agencies handling a variety of clients in the distilled spirits, beer, health and wellness, and premium goods categories. I've created hundreds of promotional and marketing videos and content pieces for sports, entertainment, and news programming. I've served as Director of Production at StoryGiants, an entertainment, media, and production company with a first look television deal at Amazon Prime TV. I served as Executive Producer on the award-winning Bahamian children's television show, Goombay Kids, as well as Executive Producer on the occult docu-series, Magick Show, along with producing, writing, and directing other projects internally and externally. I also oversaw development of an AI based animation/VFX app designed for filmmakers. And I consult on creative direction, marketing strategy, screenplays, and movie & television production through several platforms. I like making things, if that's not clear.

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And that's all. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.