A friendly PSA to all CalArts/LA artists working on any performance projects this year. I’m officially for hire for any and all production photography needs. I am not in any capacity a trained professional photographer, but I’ve been working on my skills taking Live Photos during rehearsals and performances over the past year and have a strong enough craft to get you some pretty good photos.
For any interested parties, you can email me at [email protected] or DM me directly. My rates are listed in the post above but I’m willing to negotiate for special circumstances or if the project is of a very small scale.
Contact me any time!
I’m not sure I’ll ever get bored of telling stories.
The Meowing Nuns was my third play that I’ve managed to get in front of a live audience. After every show, I usually reflect on 19 year old me who was religiously writing Jimmy Jenkenheimer short stories but only sharing them with 5-6 people at a time and never dreaming of actually staging them. I’ve been blessed to have so many people in my life who not only believe in my ideas, but have bought into them enough to help me see it come alive.
I want to express an eternal thanks to my design team. To Grace, Ashley, Alejandro, and Jon; genuinely some of the most talented people I’ve ever known who took the little scraps of text and created a living breathing world. The four of them made my play something unique and special that put us all in true awe.
I also need to show appreciation to my cast. To Karo, Savannah, Eva, Alexandra, David, Chris, and Jo. You made my characters come alive. None of you had to do this, but knowing you all wanted to be a part of the show was the greatest compliment I could have ever received.
My stage management team, Luke, Ryan, and most importantly Abbs. Without my team of anchors we’d have been flying blind the whole way. Things never got messy and we never fell behind because I had a trio of pros building the environment for us all to thrive.
And of course, this show would have been nothing if I didn’t have Hunter leading the charge. Though this was our fifth time working together as director and producer, it was the first time Hunter has ever directed my writing. Together we developed it, tweaked it, pushed the actors to grow into it, and overall transformed a young script into quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever written. I couldn’t have been happier to have him by my side on this project, and I feel confident there was no one better for the job.
That would be everyone… if I didn’t also have to thank my lovely fiance for the constant support through my exhaustion and anxiety, there’s really no one else that could’ve gotten me through these last three months and I’m so happy to have her helping me every step.
It was a good play, now it’s time to write another.
I first met Sam in December of 2017 (last image is the first photo we ever took together) We started dating in November of 2018 and on June 29th, 2025, I asked her to be my wife.
I’m incredibly happy and grateful to have this invaluable partnership in my life, I’d have fallen flat on my face about 100 times by now if she wasn’t there to keep my eyes forward and shoes tied.
I want to thank everyone who’s supported and adored us these past 6.5 years, we will continue to give back to the world as a team.
4 Curricular Productions
5 Coffeehouse Shows
3 Shows Directed by my Favorite @hunter.abal
3 Actors Showcases
2 Hollywood Fringe Shows
2 Self-Written Projects
1 Professional Debut
Turns out if you produce all those things in a 3 year span they have to give you an MFA as compensation.
An Endless Number of Friends
And Even More Endless Number of Memories
I’ll never be able to express the gratitude I hold to everyone I met these past 3 years, but just know if we ever had even 1 positive interaction, I will cherish the time we had forever. None of this was ever part of my plan, but to be fair, it was a pretty terrible plan.
I’ll that’s left to do is the rest of my life.
Danton’s Death - May 2025
My final show at CalArts and one of the strongest shows I’ve ever worked on to date. As we head into the final run of performances I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the producer I’ve become and the art I’ve made these past three years.
I think prior to my grad school, art was an incredibly internal process for myself, I spent a lot of time in my undergrad trying to generate and conceptualize pieces that were incredibly individualistic, focusing on my point of view and not many others. This was the show where I really felt that individualistic identity vanish, there have simply been too many talented people that influence and inspire every step of my work to ever say that I did any of my job alone.
Naturally @hunter.abal gets a lot of credit, he’s one of the best directors I know and someone who has taught me a lot when it comes to leading a team and pursuing a common goal. I’ll fully confess that my approach to directing Emily Sombra was heavily influenced by observing Hunter and how he so easily gets his team to buy into the vision. I hope to continue producing Hunter’s projects for many many years, and hope we can get back to the scale of Danton as soon as possible.
And of course, I owe effectively everything to @sammillette , without her I wouldn’t even be a producer right now. I’d be working a random finance job back in Seattle writing random scripts that would’ve existed forever in a Google drive until I died. Sam is the single greatest stage manager I’ve ever known (check for bias) with a level of dependability that we can all only dream of having. She can inspire, rationalize, calm, excite, compromise and defend all at once without ever showing cracks in composure or assuredness. If I had my way I would never start a single project without knowing Sam is there to steer the ship, but I’m not gonna be able to afford her for much longer.
I’ll have another big grandiose post reflecting on my MFA as soon as I actually get the diploma. In the meantime, I just want to express such complete contentment that this was the show that would be the final punctuation on my academics, hopefully the next project will be equally as grand.
Still attempting to process the emotional whirlwind that I’ve gone through this week, but let’s just say I’m very very happy right now. Not only did I get to produce my second original work, but I was able to make my directorial debut on a non-virtual work.
Emily Sombra was a culmination of nearly 6 months of effort, I wanted to properly test myself as a writer, producer, and director to see what I could do without the safety nets that I’ve had in the past. The result is one of the best works I’ve made to date, and something I’ve never felt prouder or. There’s an unending list of people who I owe thanks to. But for now I want to shoutout 3 special names.
First is @sammillette who was the first person to tell me to move forward with this project despite my packed schedule and no planning. She could have very easily been pragmatic and rational and told me to hold off until after graduation, but she believed in me enough to know I could handle the pressure I was about to walk into. Sam has always been my biggest fan and strongest source of support, and I will forever appreciate what she does for me every day of the week.
Then there’s @alexandraltejada my first and only Emily Sombra. This show would never have succeeded without her commitment to being the best actor possible. Never once did she waver in her professionalism, creativity, or love for this project and our team. Alexandra made this show special, and I could not feel any luckier to have her as a collaborator and friend.
And finally there’s @richiejendruczek who made their stage managing debut this weekend. With little training and no background, Richie came into this position showing no insecurity or anxiety, only seeking to prove that they were capable or handling every challenge ahead. I could not be prouder of Richie and their work on this project. Constantly professional and always able to fix every problem that popped up, I am so incredibly fortunate to have them as a partner and companion since the first table read of this project.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for this experience. I promise the next show is already on the horizon.
✨A little bit about me✨
I was a late comer to the dance world. I didn’t start seriously taking technique classes until I was 20 and in college. In high school, I’d take the occasional jazz class—just enough to be in the musicals—but I always felt behind in technique (still do!). Determined to catch up, I took every class I could and sought out private lessons to keep up with my peers. Along the way, I fell in love with dance—not just as a skill but as a way to express emotions I struggled to put into words. I’ve been lucky to perform with companies in Reno and even travel to Chicago and Cleveland as a professional dancer. The dance community welcomed me with open arms and gave me space to create my own dance company @aroundthestage . While I’m not performing as much these days, I’ve turned my focus towards producing and choreographing which I have found a deeply rooted passion for. And while I don’t have the time (or energy) to take class daily, I’ve found a deep love for movement—one that brings me peace amid the chaos. ✨
📸 @parklytle
Thank you Park!!!
A year ago I made a big post about Jimmy Jenkenheimer’s workshop debut atCalArts. It was big and gushy with a bunch of incredible “then and now” photos and honestly something I still find very endearing. If I knew then that I’d have to make a reflection post for Jimmy’s professional debut… I would’ve saved the more triumphant post for this round.
So instead all just get all sentimental. This weekend is a culmination of 3 years of endless work and 8 years of unending passion. A lot has changed in my life since I was 17 years old cobbling together the first Jimmy script. Career changes, relationship shifts, moving across the country like 5 times. Some of my lowest feelings of self-esteem happened during this time, but no matter how I felt about myself or the direction my life was going in, there has always been one lone constant I could feel proud about, Jimmy.
I did it, I’m a playwright. A play that I wrote is going to be staged and performed in front of a paying audiences. That’s not something I ever would have seriously believed I could do when this all began, I kinda still don’t believe it’s happening even now. It’s safe to say that when this weekend comes to an end, a major chapter of my life is going to come to an end. Jimmy will live on I’m sure, through sheer force of Will I am going to keep this train rolling. But this is the end of Jimmy as a theoretical idea that I’ve kept to myself and my community, it’s now for the public, it’s now for everyone. I hope anyone who can will watch Jimmy this weekend, and I hope there will be a day everyone I love dearly will be able to watch it. But for now, I can safely say that I was in fact ready for an adventure, and now I’m even more ready for the next one.
P.S. I still remember the day this photo is from. I actually shot this at Carl Sandburg and tied a green screen to a piece of playground equipment. I’m kinda annoyed I wore a not solid black shirt like I did for the rest of the film, but this day of filming is in the top 5 of filming days from my high school experiences. I’m happy I live a life I can still chase that kind of fun and happiness that could’ve so easily drifted away from me.
