I’m a writer & director who navigates between fiction, documentary and web content. I have a special interest in exploring characters in the edges of society and an affinity for tonal extremes, be it the tender or the dark.
I grew up traveling back and forth between Lima, Peru and Lawrence, Kansas. I studied Journalism & Film at the University of Lima, and after a few years of shooting institutionals for mining and gas companies in remote areas of Peru, I made “Silencio”, a short that landed me a spot in the directing program at the American Film Institute.
My AFI thesis film, “Wednesday Afternoon”, screened in over 25 festivals around the world and won the Student Academy Award. I participated in the 2005 Tribeca All Access Program with my original screenplay “El Machito”, and in the 2007 Film Independent Director’s Lab with “The Story of Luke”. In 2008, I directed “Viva La Causa”, a documentary for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Film Series, which was shortlisted for the Documentary Short Subject Academy Award. In 2010 I directed the unscripted web drama “Untitled Fiction Project”. In 2011 I directed my first feature, the light drama “The Story of Luke”, starring Lou Taylor Pucci, Seth Green, Cary Elwes and Kristin Bauer.
I teach documentary at the New York Film Academy, Universal Studios campus. I live in Los Angeles with my wife and sons.
