THE VISTA

An Oklahoma native, I moved to Los Angeles as a teenager, escaping a troubled childhood that included surviving severe neglect and sexual abuse. I was first published in a poetry anthology in the 7th grade. After spending almost half of high school homeless I attended The University of Southern California. While there I was the first black person in the Asian Greek Council. I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, post 9-11, at age 28 and weighing almost 300 pounds. I was inspired by a middle school classmate that died in the attack on the Pentagon, Chin-Sun Wells. I had to lose 100 pounds in a month to just to qualify for boot camp over the Christmas holiday. Despite this I completed the vaunted Marine Corps boot camp and combat training eventually rising to the rank of Sergeant, while completing combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. My love for finding innovative solutions, and a steady paycheck, lead me to a detour as an IT professional, contracting with several Fortune 500 companies including Apple, Proctor & Gamble, and military related projects in Germany, Korea, and Japan. I have completed academic course work at The Los Angeles Film School, Pierce College, and Park University. I've had additional workshops on directing actors from USC professor Brad Barnes, TV writing from Rae Benjamin, staff writer on Netflix’s “The Witcher,” Lee Aronsohn, co-creator of "Two And A Half Men", EP of "The Big Bang Theory" and a co-writer on “The Love Boat,” and Jason Kyle, TV Development at Sony. I've also had a month of film directing classes from Steven Spielberg.