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I have obsessive/compulsive tendencies.

I have avoided online communities like MySpaze and FaceBlog because I knew I would become a slave to updating my status and checking my friends' comments and posting comments and I would spend countless hours updating my profile with only halfway interesting stories about my life and soon I would find it difficult to carry on relationships with real live people, partly because I would only halfway listen to people while I constantly checked my page on my iPhone under the table, and partly because I would stop shaving and showering.

UPDATE: Uh oh. I joined Facebook.

My first job was "law firm slave." They called me a "runner," but I spent many days in non-air-conditioned self-storage units digging through boxes upon boxes of client files and pulling the ones on my retrieval list. On the upside, I discovered Sting on the smooth jazz station on the stereo of my 1982 Chevy Malibu ... "Rock steady, rock steady."

In college I worked at the Gap, and one peak in my closet today and you'll see that I still fold my jeans and t-shirts perfectly. I liken it to military training -- they break you down then rebuild you and it just becomes second nature.

Then I worked at EPCOT (talk about brainwashing) as part of the DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM. They had a manual with photos demonstrating appropriate lengths of sideburns and finger nails, how to point when giving a guest directions (two fingers, or an open hand -- never one finger), and insisting that should we see a character in costume pass out we were NEVER to remove their head in public to avoid emotionally scarring the children.

After college I became a pirate -- ARRGH! As part of the BUNAC EXCHANGE PROGRAM I worked as a tour guide on THE GOLDEN HINDE, a replica of a 16th century ship, in full pirate costume and eventually a very full beard. I lived on the ship, slept in a hammock and we sailed down the east coast of England, stopping to give tours to schools and the public. The winter in London was cold, wet and dreary and I loved it!

A few years writing and editing for a bank, and desktop publishing for CopyMax while back in school. Neither job was super exciting, but I worked with great people and learned a lot.

THEN ... I discovered where I was meant to be: the movie set.

I had just moved to the Austin area, found out there was a film industry there, wanted to find work but didn't know anyone or where to get started. My mother saw a newspaper article about the need for hispanic extras for the movie "The Alamo" and I found my way in. (Incidentally, Mom also found the newspaper article about the exchange program, so she's responsible for my becoming a pirate and a soldier in the Mexican army. Go Mom!) I met some crew members and did extra work on a couple of other films before getting hired as a production assistant. That's how I made my living for a few years, eventually working my way up to assistant director, production coordinator and producer on films and commercials.

I was an assistant director on a friend's film, CHALK. It's a mockumentary, and as it was largely improvised, I found myself being coaxed into acting. I went along with it and was both anxious and secretly excited. It was so much fun to create a character who wasn't in the script because I had total freedom to decide who Mr. G. was -- how he behaved (a quiet listener with occasional random interjections), what he wore (pressed, plaid, short-sleeved, button up shirts and wrinkle-free Dockers) and what he ate for breakfast (shredded wheat, unfrosted, with skim milk and twelve blueberries, with six ounces of orange juice - extra pulp - to wash down a multi-vitamin). It was Mr. G. who made me realize I wanted to act.

"Therapy" was my first script and first time directing.

Mary Carroll High School, Corpus Christi, TX
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX -- B.A. in English
Southwestern Seminary, Fort Worth, TX -- M.A. in Communications

Austin360.com

Austin Chronicle

Backstage Magazine

I just checked my Netflix profile and was shocked to find that I've rated 90 films five-stars. 90?! I may have to make some adjustments. A few that I'm pretty certain of are (in alpha order): Amelie, The Breakfast Club, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Edward Scissorhands, I Heart Huckabees, Life Is Beautiful, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Silence of the Lambs.

Settle down, settle down. I'm sure there are many very excellent films that I've neglected. I either haven't rated them on Netflix -- as that was my guide for this list -- or I intentionally left off the more obvious ones like Citizen Kane and Rocky.

Telling stoies -- People coming together, bringing their talent and gifts to contribute to the story telling process.

Well, since "Therapy" was my first film and we shot on the Panasonic HPX500 and I was thrilled with the way the film looks (big thanks to my D.P. Nathanael Vorce), I guess I'd say the Panasonic HPX500.

I don't edit -- I don't really want to be a jack of all trades. I believe in gathering a team of people who are very talented and skilled in their various crafts and empowering them to do their jobs without getting in their way much. (Yeah, I just used the word "empowering" -- I'm a dork.) The editors I know mostly use Final Cut Pro HD and watching them work is like watching Tom Cruise work in Minority Report.

The first movie I remember seeing in the theater is the original Star Wars. Yeah, I'm that old. Since then I've had a lifetime of movie going and getting lost in other worlds and stories. I'm fascinated by the fact that something on a screen can move me to laugh and cry and get scared and angry. I love being part of making something that can move people like that (though I'm not generally into scaring or angering people -- I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just that it's not usually my intent).

Two and a half years ago I did the MASTER CLEANSE and then become a VEGAN. It surprised me as much as anyone. I remained vegan mostly because I lost a bunch of weight and kept it off without exercising. Why am I telling you about my diet? I guess just to say that I have the tendency to do things all or nothing. I'm not saying this characteristic is necessarily good or bad, not right or wrong, I'm just being honest.

If you're ever in Austin: Mother's has amazing banana nut pancakes, Jo's Coffee has a deliciously messy veggie BBQ sandwich, and Daba Joy has yummy non-dairy homemade ice cream and cupcakes. I'm just saying ....

There's an interesting sense of freedom in becoming someone else for a little while. I want to do one of those meltdown scenes where actors completely trash their house. I'm tempted to rehearse that, but then I'd have to clean it all up, so I'll just wait till there's an art department to handle that for me.