✸ WRITER ✸
I-taught myself screenwriting by reading / studying my favorites: Chinatown, Harold and Maude, In Bruges, The Big Lebowski, American Beauty, Network (everything Chayefsky really), Beginners, Edward Scissorhands, Force Majeure, Black Swan, The Lobster, JoJo Rabbit, Body Heat, Beginners, Ex Machina (an ever evolving list!).
My screenplays have been finalists at the Austin Film Festival and ScreenCraft Feature Competition, among others. The script for MOON MANOR, my feature debut as co writer / co director, is the recipient of the ScreenCraft Film Fund, and was requested for the Academy of Motion Picture’s Permanent Core Collection.
I love words. Sometimes they love me back. Essays, existential musings, probably not very helpful advice, My First Times, Open Letters, and cats to be found on my Substack ☞ Planet Granat. My creative nonfiction has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Katharine Bakeless Nason Award and the Key West Literary Seminar. My essay “Not A Ghost Town, But For Me It’s Haunted” was a finalist for the Newfound Prose Prize and CRAFT Literary Creative Nonfiction Prize.
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Home Is Where The Hurt Isn’t, Or, An Ode To Hotel Rooms
Trust And Travel // Discussed: Passive aggressive receptionists, corporate origami, basic cable, beige sheets, perfect imperfections.
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We Were Almost Hoteliers! A Rum-Drunk Tale Of Tragedy In Havana
FLAUNT // Discussed: The delusion of progress, sonic attacks, scam artists, Diplo, rum like honey, a boyfriend in a wheelchair.
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Releasing Lanterns With Messages Of Healing, Hoping It’s Not Dumb
Uproxx // Discussed: A new liver, a mass shooting, cultural appropriation, tragedy tourism, John Lennon, media hype, wolf howling.
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Drowning In Delight! A Caravan Through Morocco, I Never Came Back?
FLAUNT // Discussed: Desert blues, when the gods speak, the Sahara, snake charmers, Berbers, fossils in the sand, dance music.
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On Tour In Southeast Asia With The Ed Banger Crew
Billboard // Discussed: Singapore, the origin of Daft Punk, Wonderfruit, beats of Breakbot, kitten Yasmin, Hong Kong revolution.
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The Lies You Keep Telling Yourself At Burning Man
Uproxx // Discussed: Snarking on connection, desert caviar, El Guaco, virgin vs courtesan, sensationalism, earth medicines, LIES.
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Surviving Art Basel — Miami’s Fancy Dystopian Nightmare
Uproxx // Discussed: Disillusionment, vainglorious Millennials, glitterati, Sofia Coppola wet dreams, bourgeoisie apocalypse, art?
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A Blood Moon And A Dance Party At Ibiza’s Cosmic Pineapple
FLAUNT // Discussed: Hard techno hell, Freddie Mercury, orange mermaids, Jade Jagger’s house, serious moonlight, dance yourself clean.
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Ross Butler — To Tell The Truth, We Lied Fantastically
FLAUNT // Discussed: Hyperbole, tableaus, Ross Butler on being Ross Butler, a car crash, Asian heritage, anatomy of “vibey.”