I've been making movies since high school. When my friends and I took over the morning announcements, we saw an opportunity to produce short films for a captive audience, and by that I mean an audience that literally had to watch. The entire school was held hostage by our silliness.

Out of necessity, I learned the fundamentals of filmmaking: writing, directing, acting, editing, scoring, special effects, you name it. I was the Robert Rodriguez of morning announcements. Those DIY skills came in handy when I went on to study at the University of Miami's film school.

After making the leap to Los Angeles, I continued honing my craft in a range of roles, from working in the editing rooms of studio films like HOT TUB TIME MACHINE and THE MUPPETS, to being on set for HOP and THE HANGOVER PART III, and producing for ESPN. Throughout it all, I've kept writing, directing, and editing my own short films, including my horror-comedy OVERKILL, which took home multiple awards at festivals around the world.

Early on during my time in LA, I was lucky enough to have a conversation with legendary filmmaker John Landis. His advice: if you want to direct a movie, then go direct a movie. It only took me sixteen years, but I finally listened.

I embraced my one-man-band approach and went full EL MARIACHI: abandoning the perfectionism that shaped my short films and leaning into creative imperfection. I built a forgiving, and fun, framing device: what if low-level porn filmmakers tried to make a slasher movie in 1981? And what if I shot it on my iPhone using my friends?

And so FRIDAY THE 69TH was born.

While I'm proud to say I financed, wrote, directed, shot, edited, produced, and acted in my debut feature, I'm even prouder to say that, hopefully, it plays like an actual movie, where the limitations are invisible and the fun is front and center.