Since I made my first film, “Joan of Arc,” at fourteen, I’ve always dreamed of having a movie in a real film festival. That was sixty years ago — and being in BIFF now is so worth the wait.
More recently, my art series “Reinventing Rockwell” reimagined Norman Rockwell’s iconic works through a contemporary lens, earning coverage from the New York Times, NPR, and CBS Sunday Morning, and exhibitions at the Norman Rockwell Museum and the Massachusetts State House. With my AI animation series “Rockwell Comes to Life,” I’m taking that work one step further — animating what Rockwell froze in time, and bringing it into the future.
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2026
Rockwell Comes to Life: The Runaway
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
When we got our first movie camera for Christmas — 8mm, not even Super 8 — my twin brother, Gregory, and I wanted to shoot a classic immediately. So we adapted the legend of Joan of Arc, who was played by our Collie mix — named Lassie, of course. We tied Lassie to a pole in our backyard and found clever ways to fake setting her on fire. It was a major hit in the neighborhood, largely because nobody knew anyone else who had ever made a movie. Some Danes we met took our four-minute masterpiece to a museum in Denmark, and we never got the 8mm reel back.
Who is (are) your favorite filmmakers?
Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, François Truffaut, Jordan Peele, Vincent Minnelli, Bob Fosse.
What are you working on that no one knows about?
That’s a secret.
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
It’s a stretch, I know, but I would love for Lady Gaga to play me in a jukebox musical. If not Gaga, a thriller with Idris Elba.
My go-to movie snack is whatever I have in the fridge, because I’m basically on the couch watching movies on my iPad.
The movie title that describes my life best: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
