I did not go to film school, instead I studied medieval history at the University of Chicago. In my second year I took a course on documentary film and got hooked. After completing the course, I convinced various academic centers on campus to hire me as a work-study employee to film lectures, workshops, and events. This early experience taught me the power of video to communicate to broad audiences.
I re-learned that lesson tenfold in 2020. At the time, I was part of a small but mighty video team at the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and we leveraged our skills producing animated explainers and livestreams to communicate accurate scientific and medical information to audiences in the millions.
I am a Swiss army knife: I can do the research, I can write the scripts, I can shoot, edit and create motion graphics, and I love it all. I think video is an incredible way to tell complex stories and disseminate knowledge, and I’m excited to see what’s next for this type of video journalism.