I’m an award-winning documentary filmmaker, television producer, and reporter.
I have spent nearly a decade at VICE News, producing documentaries for HBO, Hulu, Showtime, Tubi and VICE TV.
Other stories of mine have been published in English language outlets like the Guardian, the BBC and Mashable and in German outlets such as Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tagesspiegel, Stuttgarter Zeitung, GEO, Deutsche Welle and ARD.
My work has covered a wide range of topics, ranging from investigative stories on student debt and for-profit colleges, to LGBTQ rights, private prisons and surveillance, to the anti-abortion rights movement’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade.
I’ve also reported on geopolitics, such as Iran’s influence in Iraq, and on environmental issues like the US legacy of nuclear testing and the impact of climate change on Pacific island nations.
On the lighter side, I’ve followed a vigilante group of New Yorkers who hunt rats with their dogs at night.
I’m one of the co-creators and the series supervising producer of Transnational, a Peabody award-winning show that highlights global trans rights and resilience, hosted by trans correspondents and told by a team of queer storytellers.
Throughout my career, I’ve organized shoots in more than 25 countries and I’ve reported from places like Brazil, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, and Saudi Arabia.
I speak, German, English and French and get by in Spanish and Arabic (reading and writing).
In the U.S., my work has been recognized with two Emmy Awards, two GLAAD Media Awards, a Peabody, ONA and SEJ Award, among others. In Germany, my projects earned the Axel Springer Award and the prestigious Grimme Online Award. Medium Magazin also named me one of the top 30 under 30 journalists in Germany and one of the top ten newcomer journalists in 2010.
I hold a degree in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Freiburg in Germany and Cairo University in Egypt. I also have a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where I specialized in investigative reporting and documentary film.
I currently live in New York City.
SKILLS / SERVICES
- Pitch projects and see them all the way through to delivery and promotion
- Set up domestic and international shoots, including security and risk assessments
- Hire crew members and prepare them for assignments
- Lead and direct crews in the field
- Scout and book locations
- Create budgets and secure funding
- Coordinate deliverables with outside clients
- Shoot B-cam
- Participated in multiple hostile environment trainings
- Catch footage from field teams while getting the story ready for air
- Story, show and concept development
- Direct short and feature documentaries
- Direct branded documentaries
- Create pitch decks
- Oversee and implement overall creative direction
- Write scripts
- Direct voice over recording sessions with hosts and artists
- File public records requests
- Legal database searches with Westlaw, Pacer, LexisNexis etc.
- OSINT searches (tracking ships, planes etc.)
- Fact check articles and scripts
- Proficient in various investigative and trauma-informed interview techniques
- Work closely with legal teams to bulletproof stories
- Develop a cohesive vision, style and tone for a show
- Cast, train and direct hosts and correspondents
- Coordinate workflows with archival and graphic teams and post-production
- Story development and story producing
- Coordinate publication, promotion and impact plans with social media, communications and marketing teams
- Coordinate deliverables with outside partners and clients