ABOUT PATRUSHKHA
I've always wanted to know what happens behind the scenes.
How things work. Why people do what they do. What makes a story worth telling. That curiosity has shaped nearly every turn my life has taken, and it has taken some wonderfully unlikely ones.
I began sharing what I’d learned with students and working professionals, in classrooms, workshops and film programs around the world.
The film family
Some of the best parts of this life have happened between takes and after wrap. Friendships that outlast a production. Long tables, shared meals, things baked and made by hand. For me, the people have always been the best part of the story.
Other worlds
Movies took me into places removed from public view, and into the lives of fascinating people who left their personas at the trailer. Every production became its own small world, with its own rhythms, characters, and stories. I wanted to melt my off-set life into that snowglobe world.
Through a camera
One of the nicer aspects of freelance filmmaking is the chance to surprise yourself in the off periods. Short trips. New places. Reconnecting with yourself. Somewhere along the way, I began looking at those places through a camera, and noticing the details other people walk past.
Italy
I followed my curiosity into new territory, never letting fear of the unknown stop me from seeing what my limits might be. Eventually, it led me to Italy, and to an old olive mill that became Poppy Ridge.
CONTINUING
I'm still writing, teaching, traveling, and making discoveries. Right now that means bringing my books to new readers around the world. I'll keep teaching wherever there's a room full of people who want to learn, and when the right story comes along, I'll make another film.
I'm also leaving room for what I can't predict. Some of the best turns in my life arrived that way.