hibernating this winter with my new bookshelves and my 5 act structure ✌️

this month i'm at a residency at vermont studio center working on a new feature film :) 

Hillary Clinton watched my movies! It was an honor to addend the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards, a night honoring five incredible women whose leadership is changing the world. Congratulations to Kiran, Lina, Jamira, Boom, and Esra'a. I had the privilege of directing two of the honoree videos — for Kiran Bir Sethi and Lina Khalifeh — and to see them up on the big screen at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC was so much fun! 

i recently returned from a residency at Playa in Summer Lake, OR and it was nothing short of magical. i'm so thankful for the productive and restorative time i was able to spend there working on my first feature film. 

Why Not Now: Vivian Stancil is playing at the Tower Theater in Bend, OR today as part of the No Man's Land Film Festival tour. half my extended family is here to support me and that feels nice! 

composer zubin hensler mics up hadi eldebek's oud for some seriously nice sounds to score an upcoming film! 

this was definitely not a doc. might have to change my website to rileymakescommercials.com...  

learning self defense and general badass butt-kicking skills in Amman, Jordan with the SheFighter team for a very exciting upcoming project!