Erica has drawn on creativity in a variety of different roles: writer, documentary filmmaker, story consultant, and social entrepreneur. She is the author of the Creative Resilience book and blog which help artists reframe the challenges of the creative process. She co-founded the documentary film organization Docs In Progress and served as its founding executive director for more than a decade. She co-hosts The D-Word, a peer-to-peer global community for documentary professionals. Erica started Creative Resilience as a blog to share ideas about the creative life. In addition to working in the arts, Erica organizes professional development study tours to the United States for mid-career professionals from around the world as a Senior Program Officer with Meridian International Center. She has a BA in international affairs and an MA in film and video. She finds joy in travel, painting, collage, reading, nature hikes, and spending time with friends, family, and her dog Lulu.

Experiences In More Depth

Erica is the author of Creative Resilience aimed at helping artists and other creatives navigate the ups and downs of the creative process and creative life. The book features experiences of artists from a variety of disciplines, ages, and backgrounds. Topics include motivation, self-confidence, blocks, rejection, and balancing creative pursuits with the rest of life. There is also a companion blog.

She co-founded Docs In Progress, a nonprofit incubator for emerging documentary filmmakers headquartered in the Washington DC region. She served as its Executive Director from 2008 through 2019. Through her leadership, the organization evolved from a single program to a thriving nonprofit organization offering more than 50 programs annually; partnerships with 20+ organizations; funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts, state and local governments, and private foundations. Several thousand filmmakers nationwide developed their skills, films, and careers through Docs In Progress programs. In addition to managing the organization, her work there included financial management, strategic planning, grant writing, program development, teaching continuing education workshops, moderating film screenings, consulting and mentoring filmmakers, website content management, social media, and e-mail marketing.

She is a Co-Host of The D-Word, an online documentary filmmaker community that has thrived for nearly 25 years, and currently has nearly 23,000 members worldwide. In addition to serving as a moderator, she has worked with the other hosts to ensure that the community continues to respond to the needs of its members and influence positive changes in the documentary field. She has lead efforts on surveys and virtual focus groups, facilitated special topics, and helped the institution develop its first strategic plan and become an LLC.

In addition to her work in the arts, Erica has a dual career in international affairs, specializing in planning and implementing international exchange programs for mid-career professionals nominated by U.S. embassies worldwide. After past work with the U.S. Department of State and as an International visitor Liaison, she currently works as a Senior Program Officer at Meridian International Center, a nonpartisan diplomacy center that connects leaders through global leadership, collaboration and culture to drive solutions for global challenges.

Oh yes, she’s a Documentary Filmmaker! Erica has produced and/or directed video and web documentaries which have explored postwar life in the Balkans (Crucible of War), federal workers who moonlight as musicians (Creative Feds), local student reactions in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 (Talking Threads), and the American Dream in today’s rural America (California USA).

Wearing as many hats as she does, Erica has direct experience in various ways:

• Facilitator of a town hall meeting on the state of documentary in the Washington DC area at the AFI DOCS Film Festival in Washington DC and has been involved in follow-up groups to develop an independent filmmaker coalition for the region.

• Presenter at dozens of panels and individual speaking engagements at conferences, universities, and boardrooms. Topics have included getting started in documentary, fundraising and budgeting for documentaries, crowdfunding for nonprofits, fiscal sponsorship in the arts, the state of independent film in the United States, regional approaches to supporting filmmakers, the “unreality” of documentary, the defense of amateur art, social issue documentary, the ethics of documentary, and effective international exchange programs.

• Grant reviewer looking at proposals related to the arts and international exchanges. Have reviewed grants for the U.S. Department of State, Maryland Nonprofits, and International Documentary Association. Additional consulting with a private family foundation to review and provide feedback on a documentary proposal. Have also reviewed proposals for fiscal sponsorship.

• Film festival work has included curation and programming (Community Stories Festival, Utopia Film Festival, and Council on Foundations Festival); jurying (Cleveland International Film Festival, Dokufest in Kosovo, Goldentree International Documentary Film Festival in Germany, Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, DC Shorts, and many others).

• “Speed Mentor” at the Double Exposure Film Festival, Getting Real, and the Southern Documentary Fund Convening.

• Writings have been published in Filmmaker Magazine, Documentary Magazine, The Independent, DOX, and the Alliance for Media Arts and Culture.·    

• Board Member of Women in Film and Video-DC, including serving as Vice President for Programming.

This combination of work experiences has given her the skills in juggling multiple projects and clients, cross-cultural communication, and a strong belief that every administrative task still contributes to a better world.

Erica has an M.A. in Film and Video from American University and a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University. As part of her degree programs, she also studied abroad at Trinity College Dublin and FAMU, the prestigious film academy in Prague. She has taken professional development workshops in organizational management, budgeting, regional studies, and nonprofit management at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Maryland Nonprofits, the Catalogue for Philanthropy, Nonprofit Montgomery, and the Foundation Center (now called Candid).

She has been honored with:

• TIVA-DC Achievement Award for service to the regional film community

• Alliance for Media Arts and Culture Creative Leaders Fellowship at Sundance

• Women in Film and Video Randy Goldman Award`

• Benjamin A. Franklin Award, U.S. Department of State

• Two-time individual artist grant recipient, Prince George’s County Arts & Humanities Council