THIS IS A STORY ABOUT MY MOM

Ripped is more than a film to me - it’s a love letter to my mom. Natalie is not just the subject of this documentary, she is the reason I understand resilience, vulnerability, and the power of reinvention. After four decades of marriage ending in divorce, the passing of her mother, and years of carrying the weight of others before herself, she found strength in the most unexpected place: a bodybuilding stage at 59 years old.

I wanted to make this film because I saw her fall apart, and then rebuild herself, rep after rep.

Stylistically, I kept the film grounded in a raw, candid, and intimate visual language - authentic, unpolished, yet gripping in tone. As we follow her final four weeks of training, inching closer to her first professional competition, the film takes on a tension that mirrors her inner transformation. My aspiration was to create something that feels both tender and firm, rooted in her truth.

Beyond bodybuilding, it’s about loss, identity, aging, confidence, and the courage to rewrite your own story when the world says it’s too late. I hope audiences see in her what I do: proof that when life tears you apart, it’s never too late to come back stronger.