Raised in South Africa and eastern Tennessee, Rachel quickly learned there are many ways to perceive the world. Film proved a great excuse to keep contemplating her surroundings, so she packed up her bags and made the great journey west to California to study film, psychology and the Great Books at Biola University. Inspired at Sundance by films such as Like Crazy and Women Without Men, she decided to take the independent film route. After producing Biola Japan’s second film Persimmon, she went on to produce the program’s first feature film Cicada, which was also shot in Japan and has won awards at the Heartland Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Festival, and Guam International Film Festival. She has also produced several music videos that have been featured on SPIN, Pitchfork, and mtvU. Currently, Rachel is in development on a feature film with director Nolan Wilson Goff. Besides producing, Rachel also loves studying and analyzing films, television, video games, and the Internet. She is a Ph.D student in Media Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her work includes research on the role of media in nationalizing projects, such as post-apartheid South Africa and post-war Italy, and studying media that posits future interplanetary colonization.