Director. Playwright. Actor.

I’m a southern gentleman with a New York attitude. Raised in a family of New-yoricans in the calm suburbs of Cobb County, GA. As a child growing up with erb’s palsy every task was an opportunity for me to exceed my limitations. This limitation became my greatest strength teaching me the value of space and time. My first introduction to entertainment was my family. Often my family would throw dance parties or host karaoke nights where costumes were mandatory. It was those moments of endless laugher and bliss that built up the confidence in me to audition for my first musical, Aladdin Jr the musical, in middle school. As you could guess, I was hooked. I took the enjoyment of performing on stage and decided to train at Cobb County School for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School. During my sophomore year, my teachers found that I was becoming more interested in the creation of productions and less being in the production. With their encouragement, I audition for Ball State University’s Theatre and Dance Department to study directing under the leadership of Karen Kessler. Oh, yes, I did get in. Yes, I did attend. And yes, I graduated.

In 2016, during my senior year I was invited to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for directorial work in region III. At the same time, my family’s graduation gift came early, and I was given the unique opportunity to reopen Marietta's Theatre in the Square in Marietta, Georgia as their Producing Artistic Director alongside my father as my partner and producer. It was my mission to create a community theatre for the 21-century audience that is inclusive to all. That fall I reached out to graduating colleagues with an opportunity to create their own theatre company, at last, Actors Theatre of Georgia was born. Our seasons featured productions such as a Gender-Swapped Hamlet, my adaption of O’Henry’s classic tale, The Gift of the Magi 2.0, set in Atlanta during the 1950’s Atlanta streetcar strike, I directed the Southeast regional premieres of Carmen Rivera's La Gringa, Tanya Barfield's Bright Half Life, and Nambi E. Kelly’s Native Son which featured an appearance from Nambi herself and won Atlanta’s BroadwayWorld Best Play and Director for 2017. The Gift of the Magi 2.0 has received 5 nominations from the Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre Awards. In summer 2018, Emil relocated to Chicago, IL to further develop his craft of directing as Director Inclusion Fellow with Victory Garden Theatre. Participating in VG’s fellowship allotted me chance to learn about the Chicago theatre industry. I was able to work within a theatre and at the same time watch theatre nightly all across the city. Six months living in Chicago, I started applying for Graduate school. In the fall of 2019 after directing two summer productions in Marietta, I started studying for MFA in Directing at The Theatre School at DePaul University. So that’s where you can find me now…