Born and raised in Romania, Thea and her family escaped the communist dictatorship in 1989, and immigrated to the US, where she continued to pursue her passion for acting and directing. In 1995 Thea received an MFA from the University of Washington, and in 1996 she was selected by the Goethe Institute to be one of three US representatives at their annual International Conference for Theatre Artists. For the next few years, she traveled the world to work with great masters of theatre, such as Andrei Serban, Tadashi Suzuki, Bart Sherr and Leonid Anissimov. She is the founder of the Seattle Experimental Theatre Company, and the producer of several shows that traveled nationally and internationally, and played to great critical and audience acclaim. Since 2002, she has dedicated her time exclusively to film directing, her attention keenly focused on social issues. Thea directed, co-produced and co-wrote 6 films about sexual assault, in six different languages, as an educational tool for various immigrant communities in the US. Her documentary on human trafficking, I just keep quiet won the Pegasus Award for Excellence - the highest honor for government-sponsored projects. Her short film Heather and Goliathwon the Audience Choice at HollyShorts and Best Evnironmental Short at the Limno Film Fest in Italy. Thea is in post-production with Rock the Boat, which previewed at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival and won the People's Choice Award. She is a recipient of several scholarships, fellowships and awards: the Goethe Institute Fellowships for Theatre Professionals, the Valerie Flemming Scholarship, the W.W. Stout Fellowship. She lives and works in Venice, CA with her husband, their two children and Moxy the dog.