I've always been fascinated by language and speech, and especially by the features that give dialects and individuals their own sound.  I earned my doctorate in Linguistics from UCLA (California, Los Angeles), finding time to do fieldwork on the amazing Cherokee language.  Since then I've explored my fascination with speech and sound in academic work, in creative work, and as a coach and consultant.

ACADEMIC  I’ve taught at London, Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, and my publications include cited research on American and British dialects. I was a contributor to the Kiel revision of the International Phonetic Alphabet, and a consultant phonetician for the Concise Oxford Dictionary on CD-ROM.

CREATIVE I've written many episodes for TV, including the BBC's top-rated Cockney drama EastEnders.  In short films I’ve directed Michael Palin (of Monty Python) and David Bamber (of Valkyrie and Rome). As an official YouTube selection, my award-winning short The Clap has had over 250,000 views.  Most recently I directed Heather Graham and piano superstar Lang Lang in The Flying Machine for Oscar-winning BreakThru Films.