Rob lost his father at an early age and spent the remainder of his youth discipling behind an array of idiosyncratic oddballs in Berkeley, California. Those missteps led to a devotion to his community, an addiction to storytelling and an MFA in Directing at Columbia University. Rob co-wrote and co-produced Plan B and A24’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco. The film premiered at Sundance ‘19 where it garnered Special Grand Jury Prizes for Best Directing and Creative Collaboration, was listed as one of President Barack Obama’s Favorite Films of 2019, and earned him a Gotham Awards nomination for Best Screenplay.
Rob’s short films have played at Telluride, Sundance and SXSW, screened on PBS and won back to back Faculty Honors at Columbia University. He is a former SFFILM FilmHouse Resident, a 2019 Cine Qua Non Screenwriters Lab Fellow, and a UC Berkeley Poetry for The People alumnus. Rob is an educator, who has taught filmmaking and screenwriting at California State Northridge, Diablo Valley College and Mount Tamalpais University, a college accredited program within the walls of San Quentin. He currently supports the incarcerated community as a co-creator and co-instructor of the SFFILM and Pollen Initiative supported San Quentin Filmmaker Training Program which is now in it’s third year. Students from this program have won two best short awards at the SQ Film Festival and garnered write-ups in Variety and The New York Times.
Rob currently directs ads and is an Adjunct Professor of screenwriting and film production at Cal State Northridge. His original animated pilot, Vince the Bull, was accepted to the Almanack episodic Labs in Summer of 2025. He is also a Producer of the Sundance Institute supported documentary, Figrao Up, Figaro Down, which premiered at the 2026 San Francisco International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary.