Los Angeles, CA
Project Started: 2026
Maria Petros, Producer, Director, Editor
Director's Statement
I've always been interested in the space between how a life looks from the outside and what it actually feels like to live inside it. Pick Your Line comes from that space.
I began losing my hair to alopecia when I was seven. For years, I believed it was temporary. At sixteen, that hope disappeared with a diagnosis that changed how I saw myself and the future I imagined. What followed was a profound mental health struggle that reshaped the course of my life.
This film isn't about overcoming that experience or leaving it behind. It's about acknowledging that it continues to shape who I am.
I started snowboarding at 34—not as a solution, but as something new to step into after years of simply surviving. It didn't erase the past. Instead, it gave me a place to be present, to learn, to fall, and to keep moving without judgment.
Pick Your Line is for anyone who has ever felt different in a world that seems to move forward without them. It’s for those who have lost hope, those still searching for it, and those who have found it again by choosing joy. I hope audiences leave with a little more compassion—for themselves and for others—and the reminder that everyone is carrying a story we cannot see.
Film & TV work
Maria Petros is an award-winning filmmaker, editor, and post-production professional based in Los Angeles. Born in Iran to Armenian parents, Maria immigrated to the United States at the age of nine without speaking English. Navigating a new country, language, and culture at a young age shaped her perspective on identity, belonging, and resilience—themes that continue to define her work as a storyteller.
With a career spanning documentary, unscripted, and narrative filmmaking, Maria has developed a reputation for crafting emotionally compelling stories that place character and authenticity at the center of the frame.
As an editor, Maria has contributed to acclaimed productions including Untold, Paul American, and Action, bringing years of experience shaping complex narratives across documentary and television. Her background in post-production has cultivated a cinematic storytelling style rooted in emotional nuance, thoughtful pacing, and a deep respect for lived experience.
Maria is also a writer and director whose award-winning narrative feature Ascension received festival recognition for its direction. Across her work, she is drawn to stories that explore identity, resilience, human connection, and the moments that quietly shape the course of our lives.
Pick Your Line marks Maria's documentary feature directorial debut. Inspired by her own experience living with alopecia, navigating mental health challenges, and ultimately finding connection through community, the film reflects her belief that the most personal stories often reveal our shared humanity. Through intimate, character-driven filmmaking, Maria seeks to create work that fosters empathy, sparks meaningful conversation, and reminds audiences that our differences are often the very things that connect us.
MARAH STRAUCH, Executive Producer
Marah Strauch is an Austrian-American filmmaker whose work fuses daring subject matter with a refined, poetic visual sensibility. Her films are known for their striking imagery, inventive structure, and their ability to reveal the emotional core of characters living in extraordinary circumstances.
A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied glass and experimental film, Strauch approaches nonfiction cinema with an artist's eye. The tactile, sculptural quality of her early work informs her filmmaking today: she builds documentaries like works of art, layering archival, reenactment, and vérité into immersive, cinematic experiences.
Her debut feature, Sunshine Superman (Toronto International Film Festival, CNN Films, Magnolia Pictures, Universal International), told the story of BASE-jumping pioneer Carl Boenish and was praised by IndieWire as "one of the best U.S. docs of the year." With breathtaking archival footage and bold visual storytelling, the film set a new bar for how adventure and subculture stories could be told on the big screen.
Across her work - whether in feature documentaries, festival shorts, or collaborations with brands like Adidas, ESPN, and Accenture - Strauch demonstrates a commitment to cinematic scale, emotional intimacy, and the belief that nonfiction stories deserve the same aesthetic ambition as fiction. Her films have screened at TIFF, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Outfest, and more, reaching audiences around the world and inspiring the next wave of boundary-pushing documentary.
RAFAEL BRITTO, Executive Producer
Raf Britto is an Emmy-winning Producer and Creative Director with over 20 years of experience crafting documentary and branded content. From long-form series to Cannes Award-winning campaigns, he has shaped hundreds of hours of character-driven storytelling, working with cultural figures like Magic Johnson, Novak Djokovic, Misty Copeland, and more.
In 2022, he was part of the development team and a producer on Welcome to Wrexham, which earned five Emmy wins, adding to his four Sports Emmy nominations. His credits also include Netflix’s Untold, Street Food, and The Playbook, along with projects for HBO, Vice, Amazon, and Apple.
Born and raised in Brazil and fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, Raf brings a global perspective to his work. He is also a music producer, composer, and classically trained musician, with original work featured across major platforms.
PEDJA RADENKOVIC, Director of Photography
Pedja Radenkovic is an award-winning cinematographer based in Los Angeles with more than two decades of experience crafting visually compelling stories across feature films, television, documentaries, and commercial productions. Renowned for his cinematic eye and collaborative approach, Pedja has built a diverse body of work that spans narrative, nonfiction, and genre filmmaking.
His feature film credits include Fully Loaded, directed by Shira Piven and produced by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Adam McKay; the coming-of-age comedy Vikes, directed by Tenney Fairchild and starring Sydney Sweeney; the Western vampire horror film Death Rider in the House of Vampires, directed by Glenn Danzig and starring Devon Sawa, Eli Roth, Kim Director, and Fred Armisen; and the musical drama When We Kill the Creators, directed by Cynthia Mort and starring Grammy Award winner Shelby Lynne, Ally Walker, and Elisabeth Röhm. His work has also extended to documentary and television productions, where his ability to balance visual artistry with authentic storytelling has made him a sought-after director of photography.
Beyond cinematography, Pedja is an accomplished documentary photographer whose work reflects a deep appreciation for human connection, culture, and place. Whether working on intimate character-driven stories or large-scale productions, he approaches every project with a commitment to visual storytelling that is both emotionally resonant and technically refined. His passion for exploring the human experience through imagery continues to shape his work across film, television, and documentary cinema.
KEVIN WESTENBARGER, Director of Alpine Photography
Kevin Westenbarger is a Mammoth Lakes–based cinematographer, photographer, and filmmaker whose career has been shaped by a lifelong connection to the mountains and the people who inhabit them. For more than two decades, he has documented the culture of snowsports with an intimate, observational style that captures both the exhilaration of riding and the quiet moments that define life beyond the lift. His work with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team and a range of outdoor and mountain brands has earned him a reputation for creating cinematic imagery that is as authentic as it is visually striking.
Kevin's visual approach is rooted in honesty, patience, and a profound respect for the people he films. That sensibility makes him an essential creative partner in Pick Your Line, helping shape a film that explores identity, resilience, and the healing power of finding a place where you truly belong.