About

Rachel Troche is a narrative filmmaker, screenwriter, director, and award-winning photographer whose work explores identity, resilience, and the quiet power of everyday people. A graduate of Temple University’s Film & Media Arts program, Rachel began her storytelling journey at the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, collaborating with Maryann Kellogg and Laurie Seidman (CBS' Medium). She also completed work on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and MCCANICK starring David Morse and Corey Monteith in his final role.

Her short films have received recognition for both direction and marketing, while her scripts—including For Rent, winner of the Silver Nib Award in the Let’s Make It! Screenwriting Competition—have placed in top competitions like ScreenCraft, WeScreenplay, and Outstanding Screenplays. In both her visual and written work, Rachel seeks to uplift voices often unheard and illuminate moments of connection and compassion.

She brings that same mission to Candid Catholic Convos, a weekly podcast she writes, shoots, and audio engineers, using story-driven conversations to explore faith, identity, and community. Her background in digital storytelling includes work with brands like Comcast, Jameson, and People’s Light and Theatre—crafting narratives that are both strategic and soul-centered.

Currently based in Central Pennsylvania with her husband and three sons, Rachel is a proud Army wife and lifelong pro wrestling fan. Her stories often focus on the emotional undercurrents of ordinary lives, told with humor, honesty, and a deep belief in the dignity of every human experience.

//writing style

My writing style is nuanced, contemporary, compassionate, and emotional. I believe writing for the screen is a way of translating emotion from a written art form to a visual one, and both can create a lasting impact. My goal is to make you feel something, anything, positive or negative. My characters have lived entire lives before and after what you read on the page. I live for authentic dialogue and am not afraid of research. I believe the story is truly found in the rewrite, which is tough, but I love a good challenge.

//directing style

I've always viewed films as one of the highest forms of storytelling, combining several mediums into one to create emotion on a larger, more tangible scale. When directing, I focus on using each of these mediums in concert with the other - the shots are framed with subtle, elegant minimalism, allowing the audience to focus on the nuance of the characters within the frame. To do this, I like to surround myself with a talented team, spend time crafting a clear vision together, then I give them the space they need to create. As Orson Welles once said, "A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army."