Rose Troche (born in 1964 in the
midwestern United States into a
Puerto Rican family) is a film and television
director,
producer, and
screenwriter. She grew up in
Chicago and attended film school, earning a degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago. She began her career by making short films and videos.
Films
Her directorial debut was the groundbreaking film
Go Fish (1994), a
lesbian love story. Made on a shoestring budget, it was one of the truly "independent" films of the mid 90's, and certainly one of the first in the lesbian genre. It premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival in 1994. The film was co-written and co-produced with
Guinevere Turner, who was Troche's girlfriend at the time.
Her next feature film was
Bedrooms and Hallways (1998) which explored
male sexuality. She also directed
The Safety of Objects (2001), which was adapted from the short stories of
A. M. Homes and focused on
heterosexual love in
suburbia.
Television
Her television work is just as extensive as her film work. She directed an episode of the
HBO hit drama
Six Feet Under. And for three seasons, she has been a director and writer for the
Showtime series
The L Word, the groundbreaking show about lesbian friends living in
LA. She has served as the associate producer for the series and was recently promoted to co-executive producer. She has also expanded her writing and directing credits, writing an episode for the series
South of Nowhere and directing an episode of the series
Touching Evil, as well as
Ugly Betty and
Law & Order.