Cody Rea is an Austin-based writer and director by way of a bouncing West Texas tumbleweed. Grounded in his blue-collar roots, his work subverts the classic Western genre through hyperrealism, absurdism, and surrealism, ultimately exploring how the American Dream curdles into an American Nightmare. His latest proof-of-concept film, $nake Pit, is currently making its run on the festival circuit, and he holds an MFA in Screenwriting from The University of Texas at Austin.