Catherine Linstrum began her career as an academic before spending five years working for the BBC as a documentary director. Her first feature as a writer, Dreaming of Joseph Lees, was a Fox Searchlight production starring Samantha Morton and Rupert Graves. This was followed by more feature scripts including The Counting House and California Dreamin’, a Romanian feature which she co-wrote with Cristian Nemescu and Tudor Voican and won the Grand Prix, Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2007. She’s also directed two short films.