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Sapphire Xavia Kaltenbach Merrick (born: Philip Xavier Kaltenbach Merrick) is an American writer, director, editor, actress, musician, and singer know not only for her original films, but also her original songs and shows on Youtube. Born in a state outside of New Jersey on January 22, 1994 to Doris Merrick and Philip Xavier Kaltenbach, they did not remain in that state long, and moved several times before settling in Morris County, New Jersey. Growing up, Sapphire was always very creative, which was spurred on further by acquiring a Nintendo 64, and games, for her 6th birthday. However, it was Sapphire's father who inspired her desire to become a filmmaker. A life-long lover of the medium, Sapphire's father decided to begin cataloging all the films (in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendars!) he would watch, starting in 2003. In 2005, Sapphire picked up the tradition and this was a large source of bonding for the two, each logging hundreds of movies per year. Sapphire's creative mind swirled, and ideas for films started to materialize. Later, upon being introduced to classic rock, punk, and new wave, also by her father, ideas for songs began to form as well. Sapphire received all of her education in New Jersey, attending local public schools for grade school. Schools not because of getting kicked out, just because the town was small and split up K-8. After making up her mind to become a filmmaker, she made her first film, the currently still unreleased (as of 2023), "Just a Little Crazy" in 2008 as her final project for computer class. Following this, she proceeded to attend a technical school, The Morris County School of Technology (Academy of Visual and Performing Arts), where she really got into the weeds of studying film, acting, Photoshop, and many other multimedia concepts. After her graduation in 2012, she attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Campus, where she went on to receive her BA in Film (with a minor in Philosophy), Cum Laude, in 2016. During these years, she also attended summer filmmaking courses at Sarah Lawrence College, School of Visual Arts, and UCLA, in 2009, 2010, and 2015, respectively. During college, Sapphire started to question her gender, before coming to the realization she was a woman in 2018. At first, only her close friends knew. Then, when the would exploded in 2020, she decided it was finally time to act. After much therapy and struggles in that area, she was finally approved for HRT, and began taking them June 30th, 2022. Despite her father's sudden passing in 2013, and the other hardships of life between ages 18 and 25 (and also questioning one's gender identity), Sapphire has been able to keep busy, writing, as of 2023, 20 short films and 3 features. She also has released or been in something every year since 2008, with the exception of 2020. But it was 2020, so that's understandable. Sapphire still resides in Morris County, New Jersey. She drives for Uber and Lyft to make money, and does struggle often with being productive, as a result of depression and anxiety (which is being treated with medication!). However, Sapphire has been applying to acting roles and gigs and hopes provide more and more of her income through her passion as time goes on. If pressed for comment, Sapphire would likely say, "Pretty lady!" or "Please check out my Youtube". Inspiring.
