Tristan Carrasco studied acting at LAMDA, HB Studios and the Actors Studio, but realized early on she much preferred writing. After winning the New Dramatists Award for her play, "The Moron Principle" while still in High School, she took screenwriting classes at Columbia University. Mentored by Milos Forman and Sidney Lumet, her biggest influence was Billy Wilder, whom she met while bartending at the Bel-Age Hotel in Los Angeles. For several years, she worked for him twice a week. The job entailed trading jokes in Yiddish, rewriting his critiques of her scripts and having lunch on Little Santa Monica Blvd.She is currently working on a novel.