About the Artist
As a child I was always inspired by great stories, they were like a vast forest full of possibilities that my developing mind could explore freely with wonder and excitement and no limitations. As a filmmaker, I want to bring that same experience to others through the infinite possibilities of cinema. I’ve always viewed cinema as the culmination of all the other arts in that, if there is an art in the world, it can be included in the film making process in some form, and as someone who found his early identity in acting, drawing, writing, and singing among many other artistic endeavors, the thrill of using all the arts to tell a single story was irresistible.
Now my primary focus is on directing films. Whether the story is original to me, or is entrusted to me by the writer or producer, I tend to take full ownership of the material with the goal of translating that script into its truest possible form. I find myself to be a very visual director – partially because my anime influence, partially because I spent a few years working as a director of photography – and strive to make every shot a painting that tells us something about both the characters and the story. This means that every film I make has extensive pre-production planning so that when we’re on set there are very few shot related decisions are left to the whims of circumstance. While on set, my focus shifts entirely to the actors and my only goal is to help them delve deeper into their characters, to find their emotional center and to bring out the most believable performance they can. I love working with actors who believe they can go further than they ever have before, and helping them bring out their best performance.
I’m passionate about telling stories through film, and am always on the look out for new ideas, plots, and characters, and new visual ways to communicate complex emotions. I hope that my films will inspire my audience to see the beauty and possibility in the world, and to work to make those possibilities reality.
