DIRECTOR • CINEMATOGRAPER • WRITER • CAT LOVER

I was tempted to write this in third person, like everyone else does. But I fought the urge, and won.

I began my cinematic journey at the tender age of 8, with my grandfather’s VHS camera in hand, and the family cats in front of the lens. My career evolved when I recruited my best friends–a trio of brothers–to spend Saturdays making kung fu epics and and a comedic sketch show (“Saturday Live” – so clever). After a teenage hiatus persuing romance and rock stardom, I returned to this passion for film. But there was one problem: I didn’t have the means to go to film school, nor an acquaintanceship with any film-inclined individuals. So, I bought an inexpensive DV camera, a microphone, and editing software, figuring that I could utilize these basic tools to produce a documentary on a German panpsychic philosopher. A filmmaking trial-by-fire, the project imploded. As did my next attempt, a documentary on the subculture of Cosplay. But in these failures, I learned hard lessons that shaped his skills as both a storyteller and a visual artist.

Those lessons stuck, and things have been going a lot more successfully since.

With over 45 music video projects under my belt, I has been crafting visuals to music for over 20 years. Apart from my work within the music video industry, I am the owner and creative director of the Chicagoland video production studio, Motion Source. An obsessive independent filmmaker, I also runs the independent film production company, Year of the Phoenix Productions. Through my work in both commercial production and filmmaking, I have won a number of awards for Directing, Cinematography, and Editing. But what do those mean anyway? Art is subjective.

FAVORITE ALBUMS

• Wish The Cure

• Vheissu Thrice

• Dark Hearts Annie

• Songs of Faith and Devotion
Depeche Mode

• Fumbling Toward Ecstasy Sarah
McLachlan

• Mellon Collie and the Infinite
SadnessThe Smashing Pumpkins