Introduction and Education

I am a filmmaker who specializes in music videos shot on film. I am also a music producer and a musician. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinematography and a Master of Fine Arts in Music Production and Sound Design both from The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

Filmmaking

I have been making films for over 20 years and have been involved and trained in all aspects of filmmaking. I am knowledgeable in directing, pre-production, cinematography, and editing. I am trained on Avid Media Composer, Final Cut and Adobe Premiere. Currently in my own studio I only use Adobe Premiere. 

When it comes to filmmaking I am a huge proponent of the use of celluloid film. I have been shooting on film for over 17 years. I have used nearly every major 16mm camera system, and have personally shot films with the Arri SR2, Arri 16BL, Eclair NPR, Panavision Superama 16 and the Bolex H16. I have also shot with Super 8, Regular 8mm and 35mm motion picture cameras. I currently own 2 16mm Bolexs and a Braun Nizo 801 Super 8 camera. I also own some vintage video cameras.

Over the years I have developed a unique approach to filmmaking. I use minimal to zero crew members when shooting a film or music video. Nearly all of my personal films have been shot by myself as I am confident in every aspect of film production so I don’t need a large crew. This helps keeps production costs down and keeps the vision of the project more cohesive. This is not to say that I cannot or have not worked with small, medium or large crews when the vision of the film requires it or the budget permits a crew.

However my ability to work without a crew makes me the perfect filmmaker for musicians seeking to shoot their music videos on film but have a limited budget, or other budget minded clients. I also own my own cameras and lights making camera and light rental unnecessary. This saves costs in so many areas that it frees the budget minded client up to invest in film, processing, location rental, hair, makeup and props rather than needless equipment rental and crew salaries. I am also an adept film editor and can handle post production duties as well as production.

My background

My background is in experimental film, I enjoy the non-narrative structure of many experimental films. However usually that the only economical use for experimental film techniques are perhaps in inserts for a “dream sequence” for an otherwise narrative film or in music videos. Even persons unfamiliar with experimental film have seen experimental film techniques in music videos since the beginning of the music video era. Many times the bands were associated with student and experimental filmmakers and this lead to a natural collaboration. I hope to keep this collaboration alive between musicians who want something visually unique and filmmakers who can envision something beyond a stranded narrative production alive. 

For me shooting on film is the natural comrade in experimental techniques in our digital world. Film is something that exists in the real world and thus can be painted, processed, scratched and handled in the same way that a painting can. It is funny to me that there are now phone apps that will give your digital movies and pictures the “film look” with film grain, scratches and colors. But these are just overlays to a digital image. With film that grain, those scratches and that color are part just a much a part of the image as what the camera was shooting. A digital cinematographer is often complemented on getting their images to look like film. A quick cheat to get the “film look” is to just shoot on film.

Music Production

I have been producing my own music and music for others for over 20 years. I am a musician and songwriter myself and play piano, synthesizer, guitar, bass and drums. But my passion when making music is in production and I have an extensive collection of analog synthesizers, guitar pedals, effects units, amps and a huge collection of various microphones that can be used for all recording scenarios. I have been trained on Avid Pro Tools and Logic X. I have also recorded tracks using reel to reel analog tape. Currently I only record on Logic X.

My approach to music production is geared towards capturing a musicians performance rather than fixing a performance after it has been recorded in the box. I prefer to use microphones to record most instruments and I have developed a microphone system to recording based on classic rock production techniques from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. This allows me to capture a timeless sound that will make recordings stand out due to them not being over processed.