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Making ninja movies, variety shows, Ken and Barbie chase scenes with fishing wire, and mafia shorts with my parents’ video camera as a ten-year-old, I have yet to put a camera down. I’ve been the director of photography and director for independent shorts, music videos and branded content for beautiful people at Capitol Records, Warner Music, Sony BMG, General Electric, Wilson Sporting Goods, and Verizon Wireless, among others. On a mission to understand the heart of the actor's bliss, I immersed myself in “The Meisner Technique” at a Sanford Meisner school in Chicago in 2018. In 2020, I participated in a Sundance Institute course, “Directing Actors," led by Emmy award-winning director, Joan Darling. I learned from Joan that Truth is found in letting go. As I wrote scripts, my quest for filmmaking proficiency crystallized after spending two concentrated weeks with Coen Brothers’ storyboard artist, J. Todd Anderson. Intimately learning the Coen’s regimen for making the film on paper before the money clock ticks reflects Bergman’s insistence that “only someone who is well prepared has the opportunity to improvise.” In July 2021, I put this theory to the test and made a scripted single-shot, multiple-location feature with a community of friends. See our story in SCREEN Magazine.
Since graduating from Taylor and selling the Jumping Bean (yes, I was the original owner), we lived in Nashville for eight years, where I ran the marketing department at Gotee Records. After hiring countless music video directors, I decided to quit my job and start a production company. For the first few years I made music videos and promotional content for performing artists in Nashville. At a certain point, we wanted to change our landscape, so we moved to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. My clientele shifted from the music industry to branded commercial content. In 2008 I started reading screenplays and teaching myself the craft of writing screenplays. In 2020 we moved to Los Angeles to make movies. I write every single day, and have written several feature-length scripts, two of which are in development.
I got married to a non-Taylor girl the summer after my Freshman year, then started the Jumping Bean the start of my Junior year. By the time I graduated from Taylor, we had two babies, then a third in 2000 when we moved to Colorado for a year. That said, because of family life and running a full time business on campus, my time at Taylor was a complete BLUR! I have no idea how I even graduated! I only got 4.5 hours of sleep a night and fell asleep at the dinner table. It was intense!
I am very thankful for the Communication Department across the board. I loved Carol Owen in the front office. Dr. Dale Jackson was my advisor and gave me permission to do my internship at a coffee shop in Colorado to study small business communication and learn how to run the Jumping Bean. For that, I will be forever grateful. The professor who wins the big award for my favorite was Dr. Jessica Rousselow. She taught me to think and write critically and I will forever be grateful for the infamous senior class that all Communication students dreaded: Critical Perspectives. More recently, I’ve connected with students and faculty in Taylor’s Film & Media Production program and had the chance to be a guest at the Envision Film Festival. I am so impressed with the film program at Taylor and the beautiful and thoughtful films the students from Taylor’s film program are turning out! It is top notch and expands every year. I am proud to be connected to that department, too.
Pursue what you love and don't settle for something you don't love because it's logical or practical. Follow your dreams and don't look back!
