SHORT FILM: LOVE
SHORT FILM: HUMANS BE LIKE…
SHORT FILM: THE FORGE
A stranger emailed me one day: he was a fan of my work and had money to fund whatever I wanted to make! Upon further inspection, I learned of the tragic reason I was being offered this: his sister had succumbed to suicide and as a final gift, left him money and a request to make art with it.
I decided I had to make something that both honored her and also served as a message for those who are hurting: Good can come from Bad. I teamed up with Rainn Wilson’s production company Soul Pancake (now PARTICIPANT MEDIA) to release it. It was a Vimeo Staff Pick, won Best Action Film at The Hollyshorts Film Festival, got me featured in SHOOT! Magazine’s New Director showcase and most goosebumpingly, resulted in two different people telling me this short film convinced them not to end their own lives.
SHORT FILM: EVERY NIGHT
INTERVIEW: NERDIST
NERDIST invited me to break down the logistics, creativity and psychology of a very challenging type of filmmaking: CREATIVE ACTION STUFF.
SHORT FILM: THE MAN FROM DEATH
Client: Baby Under The Moon Productions - Proof-of-Concept for a TV Series
The Man From Death aimed to be a “Charlie’s Angels” type TV show, except Charlie is an abstract fortune telling list that only makes sense after our heroes accomplish it’s weird, dangerous goals. This was a proof-of-concept piece to get it kicked off with a major studio. While Netflix didn’t run with it, it did win a Vimeo Staff Pick, played at Fantastic Fest, was selected as a Short of the Week, was nominated for Best Action Film at the Hollyshorts film fest and played at about a dozen festivals around the world.
SHORT FILM: RELATIONSHIPS BE LIKE - Episode 1
I wanted to express, as simply as possible, the dumb cycle we humans keep repeating over and over and over. I figure, hey, if we can witness it, we can work on it. Maybe? Californication actress Maddie Zima was down to join this + a few other films in this series that explores our horrible silliness as a species. This will (likely) be in an art show next year, looping 24/7 for a few months.
SHORT FILM: RELATIONSHIPS BE LIKE - Episode 2
Sometimes the person we’re texting just isn’t the person we should be texting. What does that feel like? The goal here was to make people fill this absurd scenario with their own personal experiences and emotions. What do YOU see? P.S. Blue-haired Kali here hired me to make a music video for her band. As part of the payment for said music video, I told her she had to set-dec and star in my little short film. She said yes and here we are.
SHORT FILM: RELATIONSHIPS BE LIKE - EPISODE 3
Metaphor is a powerful tool! We can show a quick surreal scenario and go- THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT’S LIKE! The goal here is to let audiences project their own meaning onto this common scenario. Some folks said this short film is the story of Covid! Others say it reminds them of their failed marriage. Another said this is a story of trying to help an addict. Metaphor is powerful! And best of all, it let’s audiences do all the writing, secretly, in their own heads ;)
SHORT FILM: MUSHROOM KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Client: The Perry Bible Fellowship (made with Nick Gurewitch)
Perry Bible Fellowship creator Nick Gurewitch hired me to direct and animate this piece which was part of a promotion for his popular new book. We experimented with a very interesting comedy gimmick here. Bonus: It’s filled with dozens of special easter eggs which fans diligently hunted for and listed there in the YouTube comments.
UNDERCUT (Student Film - MTV Movie Award Nominee)
My love of Jackie Chan action + my ethical confusion over outsourcing resulted in this Ninja Political Satire. It was nominated for an MTV Movie Award, inspiring me to hit the internet hard with creative ways of getting votes. It worked TOO WELL. I ended up getting so many votes that MTV accused me of cheating, disqualifying me from the award. Alas, the top movie marketing ad agency at the time, The Ant Farm, was paying attention. They liked what I did so much they gave me a job cutting trailers and producing campaigns. I went from cleaning chemical sewers at a metal shop to watching my movie trailers in a packed theatre in a single month and it’s been crazy ever since.