a little more about me
I was born in Newport Beach, California…and was a storyteller from the start. If I wasn’t staging epic battles with my action figures, I was creating: weaving stories in my own mind, trying to make sense of the world. With a stutter that made speaking difficult, I always seemed to find my words, colors, and emotions in the safety of creativity. It was just bottled up inside.
For my entire life, I’ve been an active participant in martial arts. Taekwondo was the family business growing up and after earning my junior black belt at age 9, I continued to both study and teach taekwondo to all ages, culminating with earning the Master rank of 5th degree black belt in 2023. I credit martial arts for giving me the initial tools to expound my confidence…it was the platform where I first saw the power of projecting one’s voice.
But college is where I finally found mine. I attended Santa Fe University of Art and Design in New Mexico, and my film school education was a beautiful whirlwind. In a program rooted in the practical aspects of cinema, I began making short films and taking photographs from the jump, with my film Fixative screening at the National Film Festival For Talented Youth in Seattle, WA. I had finally found a visual language to match all the emotions swirling inside. At graduation, I was selected as Commencement Speaker…a big deal for a kid with a stutter.
And so I did what most film school grads do: I moved to Hollywood…I was hired by the Emmy-winning show Mike & Molly, starring Melissa McCarthy. In navigating the legendary Warner Bros. Studios, I had a front-row seat to big-budget production and all the craziness that comes with it. Ultimately, Hollywood helped illuminate the kinds of stories I’m committed to telling: small-scale, inclusive, independent productions that ignite and uplift…stories that inspire greater connection to oneself and others.
Then came my wandering phase: the search for these stories took me (and a camera of course) across New Zealand for 7-months before I landed at Elevation Digital Media, an award-winning, Denver-based video production company. Here, I helped create branded visual content for both local and international clients, as well as non-profit/NGO video campaigns that included productions in South Africa, the Philippines, and Mexico, to name a few. And still, I wanted to discover more.
In 2018, I earned my Master’s Degree in Galway, Ireland. I discovered fertile ground in the richness of Irish culture, as my short documentary Busking enjoyed a long and successful festival run, alongside the award-winning short narrative drama Adam’s Story…the latter about a boy who must confront his stutter when a class presentation is assigned.
Currently based in Denver, I’m committed to finding the light in every story, one frame at a time. With a camera as my tool, I’m dedicated to visually expressing my voice, and using it in service of others to help other express theirs.