When did you know you wanted to be a director/photographer?
I started making ‘films’ with my friends in high-school, borrowing my parents’ tape camera. Kind of a classic “bored kid in the suburbs” story. I was infatuated with DIY filmmaking and experimental editing, and I had a lot of fun teaching myself. When it came time to think about a career, I knew I wanted to work in film. I didn’t have a mentor at the time, or any family in the arts, so I thought that going to school was my only way in. I went to a four year public university in West Michigan called Grand Valley State University, and studied documentary/non-fiction. After I graduated, I still didn’t have much of an in, so I just started making low-budget music videos for Detroit artists to cut my teeth.

You have a documentary background. What's the most life-changing documentary you've ever seen and why?
I guess I’d have to say the documentaries (if you call them that) that got me into filmmaking. It was a series of films by Bam Margera called “CKY”. They were skate-adjacent films with stunts and pranks, actually, but I guess that’s a form of documentary. I don’t think I would have ended up here if it weren’t for the influence those films had on me. I taught myself to edit, trying to imitate things he was doing, just using my friends as my subjects instead.

Aside from that, Werner Herzog is one of my favorite filmmakers- he has a ton of great both documentary and fiction projects. I think what I love about him most is that he doesn’t limit himself by medium. He has a film from 2019 called “Family Romance, LLC”- that blurs the lines between documentary and fiction. He more or less shot it himself, with almost no crew. It’s bizarre and brilliant.

Who (living or dead) would you like to photograph the most?
My grandfather. He passed away when I was 11. I would have loved to have had a relationship with him in adulthood. My answer is the same when people ask me who (living or dead) I’d want to have a conversation with. Photographs are like conversations. They’re an intimate exchange between photographer and subject, and photograph and viewer. I saw a quote somewhere, along the lines of “To photograph someone is to participate in their immortality.” I liked that. If you’re fortunate enough to still have your grandparents around, don’t take it for granted!

You travel a lot. What's your advice for packing light?
Buy a small suitcase! If you have space, you’ll fill it. I think that’s a general mantra to live by, really. If you don’t want to have a lot of belongings, don’t have a lot of drawers. I definitely apply that to my home. Not so much when I travel. I usually check at least one full sized bag (I like to have options), and travel with around 5-6 cameras, even for a weekend trip home to Michigan. So, I don’t really know if I’m the one to ask.

When was the last time you went to the beach? Tell me about that day!
I just spent a few weeks in France. I was doing harvest for this wine maker in a little town called Padern. Afterwards, I took a couple days trip West to Biarritz. I surf, and it’s been a place that I’ve always wanted to surf. September is usually a great season for waves, but, it was completely flat. I had a board in my rental car, and I checked what felt like every spot in Basque Country to find a wave, but I couldn’t. The day after I left, my Airbnb host sent me a video of perfect 3-4 foot waves right out back of his place. I guess I’ll have to go back.

The waves at Rockaways look fun this week, so I’m sure I’ll be out there.

I often see you around the neighbourhood. What's your go-to spot in Bed Stuy?
If we’re talking food & bev, there are a ton of great spots, both old and new. When I first got into the neighborhood I was ordering from New Ocean King Seafood at least once a week. Steamed snapper with vegetables and seasoned butter. My music listening habits, and my food eating habits are kind of the same- if I like something, I’ll run it into the ground. I haven’t eaten there in a minute, but I’m sure it’s still great.

Aside from that I’d say I enjoy my mornings at Rita & Maria the most. It’s a cozy little cafe with good and fairly priced coffee, and a ton of my friends frequent it. Every 3-4 block radius has it’s own caffeine watering hole- that’s ours.

What's something you wish you had more time to do and why?
My work is really important to me, and something I genuinely love. Even when I don’t have commissioned work, I find myself exploring personal projects. Aside from work, I have a lot of interests, and things that I want to do. Writing, reading, surfing, muay thai, and cooking are all things that I do fairly consistently. I love design, too. In another life, I’d work in interiors. I wish I had endless hours to give to everything I love, but even if I did, I don’t know if I’d have the energy. Everything is a trade off- if I give more time to one thing, I’m taking from another. I do wish the water was easier for me to access. I’d love to be able to wake up every morning and swim or surf. I think that will be my next chapter. I can already envision myself at 65- waking up every morning, swimming in the sea.

If you had to pick a winter uniform, what would it be?
A good pair of trousers, a good oversize coat, and a nice pair of boots. Depending on climate, base layer is key, too.

What's the best and worst thing about being a freelancer?
For me, being a freelancer means almost every project I work on is unique, different than the last. Because of this, I’m able to challenge myself, always trying something new. Aside from that, the freedom of schedule can be really nice; work really hard on a project for a few weeks, then have a significant amount of downtime. But, that can sort of be a double edged sword. I don’t get to choose when I work- the jobs kind of come when they decide to come. So, planning can be hard. Someone once said to me “If you want to work, book a vacation”.

Any advice for aspiring directors?
Just start making work, whatever that may be. If done right, it takes a really long time to learn and understand the craft of directing, and the best way to learn, is by trying and failing. There’s no one way to get into directing, and it’s very non-linear. But, like anything you want to get good at, you just have to do the work. A lot of work directors make early on is heavily referenced, or “in-the-style of”- and that’s great. Having something to imitate or reverse-engineer, can really help you learn. In time, the more you make, the more your work becomes your own (generally).

Find a mentor if you can, too. I have a long way to go in my career, but I have learned a lot. I’m always open to having a conversation with people who are trying to get into the industry. DM me!