Filmmaker, Composer, educator.
I’m a musician and filmmaker from Los Angeles, Ca. I grew up Mormon, and after I left the church, I started working on art related to revisionist theology and the dramatization of the everyday. I eventually ventured to Illinois and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studying film and sound art.
I find beauty in the seemingly mundane and bridge the gaps between experimental fiction and non-fiction filmmaking. My everyday content usually crosses over into social and environmental commentary, satirical humor, and pop culture. Using the voice as an instrument, plunderphonics, and sound collage, musical narrative develops within these visual playgrounds. Most recently I released an EP, There’s a Lot of Me in This, But I Swear It’s All for You, regarding my Mormon upbringing, my eventual departure, and the struggle with my queer identity. This album was accompanied by an experimental doc, little fears, which focuses on the landscape of Chicago and Los Angeles and how they represent secret tunnels of the mind.
My film and installation, TheBox, made with artist Jackie Turpin, was shown at the Slamdance Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and the C.A.R. Directors Lounge in Berlin. I’m also a longtime collaborator with thai-american musician and artist Tommy Santee Klaws. We’ve made many music videos including a 20 minute low-fi supernatural documentary short film, Black Bag, about his recent visit to Thailand, which premiered at the Planet 9 Film Fest in Los Angeles.
Check out my oddball articles over at the Chicago Film Scene.
Education
2016 BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Film, Video, New Media and Sound Arts
Teaching
2018-present Teaching Artist, Marwen, Chicago
2018-present Substitute Teacher, Francis. W Parker School, Chicago
2015-2017 Teaching Artist, California State Summer School for the Arts, Los Angeles
Professional Experience
2018-present Festival Programmer, Experimental and Documentary Shorts, Slamdance Film Festival, Park City, UT
2015-2017 Optical Media-QC Operator, My Eye Media LLC, Burbank, Ca
2016 Organizer/Curator, Waveforms, SAIC Sound Department, Tom Robinson Gallery, Chicago
2013-2016 Media Center Technician, SAIC Media Center, Chicago
2011-2012 Videographer/Editor, Touchline Video Inc., Los Angeles
Awards
2014 Best Sound Design, Bodywell, ExFest, Chicago
2013 Best Experimental Short, Skin, IIFF, Chicago
2013 Creative Honors Scholarship, SAIC, Chicago
Exhibitions and Screenings
2021 little fears, Mosaic World Film Festival, Rockford, IL
2020 For Your Eyes Only, Zoom Against The Machine, Public Space One, Iowa City
2020 TheBox, C.A.R. Directors Lounge, Berlin
2019 Black Bag, Planet 9 Film Festival, Los Angeles
2016 TheBox, Slamdance Film Festival, Anarchy Shorts, Park City, UT
2016 TheBox, Ottawa International Animation Festival, International Panorama, Ottawa
2016 Unto The Circle, SAIC FVNMAS Festival, Chicago
2015 Mandragora, XxXFest, Chicago
2014 I’m Sorry I Didn’t Ask, Is This Art? No. 6, dLux MediaArts, Artereal Gallery, Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia
2014 Bodywell, ExFest, Chicago
2013 Of Leaves Unchanged, Waveforms, Leroy Neiman Center, Chicago
2013 Skin, Illinois International Film Festival, Chicago
2011 Trail. In Two Parts, College of the Canyons Film Festival, Valencia, Ca
Sound Design and Music Score
2020 RARA (online performance), Kristin McWharter
2020 Yellow Wallpaper (short film), Savanna Wrobel
2020 Peoplewalker (short film), Drew Hanks
2019 Birth (performance), 87th Anniversary Cabaret Cabaret, Izah Ransohoff, Chicago Il
2017 Real Lemons (short film), Julian Buchan
2017 FLNDR (short film), Drew Hanks
2016 Telum (short dance film), by Nikki Porter
2016 Heavy Blanket (animation short), Cory Feder, Vimeo Staff Picks
2016 They Are Smiling (performance), Izah Ransohoff, SAIC BFA Performance Festival
2016 Loop Hoop (video game installation, performance), Chanhee Choi
2015 The Choir (video installation), Jenny Marketou, “Images of Crisis” Exhibition, Greek Film Archive
2014 Fragile Intersections (video installation), Sophie Loloi
Bibliography
2020 “What Cinema Can Be: Part 2”, op-ed, Chicago Film Scene, https://chicagofilmscene.com/what-cinema-can-be-part-ii-streaming-risks/
2020 “What Cinema Can Be: Part 1”, op-ed, Chicago Film Scene, https://chicagofilmscene.com/what-cinema-can-be-part-i-the-superhero-conundrum/
2012 “Candy Cane” and “Politics,” poems in cul-de-sac (vol. 4) literary journal, published by College of the Canyons