I had the flu the first time I ever directed. It was a small video that I had written for a web design client. We couldn’t afford a director. Or a set. Or a crew or actors. The concept was computers talking about cyber security—how important it was and how they were worried they were vulnerable. I figured I would use a text-to-speech tool to make the voices, so I just needed various shots of computers. 

My friend Martin was a real filmmaker. He had a Red, a dolly, lights. Everything you needed to make an actual commercial. We shot the spot while I sat on the floor sweating and coughing, and six months later, it won awards for directing, writing, and editing—my first awards as a filmmaker.

Movies and writing have always been a big part of my life. I remember standing in Price Club (remember Price Club) with my parents, watching a big screen demo of Days of Thunder. When the images of Tom Cruise driving that car and Hans Zimmer’s music washed over me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I got the chills. I was one year old when I had that Price Club revelation. Film was going to be an important part of my life.

Almost 35 years later, I’m living in Los Angeles. A place I wanted to move since I was 16. I get to write and work with friends and be inspired by the city that birthed almost everything I’ve ever loved creatively. 

I love collaborating with other filmmakers on big ideas. 

I still write and direct commercials, but screenwriting and directing narrative work is where my heart really is. Maybe one day a kid will be standing in Costco, watching a demo of a TV, and get the chills for the first time from something I made. The screenwriter in me would love the symmetry.