MULTIMEDIA
POST PRODUCTION (FINISHING)
Disclaimer about the pieces you will see below. My role on was specifically supervising the post production and finishing process. I am neither the original filmmaker, nor the editor of these pieces. I claim no artistic ownership over them in that regard. I share them here only to provide examples of the sort of pieces that I have overseen the finishing of. While I had a part in seeing these pieces go to air I am only a part, not the whole.
Inside Out 2 “Booth to Screen” Featurette
Released May, 2024
Produced by Pixar Animation Studios
The featurettes I worked on for Disney and its divisions all saw wide-spread release. Some aired on television, others saw theater releases, and many made their way to social media. My spots frequently racked up views on social media in the hundreds of thousands of views, with more than a few breaking into the two or three million range. Even a piece like this, that aired relatively recently, has over 400,000 views already.
The Acolyte “Creating the Acolyte” Featurette
Released May, 2024
Produced by Lucasfilm
Paintwork and green screens add a great deal of complexity to a spot. Green screens can be used for any number of reasons; obviously to make the impossible possible on the big screen but also for interviews and in behind the scenes footage at times. The trick is always to ensure the green screened shots aren’t noticeable. In a perfect world they’ll be indistinguishable from any other shot.
X-Men ‘97 “Previously On X-Men” Featurette
Released March, 2024
Produced by Marvel Studios
This was a fun spot to work on. Though it might not look like it at first glance, it has a lot of little visual tricks happening to make the footage flow smoothly. My clients also frequently had my team and I get creative when working with pre-HD footage to find ways to make it fit on larger televisions and monitors.
Wish “Welcome to Rosas” Featurette
Released October, 2023
Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios
Unsurprisingly, one of the best ways to promote a musical is to showcase the music. During the marketing campaign for Disney’s Wish my team and I were tasked with finishing pieces for each song in the film while also utilizing booth footage of the actors singing. Booth to Screen pieces are a complicated affair; every time a shot slides into place or splits the screen with another you have to carefully craft that movement in editing software and keep careful watch to ensure they execute as intended without leaving gaps or bleed over from other shots.
Ahsoka “Journey to Ahsoka” Featurette
Released July, 2023
Produced by Lucasfilm
All the featurettes I’ve worked on are inherently telling a story. Some more overtly than others. This particular piece chronicles Rosario Dawson’s rise to the role of Ahsoka and the backstory that went into the show’s creation. Pieces like this help get audiences invested in a story long before the actual show hits the screen.
Elemental “Booth to Screen” Featurette
Released June, 2023
Produced by Pixar Animation Studios
Booth to Screen spots present a wide variety of complex issues. Unlike trailers, or even featurettes, the footage quality used in the recording booth will often vary. This footage can be recorded on high end film cameras, but more often than not is filmed on GoPros, cellphones, and even pulled directly from Zoom calls. Worse yet, actor’s clothing, makeup, and lighting isn’t nearly as carefully considered. Sometimes the footage I receive borders on unsuable. As such, it’s a post supervisor’s job to pull out every trick in the book to make the footage sing. And, barring that, make sure the footage doesn’t distract from the overall artistry of a piece.
Haunted Mansion “Welcome Foolish Mortal” Featurette
Released June, 2023
Produced by Walt Disney Pictures
During the course of a marketing campaign I would typically work on dozens of spots for a film. Unsurprisingly, this becomes a bit repetitive by the end; many spots are cutdowns or variations on each other. For whatever reason this particular campaign was a lot of fun. I got to play with the visual style of the Haunted Mansion and lean into a spooky aesthetic that made each spot feel unique.
Loki “Designing For the Decades” Featurette
Released November, 2023
Produced by Marvel Studios
This featurette dives into another type of storytelling I enjoy; exploring the behind the scenes of a film set. It takes hundreds of people to create a film or television show and frequently they don’t get the credit they deserve. Pieces like this allow us to showcase their hard work and put their names and faces in front of the camera, if only for a moment.
Black Panther 2 “Return to Wakanda” Featurette
Released October, 2022
Produced by Marvel Studios
From Thor: Love and Thunder to Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 to Deadpool and Wolverine, Marvel films come with an extra level of scruitiny, not just from clients but from the fanbase that consumes them. I knew whenever I worked on one of these spots that they would be carefully picked over by dedicated fans, so it was always important that things be perfect down to the last frame.
Andor “Inside Look of Episode 1-3” Featurette
Released September, 2022
Produced by Lucasfilm
While you wouldn’t be able to tell from the finished product, this was one of the trickiest pieces I worked on for Lucasfilm. The interview footage was very rough in a couple of places and I was working with a new editor on it. Luckily, by the time the piece went to air all those difficulties faded away and a piece well received by the fans was all that was left.
Obi-Wan Kenobi “A Series of Firsts” Featurette
Released May, 2022
Produced by Lucasfilm
The original Star Wars is one of my favorite films, so getting the opportunity to work on pieces for Lucasfilm was a big deal for me. This featurette was one of my favorites. Lucasfilm uses very specific lighting in its shows and films and it can be hard to get the color of interviews and behind the scenes footage to feel like it fits in organically with show footage; especially when some of that footage comes from over 40 years ago.
Moon Knight “What Makes Moon Knight” Featurette
Released March, 2022
Produced by Marvel Studios
What Makes Moon Knight was one of the first major featurettes that I worked on and remains one of my best, in my opinion. Featurettes like this are, at their heart, marketing material, but the best ones feel like they tell their own story and function as entertainment independent of the show they’re promoting. This is one of my favorite examples of that idea. It is a piece with style, energy, and substance.
MISCELLANEOUS
Prior to working as a producer I dabbled in a few indie films. Mostly made with my friends right out of college. I wouldn’t call any of these professional pieces, but I think there is value in seeing where someone started and the passion that original ignited them on their journey.
The Smiling Man
Released October, 2015
Self Published
Perhaps a lesson in the importance of proper lighting, this was the last indie film I made. I still enjoy it conceptually. It’s based on the urban legend of the same name, and while it doesn’t impart any sort of deep meaning the purpose of the story is encapsulated in the HP Lovecraft quote I chose to include: “We shall see that at which dogs howl in the dark, and that at which cats prick up their ears after midnight.” Sometimes in life we encounter oddities we can’t quite explain. And there is something both profound, and often terrifying in that.
The Pleasing List
Released August, 2015
Produced by Jonathan Carlander
When I first came to Los Angeles I did a bit of freelance work helping out on various film projects. The largest of which was a student film called The Pleasing List, that tackled the experiences of having Asperger’s Syndrome. The film gained some significant attention in the mental health industry and was shared in classrooms and hospitals throughout the country. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the original upload anymore so the video posted here is a re-upload.
The River
Released February, 2013
Self Published
During my short lived attempts at being a director, I actually filmed a total of six shot films, but only edited two of them. The River, about a pair of gangsters following the murder of one of their co-conspirators, was the more dramatic of the two. To this day I feel a great deal of pride in this piece. Creating something from nothing has a certain magic to it.
Slenderishman
Released February, 2013
Self Published
The first short film I ever endeavored to create, Slenderishman was a humorous take on the Slenderman craze of the early 2010s. This piece, more than the others, benefits from the home movie feeling of being shot on a cheap camera. A trick that a lot of artists learn is that you should use your limitations to your advantage; like the Silent Hill franchise being limited by PlayStation hardware and creating its iconic fog to hide render times. While this piece doesn’t come close to doing anything like that I think it retains a certain watchability a decade later thanks to those same ideas.