Video

US Open Squash Championship
Live Event

INDEPENDENT: I volunteered to shoot the US Open in 2009 in front of NBC5 Studios, but it was a much smaller event. 2010, it was on the stage of the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Again, I helped coordinate eight videographers for four evenings of quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals.

Slipstream International
Informational Video

FOR SLIPSTREAM INTERNATIONAL: Mike and Karen Milco have been hoarding footage from their annual trips to Angola, Africa for over ten years, and when I found out about it, I demanded that they let me use it. The nonprofit works with Christians in Angola to bring economic, educational, and spiritual aid.

Stirrup Cup
Music Video

FOR THE CROSSING / GRRR RECORDS: I had been volunteering on the video production team for Cornerstone Festival for two years when they asked me to stay another week on the farm to shoot a music video for The Crossing’s first album release in eight years. It was a small production and budget, but food and water keeps a person happy.

I acted as videographer while Nathan Cameron directed and edited.

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The Work of Covenant Missionaries
Video & Archive

FOR THE COVENANT EVANGELICAL CHURCH: My friend Ben Bruckner approached the denomination for a grant to shoot this footage to record the history of their past work and to encourage and inform current and future missionaries. They were more than happy to help.

Ben interviewed and I shot and edited.

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“I’m With Coco” Rally
ENG / Live Event

INDEPENDENT: My friend Tim Mata is a huge fan of Conan O’Brien, and was a WBEZ web intern when Jay Leno elbowed his way back onto the Tonight Show. We went to a rally in front of NBC 5 studios in downtown Chicago, protesting NBC’s treatment of Conan O’Brien. Shooting him conducting interviews with the rebellious mob of jokers was a piece of cake.

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Polar Change
Short Film

STUDENT PROJECT: Heavily influenced by Fellini and Bergman. Shrouded in its symbolism, surreal style, and multiple narratives, the film shows an ominous future and a tragic one for the theoretical Timothy Roberts. “Someone wants me here,” he says, because at least then someone else would be alive!

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Doing Well
Short Film

INDEPENDENT: You won’t hear about this project ever again. A short film gone bad. ’nuff said. Pluses: it involved the President of North Park University and their in-demand theatre professor, and had a knife stabbing and lots of psychedelic phases between reality and brain curd! Filed under “blackmailing material.” Costuming was done by Naomi Jackson.

The Canberra Night Fighters
Short Film

STUDENT PROJECT: Look for skewed Vietnam War references and pay attention to the black and white values. It was inspired by stories of the Vietnam War.

Actors helped with sound and lighting when not in scenes, and spent hours in two nights filming it. A treatment was written at some point, but if you watch it, you’ll realize that there was no script! I recorded the music in three hours the day before it was due.

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