Background
I was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. I majored in Japanese Studies at Earlham College, a small liberal arts Quaker school in Richmond, IN. After graduating, I moved to Japan where I taught English and did translation work for the town hall in Iwate-machi, a country side village about 3 hours north of Tokyo by bullet train.
While in Japan, I had the opportunity to write and direct two well-received plays that were put on by a nonprofit group interested in cultural exchange in the town of Morioka. This experience nudged me in the direction of film school, though I had already set out on a career in academia, and had been accepted into the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at USC. While earning this first master's degree, I entered USC's School of Cinema-Television, and went on to get a second master's. Since completing my advanced degrees, I have worked in various capacities in Los Angeles and Tokyo as an editor, instructor and freelance writer/producer.
Throughout my time as a freelancer, I have tried to get involved in projects with filmmakers and artists who, while striving for success, are also striving to create something of worth. My attitude toward filmmaking is basically summed up in the Thelonius Monk documentary "Straight, No Chaser". In it, there's a scene where Monk's in a recording studio talking about what kind of music he wants to make. He says, "I want people to dig it...and still be good." Dig it here.
Recent News
The 2006 Current TV Pod "Seeing with Sound", which I edited, won "Best Current TV Pod of 2006" and has picked up a "Silver Telly" and a "Platium Remi" so far for 2007
The 2007 documentary "Pikyav", which I edited and post supervised, was picked up for broadcast distribution by KQED for their "Truly California" series
The 2006 documentary "Man of Two Havanas", which I co-edited, premiered recently at the 2007 Tribecca Film Festival
"Yokai", my high concept Japanese sci-fi kid's show/comic book/animted TV program pitch will be represented at this year's San Diego Comicon in July by "Yokai: Hammer's Move in" co-star Kathi Carrey, and the comic book side of the project will be represented by the artist Gabe Crane. Check out a page he inked here.
The Japanese language film "Chiyo", which I co-wrote and edited, was a semi-finalist in this year's Academy Award nominations for Best Short. That means it was in the top ten, but didn't quite make it into the top five. The director, Masanori Baba, and I will try harder when we make the feature version!
