I’m driven to tell stories that reveal the human condition and highlight human potential. We live in extraordinary times, when individuals have unprecedented, extraordinary power to impact the lives of others, both for good and ill.
I am fascinated by stories about outliers – people who challenge conventional wisdom and offer alternatives to the status quo. My film work explores how human beings adapt and respond to economic, technological, and cultural change.
I got my start in documentary working on two highly-charged political films: Cover-Up: Behind the Iran Contra Affair and The Panama Deception (Academy Award for Feature Documentary) In addition to working as a researcher and editor for these films, I was also in the forefront of wildly successful DIY distribution and crowdfunding campaigns before such terms — or even the internet, as we now know it — existed.
I struck out on my own in the late ’90’s with one of the very first digital video cameras, the Sony VX1000. I shot a number of EPK’s for the legendary NYC indie producer Ted Hope, and worked on the innovative arts program City Arts / Egg at WNYC. I also worked as a “VJ” at New York Times Television’s “Trauma: Life in the E.R.” and “Paramedics”. This work led to being hired by ABC News with Peter Jennings as a correspondent covering the upheaval in Indonesia in 1998. Footage from this period was later used in “Crash Course: The Indonesian Student Revolt” – a historical milestone that in many ways anticipated the “Arab Spring” uprisings of 2010.
A life-long fascination with Indonesia has also been a thread running through my work. In addition to covering the 1998 fall of the Indonesian dictatorship, I also reported on East Timor’s independence, environmental degradation, the coral reefs, the 2002 terrorist bombing in Bali, and globalization’s effect on Indonesia’s traditional cultures.
I have a background in theatre, and have written books and articles on Indonesian theatre and puppetry. My BA is from Wesleyan University’s Film Studies program, and my Masters in Communication is from Northern Illinois University, where I also taught film and video production as an adjunct professor. Concurrent with my video work, I have worked in the art department for a variety of feature films, television programs, rock videos and photo shoots too numerous to detail. Ultimately, these experiences – with clients ranging from Revlon to the Department of Defense, with talent ranging from Pee Wee Herman to Bruce Springsteen, has allowed me to see my role first as a collaborator, secondly as a problem-solver with an ability to leverage creative assets whatever the budget.