Who am I?
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Who am I? ||
Early Years:
Growing up in Midwestern America, I never felt like I “fit in” with my environment. Between the sports culture and my peers’ obsessions with public image, I found it difficult to express my feelings and ideas. It wasn’t until later, when I decided to audition for the school play on a whim, that I’d discover my place, and purpose, in this world…
First Love:
For as long as I can remember, I have loved movies. My fondest memories are of my father taking my brother and I to see the latest Star Wars or superhero film. I watched a movie every night as a kid, with my favorites being The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Spider-man 2, respectively. It didn’t take very long for me to start making my own…
Make It:
It started out with me “borrowing” my sister’s Sony Cyber-Shot and recording videos of myself playing with my action figures. That quickly turned into making stop-motion videos with my Lego sets on my 3DS, which (of course) inevitably evolved into making videos of various formats on YouTube; including video blogs, sketches, short films, and game-play commentary…
A Life-Line:
I knew, very early on in life, that I was meant to tell stories. I dedicated my life to the art of creation, which led me into many different artistic mediums.
As mentioned before, my interest in film-making eventually got me to try out acting. In the 7th grade, I had to walk past the school auditorium, every day, to get to my bus. One day, as I was walking past normally, I noticed the door was open.
I peeked inside and saw that they were holding auditions for the school play, which that year happened to be called No Place Like Nowhere. Not being in any extracurricular activities at the time, I decided to just go for it and see what happened. After everyone did their auditions, we all sat in the house and waited for the teachers to read out the names for call-backs.
To my genuine surprise, my name was called! I was even more shocked when I later got a part, and after the first show, I knew there was no going back…
(Kennedy Space Center)
Discovery
There is one trait I have that has not, and will not, ever go away and that’s my curiosity.
Just below my love for creation, sits my love for learning. Not in a textbook, but through experience.
My insatiable hunger for wisdom has guided me into both good and bad situations, all of which shaped me into the a more well-rounded being. It’s led me into a passion for astrophysics, piloting, skydiving, traveling, and more!
That’s not even mentioning the art mediums like acting, photography, music, VFX, etc…
New Beginnings:
By the time I graduated high school, I knew that college was not for me. I did take vocational classes in the last 2 years of high school for Video and Broadcasting, which helped me learn the basics of filmmaking, and I understood that college would make my path to the film industry clearer and easier, but I also knew that it would hinder my creative process along the way. Not to say that there isn’t value in a higher education for art, but I believe a true artist listens most to their gut, and not the “rules”.
Once I understood this, I ended up deciding to take all of the money I had saved up over the years and move to Los Angeles! I was still only 18 years old at the time, which is kind of crazy to think about in hind-sight.
I moved in September of 2019, and quickly got to work. I went on every casting website I could find and sent out my portfolio to everything that, even remotely, described me. It didn’t take too long till I booked my very first job as an extra on a reality show called Dream Life…
(Sèdo Tossou & I on the set of Dream Life Season 1)
New Challenges:
Now remember when I said I moved at the end of 2019? Well, we all know how the following years went. If I had known that I’d be facing pandemics, riots, strikes, and every “world-ending” event in the book, I would’ve stayed home!
However, I was (and still am) determined to stay in LA until there’s no other option. I came out here with a dream, and I’ll be damned if I let the world destroy it. During these unfortunate times, I wasn’t able to find work in film or acting, so I decided to spend those “dry spells” creating and learning as much as possible!
I picked up a ton of skills in everything from music and audio engineering to film and video editing. That being said, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an “expert” in any of these skills, but I do have enough knowledge and experience to lay a solid foundation and grow in the industry…
My Work:
Here are some of the highlights of my creative journey. Click the button below to see the rest!
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