My Work
I’ve been fortunate to work for a multitude of production companies, and sometimes directly for networks and streaming apps. Due to various video rights ownership rules, I’m not always able to display full episodes of my work but below are examples of available content I’ve produced.
United States of Arts
Produced with the team at Fire Starter Studios this 67 episode online series was specifically created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The National Endowment for the Arts in 2015. Featuring short form documentaries focusing on the arts in every state and territory in the USA, I wrote, produced and story edited 37 episodes in the series.
I was nominated for two Primetime Emmys for my work and the team was nominated for two Producers Guild of America Awards for Best Short form program.
Below are two favorites I produced, Montana and Mississippi.
Chelsea Does Racism
Netflix had this great idea to unleash the acerbic wit of Chelsea Handler onto the world by having her tour the USA covering various hot topics, such as Marriage, Drugs, and of course Racism under the banner of “Chelsea Does (insert topic here)”.
This series was executive produced by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville and Eddie Schmidt. I pitched concepts, interviews and subjects, booking white supremacists as well as comedian/actor Aasif Mandvi to be useful foils for Chelsea’s inquiring humor. This episode of the series was by far the most critically acclaimed. Below is the trailer.
Upscale with Prentice Penny
Prentice Penny is mainly known as the very talented showrunner for the critically acclaimed HBO series, “Insecure”. But did you know he was an erudite host as well?
Prentice hosted this 12 episode lifestyle comedy series for truTV that ran in 2017. Prentice’s goal was for viewers to “upscale” their life, making everyone’s life better with the right smarts and guidance. Combining animation, humor and a whole lot of style, I personally produced 3 of the 12 episodes.
Below is an excerpt, “Charcuterie”, from one of my favorite episodes “Entertaining at Home”.
Underground Chefs
Enterprising food entrepreneurs from underserved areas are using the tools available to them: home kitchens, instinctual marketing savvy and social media to create a food revolution. To document this revolution, I teamed up with acclaimed director and editor Charles Little II to build this sizzle reel for a multi-part series that we are pitching to various networks and streaming services.
On the strength of this sizzle reel, I won two development deals with the production companies Jarrett Creative and Triage Entertainment.
The Battle of the Bozos
In January 2009, Beth Owens, who works at New York City ad agency Harrison & Star, put an inflatable Bozo the Clown bop bag she’d gotten as a gag gift in her 8th-floor office window. She thought the construction workers building a high rise across the street would like it.
A month later, Betsy Todd of VideoHelper, a music production house with offices facing Harrison & Star’s, noticed the Bozo in Beth’s window. Enraged by the sight, she promptly bought her own Bozo and placed it in her window, facing Beth’s.
Then all hell broke loose.
“The Battle of the Bozos” chronicles the Bozo-display showdown that broke out spontaneously after Betsy’s Bozo went live, culminating in a shock-and-awe campaign of pure Bozo force. It goes behind the scenes to capture the strategies of both camps as they schemed to out-Bozo the anonymous enemy—or was it a friend?—across the street. Their battle was invisible to most, waged high above the sidewalks of 21st Street, and it consumed the lives of all who were involved.
This short film demonstrates that the Bozo face-off was more than just a prank that, in the words of one participant, “brightened the soul-crushing monotony of the office environment.” It became an experiment in non-verbal communication, a way to build camaraderie among coworkers, and a true testament to the desire to connect with others—yes, even Bozos—in a vast and impersonal city. Because in a place as big as New York, you never know who’s watching.
Presenting the full story of the battle that was featured in New York Magazine and The New York Post, and broadcast on WPIX-11/New York and Fox News, the film combines interviews of key warriors with live-action shots from each side’s perspective during the deployment of Bozos for the final shock-and-awe campaign.
Winner, "Official Best of Fest" for documentaries on the festival circuit, 2010
Winner, Best Documentary Short, Williamsburg International Film Festival, 2010
Official selection, Seattle International Film Festival, 2010
Official selection, Tallgrass Film Festival, 2010
Official selection, Athens Film and Video Festival, 2010
Official selection, Couchfest Films, 2010
Broadcast on Seattle's KCTS PBS as part of "Official Best of Fest" movie series
Broadcast on BYUTV
Press:
Watch the full movie below.
