Winter // 2019

This was a tough newsletter to write. My mom passed away last year, and to be honest these newsletters were written for her more than anybody. She was the most giving person I have known. She dedicated her life to education, counseling, and mental health social work. Here are a few recently found photos:

Aside from all of the tears, 2018 was filled with more incredible projects and experiences than imaginable. Kelly, Auggie and I are expecting the arrival of baby Juniper in just a couple of weeks!

Other highlights were: renovating a vintage camper trailer, shooting airplanes for Mitsubishi, directing kids & babies for Amazon Prime Book Box, Flying drones during epic sunsets in Italy, moving to a new neighborhood, and lots of video editing for Acer and Holland America Line on my new workstation.

MITSUBISHI - MRJ

DIRECTOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

I was working on this project for Mitsubishi around the time I learned my great uncle was the lead mechanic at Douglas Aircraft. This is my 4th or 5th airplane related project. Turns out my obsession with airplanes runs in the family.

AMAZON PRIME BOOK BOX

DIRECTOR | SEATTLE, WA

Check out these cuties! Getting paid to play with kids all day = The Best!

aeriel CINEMATOGRAPHY

DRONE OPERATOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

I picked up a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone toward the end of last year. These little flying creatures are incredible! I’ve already had the pleasure of piloting it all over Los Angeles, Whidbey Island, WA and Italy.

HOLLAND AMERICA LINE

EDITOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

I love how these Artist stories for Holland America Line turned out. I can’t believe I’ve been editing professionally for almost 20 years now.

ACER

EDITOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

Lots of new work for Acer including this Anthem spot and several stories about women working in STEM -Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

VINTAGE TRAILER

REMODELER | LOS ANGELES, CA

Kelly and I bought a 1959 Aristocrat Land Commander camper trailer in Idaho last summer. We spent the summer on Whidbey Island remodeling her: new floors, plumbing, counters, benches, cushions, painting and then debated buying an old house on Whidbey Island before camping our way back home to Los Angeles.

Winter // 2018

When it comes to life experiences, 2017 is going to be a difficult year to beat! In Auggie’s first year, I worked on more projects, cooked more meals, slept less and travelled more than any other year. Some travel highlights include Mexico City, Sydney Australia, and Kaduna Nigeria. More details on those trips and a few other new projects coming up. Before that, here is a collection of favorite shots from our summer trip to Whidbey Island, Auggie’s first ride on a skateboard and our first family vacation to Hawaii!

SAMSUNG GEAR

DIRECTOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

I just wrapped this 3 month long project directing and editing several ads for Samsung's new fitness product line, Gear. The casting and locations were all incredible. I think we struck a nice balance between story, fitness philosophies and product. I really enjoyed collaborating with the Edelman folks again and working with my favorite production company, Kontent Partners. Thanks Eddie, Starla, Ellina, Michael, Kort, Tyler, and Max for these sweet Behind the scenes shots!

MS NIGERIA

DIRECTOR | KADUNA, NIGERIA, AFRICA

I mentioned this project in my last newsletter, but wanted to share a little more about the most memorable travel job I've done so far. We shot this in under a week including the travel to Kaduna, Nigeria in the middle of their monsoon season. It rained so hard the roads frequently turned to rivers. Small children carried smaller children on their backs and live stock wandered freely through the villages where we were shooting. Although most Nigerians live on less than $1 a day, I saw happiness and joy that I rarely see in the US. Instead of Playstations, Instagram and Netflix, they spend their time making food over fires, telling stories, and playing with children. I left wondering who has it better. Thanks Color Creative, Chad, Ellie, Sam, and Tyler.

STEVEN PINKER

DIRECTOR/PHOTOGRAPHER | SEATTLE, WA

I had the extreme pleasure of filming Harvard Professor of Psychology, Steven Pinker for a soon to be released project. It was truly a dream come true. I studied Psychology at the University of Washington before falling in love with filmmaking. There will always be a special place in my brain for the science of Psychology and Steven Pinker is the best in the field. Here are a couple behind the scenes.

BECU

CINEMATOGRAPHER | SEATTLE, SPOKANE, WA

I was honored to work with DNA Seattle & John Keatley again on a new round of TV commercials for my favorite credit union. We shot for a week in Seattle and two days in Spokane, WA. Speaking of Spokane, I hadn't been back to since living in a Holiday Inn while shooting this awesome indie film for Myst creator, Robyn Miller 6 or 7 years ago! I was happy to see Spokane has a great food scene now and it the city appears to be doing better than ever.

HH DEMOS

DP/DIRECTOR | SEATTLE, WA

Here are a few frame grabs from a short series of stop-motion product demos. This was one of three projects I shot at Seattle Grip & Lighting in the month before it closed. Never having attended film school, a lot of my early learning happened while crewing on productions there. Big thanks to SGL and our awesome Seattle crew!

BROOKS RUNNING

EDITOR | SEATTLE, WA

Speaking of early career, it really started thanks to an interest in making skate and art videos when non-linear video editing software (Adobe Premiere) was first accessible and beginning to be slightly functional. This lead to a job editing a documentary about the MLS Champion, LA Galaxy in 2002, which then lead to a job as a full time video editor for an Ad Agency in downtown Seattle. Aside from all the sitting that's required, I still love editing! Here's another recent edit for Brooks, directed by the talented Andrew Franks at Kontent Partners. Thanks, Andrew, Craig, and Michael! I also had a blast shooting pickups for these with cinematographer, Chris Bell.

XCHNG

DIRECTOR/DP/EDITOR | SEATTLE, WA

Thanks, Joe Garber for helping bring these animations to life! It was fun to learn all about blockchain technology and the booming field of digital advertising. I've always loved the process of translating complicated ideas into short animations.

DR. MURAD

DP/PHOTOGRAPHER | SANTA MONICA, CA

I was honored to work with one of my old friends and favorite designers, Corin McDonald on this project for Dr. Murad of Murad Skin Care. We spent the day in Santa Monica photographing and interviewing him for his new website and an upcoming video project. I loved learning about Dr. Murad's holistic approach to medicine. Like all of my favorite doctors he values good food, art, and doing what you can to live a low stress lifestyle.

That's it for now! Thanks again for being a friend and having an interest in what I make. I couldn't do it without you!

Spring // 2017

It's been busy! August is 5 months old, and every day is still a brand new adventure. He's constantly learning how to move in new ways, make new sounds, or we're taking him some place he's never been before. I never could've imagined what a magical experience it would be to watch him grow. 

Kelly has been busy working on new macrame and an interior design project for a future vacation rental on Whidbey Island. We’ve also been creating plans for a furniture line to be produced under the name Virgil Mason. Our goal is to spend part of the summer in the Pacific Northwest working on furniture prototypes and visiting friends.

I've been keeping busy directing and shooting a bunch of new projects that have involved trips to Seattle, Arizona, Mexico City, and Nigeria! Yes, NIGERIA! Scroll down to see photos and clips from these recent projects.

IHG REWARDS CLUB

DP / DIRECTOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

I directed the live action scenes and contributed travel clips from my 2011, trip around the world to this spot for IHG. IHG owns Holiday Inn, Kimpton, and several other hotel chains. We shot in a beautiful modern house in Westwood, the Santa Monica beach and Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles. It was produced by Kontent Partners. Thanks Craig, Michael, and Andrew for the opportunity and a wonderful collaboration!

AMAZON PRIME IN MEXICO

CINEMATOGRAPHER - MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

I recently had the honor of shooting Gael Bernal Garcia in his hometown of Mexico City. I was blown away by the beautiful people, architecture, and history that exists there. Did you know Mexico City sits in a massive valley 7,350 feet above sea level?

DAIRY, DAIRY, DAIRY

DP | LOS ANGELES, CA / PHOENIX, AZ

It was a pleasure to DP for my longtime friend and collaborator, Sean Pecknold on his TV commercial titled Dairy, Dairy, Dairy! We shot about 40 scenes in a dozen or so locations around Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Big thanks to Society for producing this beautiful, human TV commercial. Watch for it on the Food Network and Cooking Channel in June. It's funny!

MICROSOFT BUSINESS FORWARD

DP / DIRECTOR | SEATTLE, WA

This was a fun one I directed for the Microsoft Business Forward event. Inspired by a scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, I combined an Arri Alexa Mini, a Cineped slider, a Fisher dolly and a circular dolly track to create a couple of fast moving 15 second spots. We shot in the Seattle Bank of America Tower, and Baby & Co's pop-up location on Capitol Hill. I love how they turned out. Thanks to Possible & Kontent Partners.

FACEBOOK FOR GOOD

EDITOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

Just after August was born, I helped the FB Creative team cut a 3 minute video for Facebook’s VP of Global Marketing, Carolyn Everson. The internal video demonstrated the reach and ability to affect positive change through Facebook. It was shown to thousands of employees and this is how Carolyn thanked our team. 

“I am tremendously grateful for your thoughtful and incredible work in putting together the CS reel for my GMS Summit speech. Those 3 minutes were the most brilliant and moving part of my presentation – it simply wouldn’t have been the same without it. I know many hours and “revs” went into it – and I am so appreciative of your time and work.

Your fan,
C”
— Carolyn Everson

AMAZON DESIGN TEAM PROFILES

DP / EDITOR | SEATTLE, WA

Loved collaborating with Chad Cobain and his new company, Color Creative on these short team profiles for Amazon's design department. I used a 35mm Cooke Anamorphic to achieve the look. I think they turned out great!

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 365 - NIGERIA

After the Amazon profiles Color invited me to direct a short documentary for Microsoft about women farmers in Nigeria! I just got home and I'm struggling to find words to describe it. In short, it was the experience of a lifetime. I can't wait to see this one through post and share it in my next blog post. If you like these images, I've posted a bunch more to this photo gallery and on my Instagram.

EDWARD SHARPE DOCUMENTARY

DP | LOS ANGELES, CA

One of the many, many surreal things about living in Los Angeles, are those late night text messages asking if you're free to help Edward Sharpe shoot a documentary tomorrow. I'm a huge fan of Edward Sharpe's music! Alex, the singer, had been working on this project for the past year and hired me to shoot a few remaining scenes. Loved meeting Alex, his band members and collaborating with my super talented brother-in-law, Christian.

Congrats! You are the first person to make it to the end of one of my blog posts ;) Hope to see you again soon.

Winter // 2017

So that happened! We moved into a new office and a new house while Kelly was 8 months pregnant and I was working on some of the biggest projects of the year. Then we decided to host a Christmas party and have a baby on the same day. Welcome August Olin Daniels! Here is a gallery of photos that my beautiful wife Kelly and I took along the way.

RECENT WORK

I'm really proud to have been a part of so many incredible projects this winter. I recently directed the live action portion of a commercial for IHG. I've worked as a cinematographer on several Amazon.com projects in Seattle, San Francisco and soon Mexico. I've also been editing commercials for Facebook in Los Angeles. I'll be sharing clips from these on my website and Instagram soon. 

Here are a couple of other projects that I wanted to share. 

VICE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

DP | LOS ANGELES, CA

I had a blast running all over the east side of Los Angeles shooting this Autobiography about Clem Creevy and her band, Cherry Glazzer. It was shot with Sony FS-7 cameras and Zeiss lenses. Big thanks to the Director/Producer dou of Brian Quist & Sam Winter.

YOGA 30 FOR 30

DP / COLORIST | LOS ANGELES, CA

Here's a trailer for the recently released training series Yoga 30 for 30. Director, Airrion Copeland did an incredible job leading us through 2 days of shooting, creating a mind boggling 20+ hours of material. I was really happy with the choice to shoot Canon C300s (love the autofocus) and the chance to use Mole Richardson Senior LED lights. Amazing soundtrack by Stic from the legendary Hip Hop group Dead Prez! 

XBOX HALO PLAYER PROFILES

DP | LONDON / ASPEN / COLOGNE

Here's one from last year which involved travelling to London, Aspen, and Cologne with one of my favorites, Chad Cobain. We shot 6 short documentaries about the finalists in the Halo World Championships.

Thanks to all of my old and new clients! I'm looking forward to working together again soon.

 

Summer // 2016

I've been a freelance filmmaker (Director/DP) for over 10 years now and this roller coaster career only gets more exciting! I can't count the number of recent late nights and flights across the country. I think video is one of the most complicated and perfect ways to communicate with the world. I love all of the new technology, getting to live and work with locals, having to use my whole body to create something that entertains, educates, and ideally affects others. I love the process, and the unique challenges that each project comes with. I’m getting better at anticipating pitfalls, but I know there’s always going to be something new to learn. Anyway, here’s a look at some of the projects I’ve worked on this year.

SOFI TUKKER, DRINKEE

DP | BROOKLYN, NY

This is a music video I shot for director, Sam Mason. I love working with Sam! Every project he does is set in a new imaginary world. We created this tropical island using a RED Dragon camera, vintage Leica glass, a 1970’s jib, and a ton of house plants. We shot at Chemistry Creative in Brooklyn, NY, They gave us the run of the place and a ton of fun lights to play with. The video already has more than a million views on YouTube and was awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick!

BECU

DP | SEATTLE, WA

Portraits and lighting are two of my favorite things and John Keatley is a master of both. I was honored to DP these television commercials for John and DNA, Seattle. BECU is one of the best Credit Unions in the country and I think these spots do them justice. I just wish they would’ve used the soundbite from the little boy in a baseball cap, who was asked what he’d buy if he had all of the money in the world, and his response was "a box of pineapples." When asked what his dream job is, you guessed it, a pineapple farmer! 

AMAZON ONE

DIRECTOR / DP | SYRACUSE, NY

Kontent Partners sent me to upstate New York to document Amazon’s historic first Jet Liner, Amazon One! There will soon be 40 of these jets delivering your packages. Amazon used the videos to announce the news to the world during Sea Fair in Seattle. They were also broadcast on CNN, CNBC, and other stations. I had to wear a full-body Tyvek protective suit and shave my beard for the first time in forever to be able to wear a respirator around the paint fumes. I ran 5 time-lapse cameras 24/7 for 2 weeks. Most cameras were placed about 40 feet above the ground on wobbly scissor lifts. It’s the closest I’ve come to what I imagine it would feel like to work on Mars. We also used a Sony FS-7 and a RED Dragon for the interviews and realtime B-Roll.

CYPRESS CREEK RENEWABLES

CINEMATOGRAPHER / PHOTOGRAPHER | RALEIGH, NC

I love clean energy and was so happy to contribute my time to creating a collection of advertising images and video content for Cypress Creek Renewables. We travelled 1000 miles in three days visiting 6 different solar farms in North Carolina. It was incredible to see how many farms are up and running and learn about the energy they create. I shot the stills on a medium format Pentax 645Z, time-lapse on a Sony A7rII, and the arial footage with a DJI Inspire Pro Drone. I also discovered there’s a great food and beer scene happening in Raleigh, NC.

LA DOWNTOWNER

DP / DIRECTOR | LOS ANGELES, CA

I’ve been shooting these mini-docs and stills for the LA Downtowner the last couple of months. It’s incredible to see the transformation of downtown Los Angeles, and I’m convinced this publication has played a role. These are really fun to make, involve little planning and a ton of thinking on your feet. I’m using a Sony A7rII and a 25mm lens for those who are curious.

LAUREN & TRAVIS YOGA

DP | LOS ANGELES, CA

This is a 20 hour Yoga Training video series by director Airrion Copeland that we shot at the famous Poodle Dog Studios in Los Angeles, CA. I loved the crew we put together for this 3 camera, Canon C300 shoot. I’ve shot dozens of live multi-camera shows for On The Boards Theater in Seattle, so this was familiar territory.  The only difference is those were 2 hour shows and this was 20, making it one of the most physically challenging, and fulfilling projects of my career. The dedication of our crew was mind blowing! Here are a couple of behind the scenes stills.

STATICLAND

DP / DIRECTOR | SEATTLE, CA

I made this back in January. It's significant because it's the first project I've ever done completely solo. Over the years I've worked as an editor, gaffer, DP, director, and sound engineer, but never all on one project. There's nothing quite like conducting interviews while mixing sound and operating a handheld camera on your shoulder. I LOVE the slow motion walk around shot of Jeff Angell at 4:40.

Honorable Mentions: Also shot projects for Facebook in LA | Rupert in Austin, TX |  Kontext Partners/Gates Foundation in San Diego, CA | Halo Player Profiles in Aspen, London, and Cologne.