I grew up in Baltimore, MD, a working-class kid with big dreams and an endless fascination with movies. I was captivated by films like Amadeus, E.T., and anything by Mel Brooks—stories that could make me laugh, cry, and feel like I was part of something bigger. Filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick amazed me with their ability to create worlds that felt impossible, yet somehow real. Even as a kid, I knew this was what I wanted to do: tell stories that stayed with people long after the credits rolled.
With little more than a couple of VCRs, one of those aux cables, and a lot of patience, I taught myself how to edit. I’d sit there for hours, rewinding and pressing pause at just the right moment to make the cuts work. It wasn’t fancy, but it gave me my first taste of what it felt like to build a story, piece by piece. From there, I started making short films with my friends—bad lighting, clunky audio, but all heart. Every project made me fall more in love with filmmaking.
Even though I didn’t grow up with a lot, I always saw myself doing this. That early love for storytelling has stuck with me my entire life. Whether I’m behind the camera or in the edit suite, I approach every project with the same excitement and curiosity I felt watching those movies for the first time. Filmmaking isn’t just my job it’s the thing I’ve always been meant to do.
