Hi, I’m a documentary filmmaker. I got my start as a kid with a JVC camcorder: my sister and I would make funny movies. We had no way to edit our films, so we would shoot sequentially and edit “in camera,” trying to recreate the sequences we saw on TV and in films. Humble beginnings, but I’ve since learned that there is wonderful practice to be found in play, while curiosity makes the finest teacher.

I worked for many years to master the craft of storytelling through writing: fiction, non-fiction, short stories and screenplays, then found my way back to video while freelancing for GoPro from 2010-2018. Inspired by the company’s work for nonprofits (called GoPro For A Cause), I started my own company, StoryHouse Films, to support nonprofits, NGO’s, and pretty much any good cause through the telling of meaningful, heartfelt stories. I enjoy on-the-go filmmaking, being an adept writer, director, shooter, and editor. I am especially versed in postproduction, and can heartily attest to to Orson Welles’s assertion that ‘the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.’

My work has received both commercial and critical success. Projects I have been instrumental in shaping have won awards at film festivals around the world, and have received over 100 million cumulative views on YouTube.

I am a synthesist who cultivates a deep passion for human history, anthropology, languages, religious studies, music, mathematics, physics, and the natural world, and these disciplines tend to surface thematically in my work. I am an endurance runner and swimmer, an outdoorsman, a Molchanovs-certified Master Freediver and a PADI Rescue Diver. I have a strong working knowledge of Spanish, while my university training as a linguist comes in handy on projects in any language. I am also certified for drone cinematography.

LATEST Projects

The Artist of Time

“Your life starts to lose meaning if you don’t risk it once in a while…”

So declares Andy Lewis, who wears a black ostrich feather jacket and reclines in his uncle’s favorite leather armchair before the dusk-stained immensity of Fisher Towers in Moab, Utah. Lewis is known in these parts and beyond as a fearless (reckless, detractors might say) daredevil whose exploits defying death and the law have earned him the nickname “Sketchy”. He works as a stunt and safety coordinator on various commercial projects, owns his own tandem basejumping business in Moab, and is an outspoken advocate for personal authenticity, responsibility and a laissez-faire approach to the regulation of developing sports like highlining and basejumping. Unapologetic, brash, polemic, he once performed with Madonna, was attacked by macaques in the jungles of Borneo, and might’ve (we presume) had something to do with the drafting of certain laws criminalizing basejumping in Las Vegas. What he may be beyond all this infamy, is more extraordinary… an artist who, using the tools of movement and the body, the laws of gravity and aerodynamics, performs with a kind of intimacy against the vast and ancient geologic landscapes of the American Southwest, to push the boundaries of human athleticism and change the way we look at life and death.

We caught up with Andy this spring to conduct interviews and parse through archival footage for a bio video coming soon, created with longtime collaborator Bradford Schmidt for the Vail Valley Foundation’s Mountain Games and GoPro. The short film will hit the GoPro Youtube channel in June!

An American Pilgrimage

In 1942, members of the US Army’s 32nd Division were given an impossible task: march over one of the world’s most inhospitable mountain ranges to expel the Japanese from Papua New Guinea. Their subsequent trial-by-fire along the Kapa Kapa trail of the Owen Stanley Mountains, and their battle at Buna alongside Australian forces, is captured brilliantly in James Campbell’s book, The Ghost Mountain Boys.

This year, we’ll take part in an expedition to Papua New Guinea with James Campbell and local biologist Bulisa Iova to retrace the route of these American soldiers, to deliver much-needed medical supplies to isolated villages, to explore opportunities for conservation and eco-tourism in the area, and to geolocate a downed American plane. Our short documentary, created in collaboration with wildlife cinematographer Taylor Turner, will weave together this little-known military history with the beauties and challenges to be found in this remote corner of the world—the human cultural mosaic, the threatened biodiversity, and the links to our deepest species’ history. Head over to our Ghost Mountain Boys page to learn how you can help bring this story to life.

Everest, But Blind

An incredibly powerful documentary is nearing the final stages of postproduction! This upcoming collaboration with filmmaker Bradford Schmidt and GoPro tells the story of Mexican mountaineers Rafael Jaime and Omar Alvarez in their quest to conquer the highest mountain on each continent, the fabled Seven Summits, culminating with the highest mountain on Earth, Mt. Everest. The complication? Rafa lost his eyes to cancer as a child, and Omar, who acts as his guide, must grapple with a deadly illness of his own. This story of family and brotherhood, of determination and gratitude, challenges us to live to our highest potential, no matter the adversities we face.

The Power of Artwork

Our latest collaboration with Gabriel Noguez of the Hammer Museum is done! LA-based Akinsanya Kambon is a prolific artist, activist, Vietnam veteran and former Black Panther who creates vivid paintings and stunning sculptures using the Japanese raku firing process. His art is a vehicle: to connect with his African heritage, to fight for his right to exist in American society, to heal old wounds and to shed light on the untold stories of history’s Dispossessed. This is short piece is not to be missed, check it out here.

Hello, PBS

We’re pleased to share that some of our footage was recently used in a PBS documentary about conservation in Belize! You can also see some of our footage from the same production featured in a CNN piece linked further below.

Smalltown Drone Pilots Make Good

On the commercial front, get ready for some mind-blowing perspectives! Drone cinematographers are changing the language of visual storytelling, perhaps none moreso than FPV drone pilots. These skilled unmanned operators fly featherweight, agile drones, using a pair of video goggles to view a wirelessly-transmitted feed from the drone’s onboard camera (hence FPV, or ‘First Person View’). They can film long one-take shots, weave around buildings and terrain features, plummet down waterfalls and zoom from super-wide to intimate shots in the blink of an eye. StoryHouse recently combined forces with long-time collaborator Bradford Schmidt to create a short profile of pilots Jay Christensen and Patrick Conroy of JayByrd Films, while they were filming at the GoPro Mountain Games. Their footage is unreal, check out the video here!

Jaguar Under Threat in Yucatan

I am thrilled to be working on Panthera’s latest installment of the Journey of the Jaguar in the Yucatán, with master wildlife cinematographer Taylor Turner. The series, conceived by legendary biologists Howard Quigley and Alan Rabinowitz of Panthera, seeks to show the work of modern day conservationists as they protect jaguars throughout their entire range, from Argentina to Northern Mexico, with a special emphasis on “corridors.” These narrow pathways are used by jaguars to travel between larger forests and protected areas, to interbreed and thus ensure species-wide, range-wide connectivity. What are we doing in Mexico? The current Mexican president’s signature infrastructure project, called the Maya Train, is a 15 billion dollar railway loop around the Yucatán, for passengers and cargo. The train will pass through Mexico’s premiere jaguar habitat, the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, as well as several adjacent corridors. With regards to sustainability and ecological impact, the government’s oversight of previous development projects in the region (Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Tulum), has been lacking. And the Maya Train will bring a tidal wave of new development. Through a series of short web videos, we’ll ask the important question: Is sustainable development possible?

Slow and Steady Writing Progress

On other creative fronts, my work on a novel was recently featured in an article in the Sardinia Post by journalist Laura Fois. I spent the spring in Italy with the wonderful folks at Nocefresca artist residency, working on the project. Head over to this page of my website to learn more about the work in progress.

Checking the LA Art Scene

Keep your eyes peeled for some of our powerful little films at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles! Working with longtime collaborator Gabriel Noguez (current video whiz at the Hammer) we are creating short web videos about artists and art happenings around the museum… street protests + an exhibition by artist & activist Andrea Bowers, a fundraiser event with kids' workshops led by local artists (with a children’s book reading by Kristen Stewart!), and more.

The Wisdom of Earthen Architecture

Our latest feature-length effort is finally finished and entering the festival circuit! StoryHouse was hired to complete postproduction on the documentary Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands, created in partnership with the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and Smithsonian. The film can be seen in its entirety here! The film was directed by Chris Gauthier, produced by Christina De Leon and Micah Pegues, with cinematography by Chris Gauthier and Micah Pegues, and additional story consultation, music supervision, and postproduction by StoryHouse Films. The documentary follows a pair of architects, artists, and activists, Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, as they combine cutting edge 3D printing technology with an ancient building material… mud. The film explores the history of adobe construction during the colonization of the US Southwest, as well as the forced acculturation and enslavement of indigenous people during that time, a practice known as Genízaro, which is largely unmentioned in modern history books. Overall, the film is a story of people bringing the past into the present—to inform their art, to educate others, to inspire social and political change, to help and to heal… check out more of Ron and Virginia’s powerful work at their Emerging Objects website.

Hello, CNN

We are very happy to report gains for wildlife and forest conservation in Belize! Our last fundraiser film, Unbroken: Saving Belize’s Jaguar Corridor, created in collaboration with the big cat conservation organization Panthera, is helping raise money for the purchase of lands in the Maya Forest Corridor. This forest area of Central Belize, under threat from monocrop agricultural development, is critical for the conservation of jaguars as well as the endangered Baird’s Tapir and critically-endangered Hickatee Turtle. It is also invaluable for carbon sequestration, as a buffer against drought, as a record of human history stretching back thousands of years, and as a revenue-generating national asset through tourism. A coalition of organizations have announced a recent large purchase, read about it here. CNN recently featured some of our work on this production in a digital article and documentary segment on the Maya Forest Corridor, as well.

Miscellaneous Accolades

Proud to be an original member of the media team at GoPro, which helped revolutionize point-of-view filmmaking and creative world-sharing on social platforms such as Youtube.

Published the book GoPro: Professional Guide to Filmmaking, serving as co-author with Bradford Schmidt, GoPro’s Creative Director of Media, in 2014.

Winner of a Samuel Goldwyn award for co-writing on a feature screenplay, The Landsailor, with co-author Bradford Schmidt. Also authored a short story adapted to film, Welgunzer, which was shown at festivals around the world and received numerous awards.