How long have you been filming and editing?
12 years now? wow, I feel old....
What was it that got you into filming and editing?
I would place that blame on bmx. And also an awesome teacher in high school, Wayne Miller. He was my technology teacher and got me stoked on gadgetry.
Best thing you’ve ever shot?
BMX wise, I’d say Mat Hoffman’s no handed 900 at the x-gaymes in 2002. Non bmx wise; time lapse stuff stokes me out, but probably interviewing Obama is what my mama would say.
Who is your favorite rider to shoot with?
Hmm… I’m just gonna drop a couple of names. Chris Doyle, Ryan Barrett, Punjab, Mark Protoz, Caleb Quanbeck, the whole Eastern Bikes team. A local kid has been getting pretty good lately, Evan Voss, I enjoy shooting with him, but he just dipped out to college on me.
Is there a rider you would like to film with that you haven’t had the chance?
I’d have to say Van Homan. He seems like a get shit done dude, and thats how I like to film. I’ve had Justin Simpson in my view finder a few times, I’d like to do a bit more of that.
What do you tell security when the try to throw you out of spots while filming?
It’s tempting to flash the media credentials, but that could have some negative repercussions. So I usually stick to the nice guy, gimme a couple more deal. If they’re a jerkasshole combo I pack up and dip out.
Who are some of your favorite videographers?
BMX wise, Joe Simon and Will Stroud. Those dudes are on point. Non BMX, Joe Simon, his wedding stuff is astounding! Philip Bloom, Tom Guilmette, and some of my local slingers, Stewart Pittman aka THE Lenslinger and my good friend and co-worker Jerry Wolford who is primarily a stills shooter who’s taught me a lot.
Did you go to college for film? What was your major? Do you feel like it helped you get to where you are today?
I went to school for digital effects and animation but it was kind of part of a film program in a small community college. Most of my fellow students shied away from the film side of things but I did the opposite. I think that going to school and getting beyond a high school education is important. You only get some much education and know how from high school, but once you are kind of on your on you have to man up a bit and know how to get shit done.
What are some of your BMX projects that you have worked on? You just finished up with Eastern’s new “Death of Fun” video right?
In the past year I’ve mostly been focusing on the Eastern Video, The Death of Fun. I’ve done a couple things for vitalbmx.com but thats about it for ‘09. Last year I was kind of all over the place. Started off with launching Eastern’s Inside/Out web series, a couple of web videos for vital and doing some filming and animation stuff for Levi’s with Will Stroud. I must say, Will is an awesome dude to work with. Before that had done work with Mirraco, Hoffman, Props, Profile, Shook, UGP and other various companies within BMX.
You actually work full-time as a filmer and editor for a company. What exactly is your job, and what is a typical day like for you?
I am a video producer for the Greensboro News & Record, its a daily news paper in Greensboro, North Carolina. My day to day duties differ every day pretty much. One day i could be filming a boring press
conference and the next day watching the bomb squad blow up a car. Gotta say its damn near a perfect job. Cool boss, cool co-workers and always something going down. I’m about to head over to the zoo right
now for a bit and put together a story. I’m going to pet a tiger, ant eater. and maybe a primate of some sorts.
What is the craziest or weirdest thing you have filmed or edited?
I get a lot of calls of people with weird video ideas, but of course they’re broke so that goes no where. I’ve filmed the bomb squad blow shit up, I’ve filmed SWAT pull some thugs out of an apartment in the
ghetto, buildings getting blown up, flew in a b-17 bomber that had a convertible top(that was wild), ridden shotgun in a NASCAR with Jimmie Johnson at the wheel, everyday its another journey pretty much.
Where can we see more of your work?
My full time gig is at the Greensboro News & Record, www.news-record.com. I also produce a lot of Eastern Bike’s video
content, and you can check that stuff out at EasternBikes.com/Videos. I’m also a contributor for Vitalbmx.com, I don’t really have anything regular on there but we’ve got some things in the works for 2010 that should be cool and interesting. Most the other stuff I do is for various other clients, but I’m working on getting ManglerVision.com up and running that will be a showcase site sort of deal. On there I’ll have commercial stuff, short documentaries, bmx and some wedding stuff.
What kind of gear are you using?
I just got one of them fancy Canon 7D’s. Very stoked on that booger. My camera bag is a Kata bag and its usually packed out with an HMC-150, 7d w/17-35 & 50mm, shotgun mic w/ a softie, 2 sennheiser
wireless kits w/ countryman b6’s, sony 7506 cans, couple of batteries for both cameras, century fisheye, omega gb’s of sdhc and cf cards, zacuto z-finder and rapid fire, 2 lacie rugged 500gb drives, 15” macbook pro and some battery chargers. Its not fun riding across a city with that thing on your back.
What are you usually up to when you aren’t working?
Not working? who does that? In the past year or so all I have done is work. I almost can’t wait for winter. In the past year and half I’ve probably had 2 weekends that I had nothing to do.
Do you find much time to ride these days?
I’ve been somewhat on the injured list for a while. I’ve got a torn ACL and meniscus, which is somewhat tolerable, but it keeps my confidence low when I’m riding. Keeps me scarred of trying anything. But its hard not to stunt it out with the crew sometimes. Gota keep ‘em fresh with ET’s and abubucas! Also in the past 2 years I’ve started riding a mountain bike some, but not in the freeride sort of way. Just a simple single speed 29’er thats fun as hell to zip around in the woods on. Keeps me in shape.
Won’t you be joining the knee club soon? What’s the low down on all of that?
The low down on that is I’m getting a refurbed ACL from a corpse, so I’ll be part zombie. I’m hoping thats going to give me super bmx powers. You know, really straight legged stretched no footers, no handers straight up, quadruple ET’s, its going to be sick!
Do you think you would be where you are today without BMX?
No, not at all. I’m very fortunate to be where I am today. Not that I’m anything special, but I’ve been given a lot of great opportunities and I’m very thankful for them. But having BMX in my life has probably kept me in a straight line. Majority of the kids growing up in my small town went in different directions, probably half due to boredom. And riding my bike kept me into something at pretty much all times.
Any shout outs or thanks?
My moma! My wife April, Hal Brindley, Leigh Ramsdell, Will Stroud, Puck, Justin Holt, Matt Coplon, Jeff Harrington, Profile Racing, GOB, all my pimpske crew, the eastern team and staff, the negsrc crew, Kyle
Carlson and the crew at Vital, Mark Losey, Matthew B. Moore and The Good as a Mugg crew, Adam Ross(RIP), Tom Domer, Mike Grossman, Jerry Wolford, And of course all the local triad and NC shredders!
