Cadillac – CTS “The Challenge”

Agency: Fallon

Production Company: @Radical Media

Project: The Cadillac CTS is engineered with perfect 50/50 weight distribution – to test it we lined one up going forward and one in reverse then took them around Willow Springs Raceway.

Role: Director + Director of Photography.

Shot on the RED Epic with the Pursuit Systems Cayenne.

Team Need for Speed/World Racing – Chris Rado’s Scion tC 2.0

Production Company: WR + CO

Project: Chris Rado is a mad man when it comes to speed. He is constantly pushing the limit of whats possible with his cars. His platform isn’t your traditional race car, in fact, its a Scion tC! In Time Attack, Chris has broken records with his innovative FWD and AWD machines – here with Rob Cardona, he explains his love of speed and why using a unique platform is important to him.

Role: Director + Director of Photography, Skylar Smith – Camera Operator + Editor, special thanks to Larry Chen & Andrew Escarcega for additional footage.

Shot on the Sony EX1, Canon 5D mii & Replay HD cameras.

Special thanks to Rachel Kelly & Charles Kha at Need for Speed.

The full short film coming soon.

BFGoodrich Tires –Rich Minga – G-Force Sport Comp 2

Production Company: TMA

Project: Rich Minga is a veteran racer, stunt man, and an awesome guy to work with in the film business. In this behind the scenes promo for BFGoodrich Tires – I interview Rich and we follow him on the set of our commercial shoot for the BFGoodrich Comp2.

Role: Director & DP, Camera Operators (Skylar Smith, DC Chavez, and Colby Liebelt), Sound by Gypsy Sound/Justin Gay, and Edit by Mondial

Shot on the Canon 5D mii

Special thanks to Rich!

BFGoodrich Tires – G-Force Sport Comp 2 promo

Production Company: TMA

Project: My friends at BFGoodrich/The Martin Agency came to me with a new tire and concept for the launch video. The concept was two cars equipped with Comp 2s playing a game of “skate” with cars – one upping each other each round with more challenging driving. I then scripted the driving sequence and worked with the stunt drivers (Rich Minga & Steve Holiday) to push the Hurst Camaro SS & Hurst Challenger SRT to the limit. Utilizing Pursuit System‘s Cayenne and ultimate arm – to keep the camera moving and the footage dynamic.

Role: Director & DP, Edit by Mondial

Shot on the Red Epic.

Special thanks to Eric, Val, DC, Skylar, Colby, and Josh!

Keep Drifting Fun – Irwindale 120 FPS

Production Company: Self Produced

Project: Use motion graphics to track info graphics to RED One footage from Irwindale 2011. Test the RED One with the RED 18-85 and RED 300mm lenses.

Role: Director, DP, and Editor. Motion Graphics by Skylar Smith.

Shot on the Red One MX.

Special thanks to Formula Drift and Skylar Smith.

K&N Air Filters – Limited Edition Vaughn Gittin Jr. HPI RC Drift Car Sweepstakes

Production Company: Self Produced/K&N Air Filters

Project: K&N teamed up with HPi RC Cars to give away Vaughn Gittin Jr’s HPi 1/10th scale RC Drift cars – they contacted me to direct a chase between Jr and his 1/10th scale version. I’ve worked with Jr on several stunt driving shoots this year and he is always a pleasure to work with on projects. For this project we had one of HPi’s best Pro RC drivers and half a dozen of the 1/10th scale cars to use abuse. I brought in Skylar Smith and Jr brought in Andy Laputka – both filmmakers I’ve worked with in the past and good friends of mine. We knocked out the spot and Skylar did a great job of cutting the entire piece together.

Role: co-Director & DP. Also directed by Andrew Laptuka and Skylar Smith. Edited by Skylar Smith.

Shot on the Red One, Canon 5D, and Contour + POV Cameras

Special thanks to everyone at K&N & HPi

Hyundai Motor Company North America – Speed Golf with Rhys Millen

Production Company: Self Produced/Rhys Millen Racing

Project: While working on the Leadfoot festival promotional material in New Zealand – Rhys brought up his idea to do a golf cart video with his Hyundai Veloster Rally Car. We had a down day of filming from the Leadfoot spots and we shot this piece – which has been released by Hyundai North America. A golfer uses Rhys and his Hyundai Veloster Rally Car to get to the green the quickest way possible – Speed Golf. Shot in one day.

Role: Director & Editor. Behind the Scenes & golf ball vfx by Skylar Smith.

Shot on the Canon 5D & Panasonic HPX

Special thanks to Rod, Shelly, Rhys & Eddie.

Electronic Arts – Need for Speed “The Run” Promo

Production Company: Self Produced/Need for Speed Branding

Project: Need for Speed was launching their newest title – The Run and asked me to come up with a chase sequence between two of its featured cars. The cars, Vaughn Gittin JR’s 1969 Mustang RTR-X and the present day RTR Mustang GT. We shot out in a highly confidential location in Arizona and were able to pull of some awesome stunt work thanks to the talents of Vaughn Gittin JR and Chris Forsberg who were the stunt drivers in the spot. In post, we cut in Los Angeles with Gypsy Sound doing the audio post work and Jerimiah Morey doing the final color grade. This project was a blast to work on from conception with Charles Kha and Rachel Kelly – all the way to the finishing.

Role: Director & DP, Camera Operators: DC Chavez & Skylar Smith, Color by Jerimiah Morey, Sound by Justin Gay & Gypsy Sound

Shot on the RED One, Canon 5D, Sony EX1, and Canon T2i

Special thanks to Justin Gay & Jerimiah Morey.

Need for Speed – Fredric Aasbo 2011

Production Company: Self Produced

Project: Fredric Aasbo was 2010 Formula Drift Rookie of the Year. In between the 2010-2011 Formula Drift seasons he won several major international drifting competitions and was set to drive for Papadakis Racing in the Scion tC. A new car for Fredric and a new challenge – going from being a privateer to driving for one of the most successful drift teams in the world.

Role: Director/Operator (with Skylar Smith, Joe Ayala, and Justin Shreeve)/Co-Editor (Skylar Smith)

Shot on the Panasonic HPX-170, Canon 5D and T2i cameras.

Special thanks to Charles Kha, Rachel Kelly, Matt Powers, Skylar Smith, Joe Ayala, and Justin Shreeve.

Need for Speed – Matt Powers 2011

Production Company: Self Produced

Project: Matt Powers went from finishing in 16th place last season to entering the final round of 2011 in 5th place overall. Thanks to two podium finishes and some great qualifying runs – Matt Powers is a new force in Formula Drift and a legitimate threat to finish the season on the podium. I sat down with the always entertaining Mr.Powers and then used footage from this year to fill out Matt’s answers.

Role: Director/Operator (with Skylar Smith, Joe Ayala, and Justin Shreeve)/Co-Editor (Skylar Smith)

Shot on the Canon 5D and T2i cameras.

Special thanks to Charles Kha, Rachel Kelly, Matt Powers, Skylar Smith, Joe Ayala, and Justin Shreeve.

NOS Energy Drink – Chris Forsberg 2010

Production Company: Keep Drifting Fun

Project: mix interview segments of professional drifter Chris Forsberg with footage from the 7 event Formula Drift season.

Role: Director, Co-Camera, Editor, Colorist. Additional camera by Joshua Herron. Music by Run Sheng.

Shot on the Canon 7D, Canon T2i, Contour POV, Panasonic HPX-170 & Panasonic HMC-150. Converted to Sony XDCAM HD422 50mb/s codec. Edited in Final Cut Pro. Graded in Magic Bullet Looks.

Watch it 1080p with the speakers cranked for the best experience.

Here is a teaser video from a recent day at Willow Springs for a Just Drift event – the full edit will be a part of Keep Drifting Fun.

Keep Drifting Fun is my grassroots drifting documentary – with Joshua Herron. Due out end of next year, 2011.

Chris Forsberg (2009 Formula Drift Champion) v James Deane (2010 Pro Drift Champion) in the Great 8 @ Formula Drift Sonoma. Shot on Contour HD cameras.

Team Need For Speed/Speedhunters – Ask Team Need for Speed

Production Company: Speedhunters/Need For Speed

Project: Pose a prompt to the Speedhunters audience and ask for questions to the drivers of Team Need for Speed.

Role: Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Colorist.

Filmed over the course of 6 months – covering Formula Drift New Jersey to Formula Drift Sonoma. On location in Vancouver, British Columbia and in Marseille, France. Converted to Sony XDCAM HD422 50mb/s codec. Edited in Final Cut Pro. Graded in Magic Bullet Looks. Motion graphics by Josh Awesome. Music by Guilty About Girls

NOS Energy Drink – Chris Forsberg @ Formula Drift Sonoma 2010

Production Company: Keep Drifting Fun

Project: Document Chris Forsberg’s weekend at Formula Drift Sonoma 2010 – where he finished fourth.

Role: Director, Co-Camera, Editor, Colorist.

Shot on the Canon 7D & Panasonic HMC-150. Converted to Sony XDCAM HD422 50mb/s codec. Edited in Final Cut Pro. Graded in Magic Bullet Looks.

Steve Powers, the artist behind the Love Letter murals, speaks to a conference about the origins of the Love Letters mural project in West Philadelphia.

Get acquainted, here on my blog, I will continue to share bits of content and entertainment that I enjoy and are relevant to my life and interests. Having finished Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point last month – here is a great short form documentary on trends and the essence of influence. It is incredibly well made. Well shot interviews, slick motion graphics, and interesting facts. The filmmakers did their research. They even reference Gladwell and have a mograph that shows the chain of influence from hip hop artists – Notorious BIG to Kid Cudi and Drake. DAMN.

INFLUENCES is my Video Of the Week selection. Take a 15 minute break from your busy busy busy life and watch it. Things don’t just come from a vacuum – they come from influencers.

Look, no hands! This video blows my mind. This is almost as amazing as an ice skating-barrel jumping competition. Video Of the Week.

Blue Media – Behind the Scenes – :60 Promo

Production Company: Keep Drifting Fun

Project: Behind the Scenes look at Phoenix, Arizona’s leading provider of design and printing for vehicle graphics, large format printing and environmental graphics.

Role: Director, Co-Camera, Editor, Colorist.

Shot on the Canon 7D, Panasonic HMC-150 & Panasonic HPX-170. Converted to Sony XDCAM HD422 50mb/s codec. Edited in Final Cut Pro. Graded in Magic Bullet Looks.

Thanks to BlueMedia for supporting Keep Drifting Fun.