I never missed an American movie that managed to find its way into the movie theaters in Hangzhou. Most of those movies were the American and Hong Kong action-adventure popcorn films. When they weren’t, my friends deserted me, but my resentment disappeared the moment the lights went black, and the movie began.

 

Despite my love of cinema, the thought of making a career in the film and television industry never entered my mind. For one, even through high school, movies felt like a magical thing that somehow just came into existence. For another, it would have taken me way more than six degrees of separation to find, not Kevin Bacon, but anyone who did anything connected to film and television. More like thirty. Or fifty. 

 

All that changed when I visited Hengdian. But interspersed between old palaces and cobbled streets, are film studios churning out studio blockbusters Hero, The Forbidden Kingdom, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the filming of anything because the streets were well walled off from everyone but those involved in the production. So, I took matters into my own hands, which involved me finding my way to where security was controlling who came and went to the set, acting like I was an extra, and after a bit of grilling, allowed entrance onto the set.

 

I write this memory now and get goosebumps, the same way I did when I heard the director yell, “Action,” the background players filling the streets, the camera dollying through the crowd, the operator sitting high above, the lead actor evading the crowd, his pursuers plowing them down. By the end of my trip, I had decided what I wanted to do when I grew up: that man behind the camera.

 

So, here you now find me. Having just complete my cinematography studies at Academy of Art University. Fluent in all camera operating systems, working on narrative shorts, documentaries, music videos, PSAs with professional clients. I’m hungry for work, in the process of putting together some projects to both produce and shoot. I would love to cast a wider net and collaborate with creative people. If you’re one of them, check out my site, and contact me.