My artistic progression began when I was very young. My family had a very strong influence in the development of my craft. When he was younger, my father used charcoal to draw on paper bags he brought home from the grocery store where he worked. Through sheer perseverance and determination, he was able to put himself through Butera School of art in Boston. Later in life, he left his craft to begin a small business to support his family.
As the son of an artist, it was not uncommon for me to have a brush in my hand before most. I quickly moved from visual arts into photography and before I knew it I had come back from Paris with material that would be later hung in my local art gallery and published in a national youth photography book. Still in High school, I practiced photography and developed my craft as an actor and playwright. My theater teacher, Mr. Gundersheim, suggested I bridge the gap between my photography and theatrical abilities by taking a stab at filmmaking in a summer program at Harvard University.
I can remember screening my 16mm short at the Brattle Theater and looking back at all the faces basked in my film’s grayscale projection. On the screen a gun is pulled. BAM! The entire audience reels back and it hits me. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life; to be able to affect people through an intangible exchange of art and reciprocated emotional response.
I soon came to the realization, while working my way through NYU film school, that this world is full of opportunities for talented and determined artists. However, many societies tend to place financial barriers and white-collar archetypes between our inner passions and career endeavors.