Artist Statement
My work is driven by the need to challenge pervading ideologies and point to ways that we can be better citizens of a diverse and global society. My films take strong humanistic stances from sociopolitical, psychological and philosophical perspectives. In particular, most of my films deal with issues of gender anxiety and the crisis of masculinity that leads to violence and hate in our culture. I believe that gay bashing, spousal abuse, bar fights and even war are helpfully understood as manifestations of insecurities about maleness and masculinity. As an openly gay man who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, I am no stranger to anxieties about masculinity that can lead to physical and psychological pain and trauma. My work sets out to highlight this problem by showing characters who reject traditional ideologies of masculinity and gender to find peace and happiness. It is important to me that I use the medium with purpose as I tell compelling stories.
I view filmmaking equally as forms of art, intellectual engagement, and entertainment. My philosophy leads me to produce different types of films from those by more mainstream filmmakers whose primary goal is to entertain the audience. I try to make work that is “intellectual” in nature by infusing it with my knowledge of film history, theory and philosophy, facilitating the exploration of a variety of topics in the field of film studies. I try consciously to draw from and contribute to a history of work in my field, relating my films to past and present artistic and theoretical works in ways similar to how scholars in other fields draw from and continue the work of scholars before them. One of my goals, as I move forward in my career as a progressive independent filmmaker, is to make films that are fun and accessible to wider audiences and still contain a set of philosophical and psychological ideas that have motivated me as an artist for years.
I view filmmaking equally as forms of art, intellectual engagement, and entertainment. My philosophy leads me to produce different types of films from those by more mainstream filmmakers whose primary goal is to entertain the audience. I try to make work that is “intellectual” in nature by infusing it with my knowledge of film history, theory and philosophy, facilitating the exploration of a variety of topics in the field of film studies. I try consciously to draw from and contribute to a history of work in my field, relating my films to past and present artistic and theoretical works in ways similar to how scholars in other fields draw from and continue the work of scholars before them. One of my goals, as I move forward in my career as a progressive independent filmmaker, is to make films that are fun and accessible to wider audiences and still contain a set of philosophical and psychological ideas that have motivated me as an artist for years.