Moving images have long been the prism through which I view and interpret the world and also the means by which I convey my own interpretation of the human experience. The power of the moving image can be indelible; the moving image can cause people to be moved, to be inspired, to be called to action, to be reflective and meditative. The cumulative effect of filmic components—the mise en scene of a frame, a visual effect that adds depth to a scene, the exact timing of an edit, a memorable musical phrase, a few poignant lines of dialogue, a twist of the plot, the satisfying resolution of a story—work together like the parts of a well-oiled locomotive barreling down the track toward its destination of bringing the viewers together on a journey of enlightenment and discovery.
As a multidisciplinary artist, screenwriter, and filmmaker working in different capacities and genres, I constantly strive for the essential combination of these elements to achieve the goals of a given story or project. As a native Kentuckian I began and developed my practice by lending a voice to local history, culture, and folklore - The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster, My Porcelain Past, Borderlines, One Hundred Years a Parish. Personal exploration followed; I drilled deeper by adding my own German American ancestry into the mix of local culture and history - Fragments of a German American Mind: The Films of Konrad Mueller.
My current writing and narrative film projects attempt to use the power of the moving image to explore the fragility of human experience - the suffering of refugee children (Children Without a Voice), themes of despair and salvation in a multi-narrative story which erupts out of a child in a hot car incident (Redemption), a mystery which revolves around a miracle-creating suspect who practices radical compassion (True Crime Detective), individual tales of loss, loneliness and isolation (Those Who Sill Live Within Us), and a Ukrainian-born mother living in Chicago struggling to protect both her mother - who refuses to leave Ukraine in the midst of the Russian invasion - as well as her teenage daughter, who begins seeking increasingly dangerous measures to support the Ukrainian cause (A Cherry Tree Grows in My Garden).