I am an Emmy-nominated filmmaker dedicated to co-creating films about the human experience, from all walks of life, all over the world, and sharing these unique stories with the world. Roger Ebert once called films “empathy building machines” as they allow us access and insight into otherwise remote experiences. Yet what the camera can reveal over time is not only the beauty of our differences, but the common humanity we all share beneath the surface of things. I also believe that this perilous moment in our history, summons us in this calling to shine a light on the deep inequities of our world, to use the power of our medium inclusively, as a means for positive transformation and empowerment.
Touching The Untouchable
I have worked in various capacities - director, producer, editor, and cinematographer - on every kind of project from documentaries to narrative films, nonprofit fundraising pieces to music videos, art installations to educational clips for teachers. I’ve documented a vast range of stories from the lives of homeless shopping-cart recyclers in West Oakland to Untouchables in India; peach farmers in the Central Valley to godfathers of Asian American jazz; and public defenders fighting for justice in troubled times. I am currently co-creating with and documenting Indigenous grandmothers leading Healing Walks to the Refinery Corridor in the North Bay Area, as they pass the torch to the fierce young women who will be the next generation’s leaders of the fight for climate justice. I have also started a new multi-media project, breaking down barriers between prison and the natural world.
Long before I was a filmmaker I was: a musician in a series of terrible bands, a global music DJ and pirate radio host, a care provider for at-risk toddlers in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, an English teacher in Hiroshima (in the long shadow of the atomic age), the first employee of a nonprofit preserving the dark immigration history at Angel Island , and a producer of live concert broadcasts. All these varied experiences have helped make me the filmmaker and the person that I am today. I love collaborating with others with different experiences and similar creative aspirations so feel free to reach out and connect with me on my contact page.
Honors and Awards
Honors
National Emmy Award Nominee (Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary)
IF/Then Shorts x Redford Center Nature Connection Pitch
Sundance Creative Producing Institute
Bay Area Video Coalition MediaMaker Fellowship
Big Tell Storyteller
On Being Gathering invitee (with Krista Tippett)
Oakland Hatchlab
Film Awards
2023:
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Harlem International Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE/CLOSING FILM - Latino & Native American Film Festival
2022:
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - CineSol Film Festival
IMPACT IN ARTS & MEDIA AWARD - National Immigration Project
CLOSING NIGHT FILM - Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Bronx Social Justice Matters Film Festival
GRAND JURY PRIZE - El Paso Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - El Paso Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Footcandle Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY HONORABLE MENTION - Festival De Cine Latino Americano
OPENING NIGHT FILM - SF Social & Economic Justice Film Festival
AUDIENCE AWARD BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Cine Las Americas Film Festival
OPENING NIGHT FILM - SF DocFest
BEST DIRECTOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - OKCine Latino
JASON D. MAK AWARD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE - DisOrient Asian American Film Festival
OPENING NIGHT FILM - Disorient Asian American Film Festival
SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR EDITING DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Thin Line Fest
2021
AUDIENCE AWARD BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - CAAMFest
2017
ACTIVE CINEMA AUDIENCE AWARD - Mill Valley Film Festival
2016
DAN ELDON ACTIVIST AWARD (Runner-Up) - My Hero Film Festival
2015
SPIRIT OF BERNAL AWARD - Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema