Life update -

I just graduated from the MFA - Filmmaking program at City College of New York. The pandemic put a damper on many an endeavor, but my peers and I prevailed!

I'm happy to introduce to the world my thesis film, Marcel The Muscle Man. It's about a muscular but meek fella who strains under the pressures of masculinity and struggles to find work. After serendipitously landing a circus strongman gig, he proves a talented performer, but has reason to doubt if he's really man enough for the job. 

The flick runs thirteen minutes and change, was ambitiously shot in a single room (spcifically, room 290 inside the cathedralesque Shepard Hall), and took a great deal of efforts and energies from a number of fine folks (to whom I give my sincerest thanks) to bring to the screen.
 

The film was warmly received at City Film's showcase, Cityvisions, at the SVA Theatre on 23rd St in NYC on Jun 20, 2022


.... and ...

​
Marcel The Muscle Man was awarded Best Cinemagraphy at Cityvisions!


Kudos to Ayoub El Jamal, our DP!


Marcel's IMDB

This fall, due to a pandemic postponement, we held the long awaited Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. The 2021 WFA festival ran from Oct 23 - Nov 2 with screenings once again at Cinema Village, and also included free education sessions, Q&A panels, and giveaways. The staff, made up of volunteers such as myself, pulled off yet another one, making it a successful 10th annual WFA!


photo credit: Fernando Camacho  

Here's a smart, really neat, new work from my pal, Ali Keller (writer, lyricist), and Emily Rose Simons (composer, sound designer), under the direction of Rebecca Aparicio. 

In perhaps the simplest terms, the play follows Ginny, a bookwriter and lyricist, through her arduous endeavor of adjusting her script for approval ... a script that happens to be a musical ... about the making of a horror movie, in which yours truly plays the murderous, sadistic Santa Claus! 

It's a unique pleasure to be involved in this reading at The Tank, as it is my first time back onstage since the pandemic's onset. I am immensely grateful.

Wednesday, August 18 at 7pm
​streaming and in-person
​TICKET INFO

​​Had a great time in the GeekFestToronto Q&A talking about our superhero mockumentary,  Zero Issue, with my pals: Ali Keller (producer), Jim Fagan (director), and Adam Harum (VFX).
We streamed on Facebook Live HERE! 
We come in at 00:31:05.

​It was a pleasure to help out at this year's New York International Children's Film Festival! While the Covid-19 pandemic put a damper on the final weekend of screenings, the previous weekends were hits!

​I'm grateful that--amid wafts of buttery popcorn--I got to see smiling faces on so many kids, excited about their trip to the movies.

This winter, I joined the Winter Film Awards team. The 2020 WFA festival ran from Feb 20 - 29, and featured a variety of films from around the world, in addition to free educational discussion panels and workshops right in the heart of New York City. It was a pleasure being involved so extensively in the preparation and production of this celebration of diverse and independent filmmaking.