Buried beneath third grade book reports, a gold painted plaster cast of a kindergartner's hand, and a fused stack of white paste bound construction paper, felt, and yarn projects rests three reels of Super-8 film; the entirety of my childhood film making career. Shot on a budget that in Hollywood wouldn't amount to a car valet's tip these classics encapsulate my dream of making classic sci-fi/horror films, in the vein of Hammer Films or Ray Harryhausen.

By middle school I'd graduated from clay and balsa wood-stop motion King Kong puppets, trash bag capped Draculas, and Legg's panty hose Planet of the Apes prosthetics. Equipped with a Pentax K1000, some Cokin filters, and tripod (one that continues to be used to this day) I experimented with long exposures, multiple exposures, drawing directly on film, tricks in the dark room, and in general took roll upon roll of pictures only I appreciated. A makeshift studio in a friend's basement and a subscription to Photographic magazine were school and teacher, but experimentation and failure taught best. In college American Cinematographer tantalized with behind the scenes, nuts-n-bolts details and centerfolds of the then new Stedicam, looma cranes, Lucas' go-motion green screen mooseflex. The Brothers Quay, Jan Svanimaker, and Vaughan Oliver watershed works both inspired and confounded my efforts.     Then, school and work shelved my experiments for nearly ten years, when I got a six month job at Industrial Light and Magic. Coming off that project I began looking for opportunities to combine geek work with creative work.