Tag Archives: yoyo

Video Feed

I’ve been using the GoPro everywhere that seems sensible this summer. It’s been on the West Coast Trail, SCUBA diving, rock climbing, the Zion Narrows, and several other places. We spent the Fourth of July in Hesperia with Erika’s family where we shot a lot of footage of us playing in the pool. The above is a short montage of that day. I put together a similar video when we went sledding earlier this year.

I’ve mentioned in past entries that Duncan Toys hired me earlier this year to take some of their yo-yo footage and turn it into two television commercials. Well, I’ve finally uploaded those two spots to Vimeo. They are embedded below.

Incoming Changes

Every so often we have to shake up our lives, take some chances, move on, take risks. The other option is complacency—stagnation. Four years ago, my life went through a drastic change. I underwent a huge break-up and accepted it as an opportunity to look at my life and aim it in the directions I most wanted to head. It was a rough time and the changes to my life were drastic. It has made all the difference. The life I am leading now is a proactive one and I am doing things I’ve always wanted to do. That being said, it is time for another big change (although a smaller one than four years ago—and no, Erika and I are not splitting up). After five and a half years at TOKYOPOP, I am leaving. I gave my notice last week. I have learned a lot, developed as an artist, and grown immensely during that time. Yet, it is time for that relationship to end. It has been time for a long time. There is little left for me to give there and little for me to gain there. It has been time for change for quite a while and I am openly embracing it now.

What are my plans? Many signs are pointing me towards that frightening path of self-employment. The skills I have been developing are generally most useful on short-term projects and the industries I’ve been pursuing are largely project-based. Being a full-time employee has actually cost me some opportunities in the last two years. I have often said that my hope was that TOKYOPOP would be my last full-time job. Now is the time to try to make that a reality.

Now for some requisite updates:
Things have been going well so far this year. I hope they continue this way. I’ve taken rock climbing lessons and finally invested in my own gear. Right now, I am trying to sport climb regularly in hopes of moving into trad climbing in the next few years. I’ll be off to British Columbia soon and I’m planning to hike the West Coast Trail I’ve been pining after. I’ve been busy on various video projects and entered a few festivals: Delivery is a short I co-directed with two friends, Third Degree is a piece I helped my buddy Shlain shoot, and I’m trying to forge ahead on Marty Mitchell. Some of you may remember the Duncan yo-yo spec commercial I put together with some friends. I am still waiting to hear if it places in the festival I entered it in. In the meantime, I have added it to my Vimeo page. The great news I’ve been keeping quiet about that spec spot is that it landed me a gig with Duncan for their 2010 television commercials. I finished up 15 and 30 second spots for them last week. Hopefully, they’ll be airing on TV this summer or fall.

I guess I better get to showering now.
I want to smell good for the encroaching future.

I Am Yo-yo!

Back in October, I got together with three friends for what we called the Spec Weekend. Essentially we each directed four Spec Commercial spots. We helped out on each others shoots and shared the costs. Well, I finally cut my spot together and entered it in an online contest. Feel free to vote for it if you like it. Special thanks to Daniel Colmenares for the great photography and Rui Kyo for the badass performance.

screengrab

www.studiofilmfest.com/video/duncan-spot-30