Age: 18

Hobbies: Filmmaking, soccer

Top 5 movies of all time: King’s Speech, Inception, Birdman, Lord of the Rings 3, The Incredibles

Can’t live without: The Portland Timbers…RCTID!  

How did you get started with filmmaking?

When I was 13, I took a class at the Northwest Film Center with a couple friends of mine. We made a film about shoes that invaded Earth and I had so much fun. I said, ‘Yeah, I could see myself doing this more.’ I kept making films, mostly with friends. That’s the best way to get started as long as you have fun with it. They were really awful. Eventually, I started getting into more serious things and doors opened for me.            

What’s your goal when you’re making films?

Getting that emotional reaction shows that you’re successful at what you’re doing and it drives me to do it again. I made a film called “The Silent Painter,” a three-minute silent film for a Hollywood Theatre silent movie festival. The film was about a boy who saw a girl who rode her little scooter past his door every day. He liked her but he didn’t know how to speak to her, partly because he was shy and partly because he was mute. I wanted to have the audience feel sorry for him and root for him. At one point, the audience went “Awwwwww.”                                     

When did you start storytelling?

I used to write stories all the time as a little kid – never finished them. I think I’m more of a creative writer than an analytical writer. It’s all about telling stories. I like to tell stories through writing, through speaking or through film…If I read a book or a book series for a while, the next time I’d write creatively, I could consciously see that I was incorporating some elements of that.

Does filmmaking run in your family?

My dad was into filmmaking when he was younger and I picked up a lot of stuff from him…My younger brother, he’s my actor…sometimes I’ll do it with friends, but because I don’t get funded…it’s usually just me and him and maybe a couple people here and there.

What’s your favorite movie?

One of them that I really like was “The King’s Speech” with Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush because it’s a really well designed film cinematically. The acting is really incredible. I didn’t think a movie like that would hit me on an emotional level, but it did. Another movie I like is “Inception.” I really like (director) Christopher Nolan…because he doesn’t use digital cameras. He’s still kind of old school.

Do you have a certain style of filmmaking?

Sometimes, I’ll be filming at home with the little camera that I have, which has poor lighting, has poor audio, with a little, dinky tripod and all I have is my brother…I do the best with what I have. I’m usually a pretty chill person, but when it comes to filmmaking I have to be in charge.

Any projects in the works?

I’m writing a TV show but it’s not going to be done for a while. It’s about kids that go to camp and they all have something that’s not right about them; they were sent there by their parents; it’s all about how they interact with the counselors and their parents and each other. I think of it as a combination of “Holes” and “The Breakfast Club” but in a summer camp setting.

You play soccer. What did you take away from the racism incident that hit your team?

It’s been a really great community to be a part of. It just really sucks that we had to get knocked out so early this year. A lot of us are really close…I think that it was a really important awakening experience and it kind of opened our eyes to a larger picture. I thought the school handled it really well and I thought that it was a really important learning experience. The team came out even stronger because of that. It was important to take accountability for what happened because I think that it’s an important issue that isn’t just a soccer issue, but a larger issue. It made me personally feel more comfortable in working through the issue.

What else do you like to do?

I love to eat. I’m a foodie. I like to try a lot of different things, a lot of different foods from a lot of different cultures. I like food experiences. I like to travel. I’ve been to Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, a little island called Saint Croix, Italy, Israel twice, Vietnam, Cambodia. I’ve been to a lot of great places and I caught the travel bug. ◊