I was born and raised in San Diego, California, a first-generation Chinese-American who, to the surprise of his parents, had an acute interest in the art of still and moving images. I experimented with exposures and printing in my high school darkroom, all the while continually inspired by the films of my generation, particularly the works of PT Anderson.
After gaining admittance to USC, I focused my studies as a cinematographer. I am currently a trained professional living in Los Angeles. Most recently I have photographed music videos for Grammy Nominated LMFAO, NewBoyz, and Mario.
Robert Elswit inspires me because of his handling of some of my favorite films. Jeff Cronenweth because of the range of his work. His father Jordan Cronenweth for Blade Runner. Roger Deakins as a legend of course, but also for his wisdom in the Oct 2008 issue of American Cinematographer. John Toll, Emmanuel Lubezki, Dante Spinotti, Claudio Miranda, Darius Khondji, Wally Pfister, Lance Acord, Matthew Libatique, and many more...
I love the music of Jon Brion and Aimee Mann. I love modern architecture. I like the tasteful use of the color blue.
After graduating from USC, I have served both established and emerging talent professionally, directors and DoPs alike, on the one hand as a DoP myself, and as a gaffer and lighting technician on the other. I have accumulated nearly 250 narrative, music video, and commercial credits to my name, the most notable of which include:
as DoP
- 'Turn Me On, Dead Man' - Exec. Produced by James D. Brubaker (Imagine Entertainment/Universal Pictures)
- 'Let Me Know You' - Dir. Trevor White, 4th collaboration and currently in development for feature work
- LMFAO: "La La La" - Dir. Mickey Finnegan, for UMG/Interscope
- LMFAO feat. Lil' Jon: "Shots" - Dir. Mickey Finnegan, for UMG/Interscope
as an additional lighting technician
- ‘Brothers and Sisters’ for ABC-TV
- ‘True Blood’ for HBO-TV
- ‘Eli Stone’ for ABC-TV
- ‘Greek’ for ABC Family
- ‘Hotel for Dogs’ for Universal
- ‘You Don’t Mess with the Zohan’ for Columbia Pictures
- ‘Boston Legal’ for Fox-TV
- ‘Heroes’ for NBC-TV
- ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’ for Comedy Central
- ‘Pineapple Express’ for Sony
as camera operator
- 'IKEA' for Brad Rushing, DoP
- 'Mission Product' Commercial for Steve Nash/Mia Hamm
- 'Get Munk'd' Promo for 20th Century Fox
as gaffer
- 'Broken Kingdom' (Daniel Gilles/Rachael Lee Cook)
- 'Cisco Telepresence' Commercial for Cisco Systems
- 'Halloween Horror Nites' Commercial for Univ. Studios Theme Park
- 'Ecko Shoes feat. JoJo Levesque' Commercial for Ecko Shoes
- 'Here' Music Video for Jamie Lee Curtis
and many more... [IMDb]
Being professionally familiar with below-the-line practical needs affords productions cost-savings. Some of the many advantages I can bring to your production include:
- an intimate knowledgebase of the tools of my craft, lighting and camera
- a diverse network of professional hires with whom I've developed strong relationships
- well versed in emerging digital technologies both on set (RED camera) and in post-production for color grading (Apple Color)
- scalable understanding of all sizes of production budgets
