"Honor, beauty, the warrior nature is still part of our human DNA."

Antiques live many lives, possessing a special ability to persist throughout time. As he reflects on the important role that Samurai armor has played in world history and in his own life, professional restorationist Gary Llamido encourages viewers to appreciate the value of preservation while embracing the power of being surrounded by objects of personal meaning. 

2024 SF Documentary Film Festival - Official Selection
2023 Oregon Documentary Film Festival - Award Winner: Best Editing 
2023 LA Documentary Feedback Festival - Award Winner: Best Short Film
2023 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival - Official Selection
2023 Philadelphia Asian Pacific Film Festival - Official Selection

Contribution: Director, DP, Editor
Producer: Msigari Antiques & KSH Pictures, 2023
Additional Camera Operator: Daniel Raphael Ancheta

"In the 21st century, astronomy has to answer a very basic question: if there is another planet like our own planet."

How a group of NASA scientists set out to craft a small, specialized telescope with the goal of searching for a habitable Earth-like planet around our nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri. Featured on National Geographic, Scientific American, the Atlantic, Vice, Wired, the Verge, Astronomy Magazine, and the New York Times Online.

2016 Vimeo Staff Picks - Official Selection
2016 Shenzhen International New Media Film Festival - Official Selection

Contribution: Editor, DIT/Media Management
Producer: Speculative Films, 2016
Director: Brett Marty & Josh Izenberg
Cinematography: Owen Bissell, Andy Quinn
Sound: Brett Marty & Josh Izenberg
Title Design: Colin Gill

"To have a relationship with a wild animal is a blessing."

Falconer Shawn Hayes shares how his childhood love of falconry in east LA led to a unique life of training and hunting with wild raptors all over the world. This short was the precursor to a longer documentary called Game Hawker, also featuring Shawn, which was commissioned by Patagonia Films in 2022.

2016 Doclands Film Festival - Official Selection
2016 BANFF Mountain Film Festival - Official Selection

Contribution: Editor, Camera Operator
Producer: Speculative Films, 2016
Director: Brett Marty & Josh Izenberg
Cinematography: Josh Izenberg
Sound: Brett Marty

"In Buddhism we understand that when we're born, we're born to die, and so we must live with compassion."

6 Monks from the Drepung Loseling Phukhang Khamtsen Monastery in India travel to the United States on a four-month tour to share the sacred art of sand mandalas with the American public. Their first visit is to Albany, California, where they are hosted by Dhondup Tsering of Expressions Tibet and Tenzin Tashi of the Albany Stone Room. Here they spend four days creating a sand mandala in honor of the Buddha of Compassion, followed by a dismantling ceremony to symbolize the impermanence of life.

Contribution: Director, DP, Editor
Producer: Expressions Tibet & KSH Pictures, 2024

"Living without regret is the most important thing."

In his professional life, Eric Sun was an influential leader at Facebook. In his personal life, he was a skilled violinist and a supportive husband to his life partner Karen. When Eric was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a fatal brain tumor, he turned to music to help him get through the most difficult of times, challenging himself to perform the title role in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof. Featured in the New Yorker.

2018 Vimeo Staff Picks - Official Selection

Contribution: Assistant Editor, DIT/Media Management
Producer: The New Yorker & Speculative Films, 2018
Director: Brett Marty
Cinematography: Phillip Briggs, Wynn Padula, Jason Joseffer
Sound: Jeremiah Moore
Editor: Traci Loth

"Preserving culture is in our hands. We can't wait for someone to come rescue us."

Songs of Kongpo is a look at the disappearing folk music from the Kongpo region of Tibet, and how Balu, an illiterate woman, memorized over 400 traditional songs that she can still sing from memory. As Balu grows older and her memory fades, her daughter Tsering becomes determined to document her mother's songs before they are lost forever. With the help of a native Tibetan historian, her collection of Kongpo lyrics and translations became the first of its kind in their home country’s history, and in 2019 was officially published into a book that she and her mother presented to the Dalai Lama. 

Contribution: Director, DP, Editor
Producer: Expressions Tibet & KSH Pictures, 2019
Additional Camera Operators: Daniel Raphael Ancheta, Dennis Wong

"By combining Eastern and Western styles, I can create a language that speaks to you all."

Spotlight on artist Tashi Norbu, a master of Tibetan Thangka painting, and his groundbreaking art and philosophies. Unafraid to blend traditional Thangka with western expressionism, master Thangka painter Tashi Norbu's thoughtful, contemporary style offers a unique take on the stories of modern Tibetan life with wild, captivating imagery, splashy colors, and a wry Buddhist sense of humor. His innovative works have been presented before the Dalai Lama and are exhibited in museums across the world. Featured in the Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art in the Netherlands.

Contribution: Director, DP, Editor
Producer: Expressions Tibet & KSH Pictures, 2018
Additional Camera Operator: Daniel Raphael Ancheta

"If we can get students to understand their thoughts and articulate them, they're not going to hesitate to be the change."

Commissioned documentary-style promo video for KIPP Bay Area, a public charter school organization, highlighting how students, teachers, and parents strive to “be the change” in their communities.

Contribution: Editor, DIT/Media Management
Producer: Speculative Films, 2016
Director: Brett Marty & Josh Izenberg
Cinematography: Tyler McPherron
Sound: Brett Marty