UCLA Hall of Fame

The UCLA Hall of Fame project was the highlight of my undergraduate career. I had made a video making fun of USC as a sophomore that went viral (although that term wasn't really invented yet-this predates YouTube) and someone at the UCLA Athletic department tracked me down and showed me the newly renovated UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. In the Hall of Fame, they had created the Spirit Theater and were looking for someone to make videos for it.

I pitched a series of ideas and was hired to make 8 shorts (which eventually turned into 9) as well as design the theater's entire video system (which I did with a programmable control box and IR interface, some old fashioned switches, and a commercial grade DVD player). I spent most of my junior year looking at archival footage and crafting the stories, writing (along with my good friend Glen Worthington) the scripts, shooting some original footage and interviews including with John Wooden, and editing (lots and lots and lots of editing).

It was a lot more challenging than I ever anticipated, but I learned a lot and managed to not fail out of my classes. My junior year, I ended up making 15 shorts between classes and the Hall of Fame project. I am extremely proud of the work that I did and enjoy going back to the Hall of Fame to see how they've been updated over time.