Tell us about First Spark Media.
First Spark Media was created to help non-profit organizations and ethical businesses reach a greater community of supporters through digital videos. My aim is to raise the standard of non-profit videos and promote documentary films on social justice issues.
What advice can you give to young filmmakers/activists?
I would encourage anyone who wants to help animals with film to use the highest-end equipment they can afford, learn how to use your cameras well and practice. There are many well-intentioned activists armed with cameras, but they have failed to hone their skills and end up with shaky and poorly executed videos and photos. If we are trying to get people to watch what are often times disturbing images, we should make it easier to watch with smoother cameras and higher quality.
I’m not saying that I am an amazing cinematographer, but I take making films seriously. If we want to make an impact on a greater number of people we have to be more than just animal rights activists with cameras; we should be filmmakers who believe in animal rights.
What about the Turlock rescue (www.turlockrescue.org) inspired a feature length film?
I wanted to make a short 12-minute film for Animal Place a year after the rescue, but while I was shooting interviews I realized that it would be a disservice to the story to cram everything into 12 minutes. I shot 10 hours of footage and there were just too many powerful stories to make it any shorter than 43 minutes.
How did the Turlock rescue impact your life and work?
The Turlock rescue affected my life in many ways. To see people come together to help animals and directly seeing the lives saved will stay with me. The rescue challenged how I approach activism today. The rescue had some dark moments, witnessing so many animals unable to recover from the trauma and cruelty they had been subjected to. Holding animals as they died and weeping over their bodies as I buried them is a motivator for me to see an end to these horrific industries. The pain of dealing with so many deaths was manageable because of an amazing activist I met at the rescue named Shani Campbell. We fell in love almost immediately and have been together for over a year now. I don’t think I would have gotten through the experience without her.
What motivates you to create films?
I think a picture can be worth a thousand words and film is 24 pictures a second! I know how much I have been personally affected by films and I would like to inspire others in the same ways. Because films combine images with music and storytelling, they have the ability to invoke powerful emotions. I create films to inspire social change for greater compassion and justice.
How did you get started with film-making?
I have been interested in making films since I was a kid. When my family got our first camcorder I loved making stop animation films. I spent much of my teenage years making skateboarding videos and, when I was 19, I made my first documentary. I am self-taught in film. Additionally, my older brother has a background in filmmaking and he taught me most of the basics of editing when I was younger.
How can people view your films?
My films are available at: www.FirstSparkMedia.net along with schedules of public screenings. With any luck we will be getting distribution deals for Turlock and other films to get them on venues such as Netflix and Amazon.
What inspired you to be vegan? Do you have advice for people transitioning to a vegan lifestyle?
I was inspired to become vegan by a hardcore punk band called Earth Crisis. I was vegetarian, but they spoke about the abuse in all animal industries and that inspired me to make further changes.
The advice I give people is to always keep in mind why you are doing it. There will be times where being vegan may seem hard, but it will never be as hard as living your whole life in a cage. There may be times where you really want to have a certain food, but that “want” will never be greater than a mother cow’s desire to be with her stolen child. At times it might even seem like a sacrifice, but it is nothing compared to the lives actually sacrificed for meat.
I became vegan on my own when I was 12 years old. I will not lie and say that I didn’t struggle at first, but anytime I wanted to eat cheese pizza I thought of the mother dairy cow who had her baby stolen from her and my craving would vanish. I think it is important to remember that being vegan isn’t about “you”, it is about the animals.
First Spark Media was created to help non-profit organizations and ethical businesses reach a greater community of supporters through digital videos. My aim is to raise the standard of non-profit videos and promote documentary films on social justice issues.
What advice can you give to young filmmakers/activists?
I would encourage anyone who wants to help animals with film to use the highest-end equipment they can afford, learn how to use your cameras well and practice. There are many well-intentioned activists armed with cameras, but they have failed to hone their skills and end up with shaky and poorly executed videos and photos. If we are trying to get people to watch what are often times disturbing images, we should make it easier to watch with smoother cameras and higher quality.
I’m not saying that I am an amazing cinematographer, but I take making films seriously. If we want to make an impact on a greater number of people we have to be more than just animal rights activists with cameras; we should be filmmakers who believe in animal rights.
What about the Turlock rescue (www.turlockrescue.org) inspired a feature length film?
I wanted to make a short 12-minute film for Animal Place a year after the rescue, but while I was shooting interviews I realized that it would be a disservice to the story to cram everything into 12 minutes. I shot 10 hours of footage and there were just too many powerful stories to make it any shorter than 43 minutes.
How did the Turlock rescue impact your life and work?
The Turlock rescue affected my life in many ways. To see people come together to help animals and directly seeing the lives saved will stay with me. The rescue challenged how I approach activism today. The rescue had some dark moments, witnessing so many animals unable to recover from the trauma and cruelty they had been subjected to. Holding animals as they died and weeping over their bodies as I buried them is a motivator for me to see an end to these horrific industries. The pain of dealing with so many deaths was manageable because of an amazing activist I met at the rescue named Shani Campbell. We fell in love almost immediately and have been together for over a year now. I don’t think I would have gotten through the experience without her.
What motivates you to create films?
I think a picture can be worth a thousand words and film is 24 pictures a second! I know how much I have been personally affected by films and I would like to inspire others in the same ways. Because films combine images with music and storytelling, they have the ability to invoke powerful emotions. I create films to inspire social change for greater compassion and justice.
How did you get started with film-making?
I have been interested in making films since I was a kid. When my family got our first camcorder I loved making stop animation films. I spent much of my teenage years making skateboarding videos and, when I was 19, I made my first documentary. I am self-taught in film. Additionally, my older brother has a background in filmmaking and he taught me most of the basics of editing when I was younger.
How can people view your films?
My films are available at: www.FirstSparkMedia.net along with schedules of public screenings. With any luck we will be getting distribution deals for Turlock and other films to get them on venues such as Netflix and Amazon.
What inspired you to be vegan? Do you have advice for people transitioning to a vegan lifestyle?
I was inspired to become vegan by a hardcore punk band called Earth Crisis. I was vegetarian, but they spoke about the abuse in all animal industries and that inspired me to make further changes.
The advice I give people is to always keep in mind why you are doing it. There will be times where being vegan may seem hard, but it will never be as hard as living your whole life in a cage. There may be times where you really want to have a certain food, but that “want” will never be greater than a mother cow’s desire to be with her stolen child. At times it might even seem like a sacrifice, but it is nothing compared to the lives actually sacrificed for meat.
I became vegan on my own when I was 12 years old. I will not lie and say that I didn’t struggle at first, but anytime I wanted to eat cheese pizza I thought of the mother dairy cow who had her baby stolen from her and my craving would vanish. I think it is important to remember that being vegan isn’t about “you”, it is about the animals.
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