Skyko

Many directors begin their careers by making their own films. I on the other hand, inadvertently reverse engineered mine by becoming directly involved in many other aspects of filmmaking first. I began studying violin privately at the age of eight and had my own four track sound recorder by the age of twelve, eventually learning guitar, keyboards, drums and computer sequencing.

After moving to Los Angeles from Pennsylvania I soon earned my membership card in the Screen Actors Guild. Through studying the finer points of film acting at the Charles Conrad Studio, I began to understand how crucial it was for the scene to be working between the actors. Let me explain, "The fundamental reason that I understand when the actors in my films are connecting is because of my film acting training. It took a couple of years in class before I was able to see what my teacher was talking about as he commented on the work but now I can sense when something real is happening - hopefully this enables me to tell more believable stories".

The very minute that digital audio revolutionized the world (in 1992), I was the first on the block to max out my credit cards for my own 24 track recording studio. I composed scores, sound design, ADR and edited dialogue for anyone who either had a film or would spring for some pizza and a couple beers.

While acting on a low budget feature, I made friends with the crew and joined the camera department as the second assistant cameraman on their next two projects. In 1996 I also completed all advanced courses for the Avid Media Composer at Montana Edit in Santa Monica, California.

My latest "Featurette" film - Head Over Heels (a 38 minute narrative Dramedy) was written, edited, sound designed, scored and color corrected at my studio, Skylab Sound in Woodland Hills, California - where I toil, create, play and celebrate!