I just got back from Los Angeles, where I received my official certification as an Avid Certified Instructor (ACI). This certification makes me only the third ACI in the state of Arizona and the second at Scottsdale Community College, the premier Avid Training Partner in the state. Avid is the industry standard non-linear editing system used to cut the vast majority of professionally produced films and television programs today. Avid has won 2 Academy Awards and 14 Emmys for its products. To earn my certification, I had to pass a number of exams as well as take a week long training course at...

I’m proud to be able to announce that “Afghanistan: Between Light and Darkness,” a short documentary I cut last year, just won an Honorable Mention Award at the 2011 Los Angeles Reel Film Festival. The film is about a non governmental agency called PARSA that works to improve living conditions in Afghanistan.  Central to their work is providing educational and economic opportunities to women and children affected by the constant wars that have been fought in Afghanistan over the previous decades. One of their earliest programs was finding, training and paying teachers who could work...

I just started work on a new film. Tentatively titled, “Two Americans,” it is a feature-length documentary centered around the immigration debate currently happening in Arizona. The story will focus on two characters: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is proud of his monicker as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” and Katherine Figueroa, a nine-year-old girl who is left without her parents after they are arrested for working in the country illegally. The film is directed by Dan DeVivo, whose last film, “Crossing Arizona” went to the Sundance Film Festival, and...

I’m excited to tell everyone that “Suicide Dolls,” a narrative feature I edited last year just won the New Filmmakers Forum Award at the 2010 St. Louis Film Festival. The film was chosen from finalists by a jury which included film critics from the Chicago Reader, the St. Louis Beacon and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Of the five films chosen as finalists, “Suicide Dolls”  had the lowest budget and shortest production and post-production schedule. Congratulations to everyone who worked on the film, but most especially Keith Shaw, our fearless director.  This was one of...