“Lifetimes” World Premiere March 25, 2023

I recently did some audio post work on Amber Love‘s short documentary, “Lifetimes.” I’m thrilled that it will see its world premiere this month as part of the Cleveland International Film Festival.

LIFETIMES looks at the practical and emotional labor of fighting for racial equity long-term through a portrait of one family, encompassing four generations of Black community leaders in Lansing, MI. 

Amber Love

The film is part of Firelight Media, Center for Asian American Media, and PBS’s Homegrown Future Visions collection, featuring communities and stories from the Midwest. All of the films involved will be debuting together at the screening in Cleveland.

For more information about the film and the premiere, head on over to the Lifetimes Facebook page!

Projects update: Book of Will

This month, I’m working on my first theatre sound design since 2019: “Book of Will” by Lauren Gunderson, at Saint Sebastian Players in Chicago.

Because the show is about the printing of Shakespeare’s First Folio, I get to construct the sound of a 1623 printing press! Something I love about theatre sound design is the research aspect of it, and learning about seventeenth-century printing technology has been a tonne of fun.

This involves a bunch of music from the 1600s, so I’m brushing up my faux-lute chops and also doing some flute playing. Fortunately for all concerned, I’ve also got Chicago woodwinds master Airan Wright on board, and he’s carrying most of the woodwindy weight…because as a flute player, I’m a pretty stellar guitarist!

The show also features my brother Tim, so it’s a family project! See you at the theater!

10-62: Now streaming on Shortverse

Joey Yow’s quirky and suspenseful short film, “10-62,” will be streaming on Shortverse starting today. I did the post sound for the film, the phenomenal Ele Matelan performed the foley, and the dynamic composing duo of Alexa L. Borden and Connor Cook created the music.

Ele Matelan feature in Chicago Reader

Kerry Reid of the Chicago Reader did an interview with my friend and frequent collaborator, foley artist Ele Matelan. You can read the article here.

_{Ele Matelan in 2018, rehearsing for Wildclaw Theatre’s 11th Deathscribe festival
Photo Credit: Joe Griffin}

Spider Pick and Prepared Cigar Box instruments for sale

The third iteration of my Spider Pick noise instrument is now available at my Reverb.com store. This model is painted black and features glow-in-the-dark picks and spiders.

Edit: SOLD!

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I’ve also put my Prepared Cigar Box percussion instrument up for sale. This instrument can be played by striking, tapping, or spinning the turntable bearing and caster mounted to the cigar box.

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New Instruments Page

For the last couple of years I’ve been solving sound design challenges – especially for live work – by constructing instruments that give me the sounds I want to make. These builds are put together from found objects, boxes from thrift stores, various bibs and bobs from surplus stores…all over the place. All of them have a contact microphone, and some also have a preamplifier or onboard effects devices. I’ve put a gallery of them over on my new Instruments page.

Sometimes I put one or two of them up for sale on Reverb.com or my Etsy shop (though there’s nothing there right now). I’ll post an announcement when something goes up!

Superman – Best Parody at Rome Int’l Movie Awards

Congratulations to the crew and cast of “Superman: The Fiendish Machinations of Lex Luthor” for taking home the Best Parody award from the Rome International Movie Awards!

Superman – finalist at Rotterdam Independent Film Fest

Superman: The Fiendish Machinations of Lex Luthor as been selected as a finalist in the Rotterdam Independent Film Festival. Congratulations to crew and cast!

More laurels for Superman

“Superman: The Fiendish Machinations of Lex Luthor” by Underhanded Improv was named a finalist in the Vancouver Independent Film Festival, and received the Popular Choice for Narrative Short award at Pixels Garage’s Awards of Excellence!

Did I list one of these already? It’s getting REALLY hard to keep track. Look at all those laurels!

Congratulations to the crew and cast, and to my sound design partner, foley artist Ele Matelan.

Superman short wins best comedy

One of my recent sound design projects, “The Fiendish Machinations of Lex Luthor,” has won Best Comedy at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival! Congratulations to the crew and cast.

The short was also reviewed by Pixels Garage!