Experience

After starting a career as an actor of stage and screen, in 2001 I started to work behind the camera, writing, directing and producing my first independent short film Mann In Driving. Inspired by many of my late night drives across the country, Mann In Driving tells the story of a thickheaded traveler battling drowsiness on the open road. The comedic short, and main character Mann, was born out of my love of cinema growing up as a kid watching old reels of Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott and Costello that would play at the local pizza restaurant my brother and I would frequent (thanks Franco’s Pizza of North High Street).

More of a live-action cartoon, Mann was the common man - the idiot man-child that is in each of us. This was my first experience taking a story from concept, to script, to screen. With the help of fellow indie filmmakers, Mann In Driving was shot on digital video and edited in Adobe Premiere, both burgeoning technologies at the time. You could say I cut my editing teeth cutting this movie on my computer. With reverence for the silent films of Chaplin and Keaton, the story was written without dialogue and sped up in post-production giving it the feel of 16 frames per second for film. I worked with a local musician for the opening and closing score, and then added sound effects and a track of vocal reactions for the main character.

Mann In Driving was selected for the 2001 Short Film Showcase presented at the historic Strand Theatre in Delaware, Ohio, and received well by the audience. More significantly, I had found a passion for filmmaking. As I continued to work my day job selling office equipment, I devoted all of my other time to learning and honing the craft. With the support of other independent filmmakers, writers, directors, and producers, many of whom worked as professionals in the production industry, I became a student of the business. I liken this period of my filmmaking career to being in “real life” film school, working in every aspect of production from production assistant, to boom operator, lighting, and cinematography.

By 2005 I had written, directed and produced seven more installments in the Mann series of films, including, Mann In Love, Mann In Daytrading, Mann In Rehab, Mann In Trick-or-Treat, Mann In Babysitting, Mann In The Slip (Official Selection, Chicago “Really” Short Film Festival, 2005), and Mann In Hock, which would go on to win Video of the Month in the Independent Film Channel’s MediaLab Competition, and also win the award for Best Director.

It was also during this time that I would start to employ my filmmaking skill set for others working freelance writing, shooting, directing and editing. I first shot and edited two short films for a local sports medicine company for their annual employee celebration. I was then contracted by a start-up company to edit and complete post-production for three commercials and an infomercial for their product “The Baker’s Edge Baking Pan,” which went on to have success in the home goods market, and is still available today.

Other freelance projects include: writing, shooting, directing and editing a commercial for a local law firm; directing and producing a series of product intro videos for Creative Memories; shooting, directing and editing five videos for MadLab Theatre’s production of the multi-media play Flow; writing and editing three commercials for Out Of Our Heads! Improv; editing a pitch video for the game show Cinemadness; and shooting, directing and editing an industrial video for the Wayne Dalton garage door and opener company. In conjunction with a regional production company based out of Dublin, Ohio, I directed and produced a compelling documentary video about hunger for the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, and an industrial training video about retirement for Nationwide Insurance.

I worked in production as a freelancer until 2012 when I was hired at Teleperformance, eventually becoming manager of video and media production, where I currently work. In this role I work with internal corporate clients to develop videos from concept to completion, writing scripts, shooting live video, directing, editing and creating motion graphics for promotional, training, and educational videos that are distributed both internally and externally on social media.

Throughout my freelance and corporate career I have continued to work on personal projects, directing and editing On Watch, a dramatic short film about a recently returned Army veteran's battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, and writing, directing, producing, and editing Mann Vs Fish (Winner, Best Narrative Short, World Premiere Film Awards, 2020).

It would be in 2007 that I would go into production on my first feature film, Minus One, on which I served as writer, co-director, producer and actor. Minus One tells the story of the last few days leading up to the deployment of three US Army reservists whose unit gets called up to go to Afghanistan, and the movie itself was based on my personal experiences of when my brother was called up to go to Iraq in 2004-2005. The aim was to capture what soldiers and their families go through when preparing to say goodbye, possibly forever, to a loved one heading into combat.

The screenplay started with a rough outline in 2005. Over the next year and a half I developed the treatment and completed the screenplay in early summer of 2007 (using Final Draft). Having previously worked as an actor with Marc Wiskemann, professor of cinema at Denison University, I asked him to read the script and offer feedback. As it turned out, Marc liked the script, offering some suggestions, and more surprisingly believed that it was film we could make together before he returned to teach that fall. With his experience as a professional director of photography before his academic career, we decided that Marc would helm the camera, I would direct, and together we would produce the film. By the end of June that same year, I secured funding from local investors and principal photography was scheduled for mid-August.

During pre-production I did a complete breakdown of the script and together with Marc developed an ambitious 13 day shooting schedule. We began to assemble our core production team, enlisting a crew of professionals and students from Marc Wiskemann’s film classes. Two audition sessions and a series of callbacks were held in July and the final cast was selected. Leading up to principal photography, together with Marc and my assistant directors, shot lists and setup schedules were created for the 13-day shooting schedule.

Below you will find the shooting script, the casting alert, and samples of a shot list, setup schedule and call sheet.

The next challenge was completing all of the post-production for the film. Over the next two years, the film went through several edits, additional pick-up scenes were shot, ADR sessions were conducted, and by the spring of 2010 the final cut of the movie was complete. Without distribution secured at that point, I began to submit the film to numerous film festivals in the US and UK. Minus One would go on to be an official selection at 10 film festivals, winning best picture for three of the festivals. In May of that same year, the film premiered at the GI Film Festival in Washington, DC, earning Best Narrative Feature for the fest. Back in Columbus, Ohio, the film had its local public premiere that summer, playing to sold out crowds for both screenings at the Arena Grand Theatre and Grandview Theatre.

Here is a sampling of what audiences had to say about the movie:

“I was emotionally drained after seeing MINUS ONE. It made me chuckle, laugh out loud, and cry. The reality of what it’s like to have your son, daughter or spouse go off to defend our country…well it gave me a new perspective on the sacrifice many people make when one person goes off to war. The film was high quality and award worthy. A great film that I would love to see again.”
-Cindi E., Arena Grand Premiere

“A slice of life one rarely thinks about; unless you’re involved. MINUS ONE made me feel involved. Well done. I enjoyed it immensely.”
- Phil M., Arena Grand Premiere

“MINUS ONE is a personal and passionate film, filled with the longing and worrying of family and friends caught up in horrific and deadly duty to the Afghan War. I felt a great deal of sadness and sorrow from the screen images alone--and to say one could even cry at the end would not be an overstatement of its impact.”
- Rita B., Grandview Theatre Encore Screening

“MINUS ONE. Featuring powerful performances and flawless scripting-direction (Jon Osbeck and Marc Wiskemann) this timely drama details the final civilian days of three young men who have been activated for service in Afghanistan. Ensemble acting at its best MINUS ONE matches in every way the emotional honesty of last year's Oscar nominated THE MESSENGER. Locally produced and filmed it's screening now at the GRANDVIEW.”
- Clay L., Grandview Theatre Encore Screening

“MINUS ONE is a moving portrayal of service by the brave men and women in uniform and the untold sacrifices of their families back home. Superbly acted -- moving performances!”
–Brandon L. Millett and Laura Law,2010 GI Film Festival

The film was eventually picked up by MySpotlight Independent Film Distribution (https://www.myproduction.co.uk/) and is currently available on Amazon Prime Video in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Writing, producing, and directing Minus One, spending the better part of three years from pre-production to principal photography through post-production and eventually to the world premiere at a film festival for which the movie won Best Narrative Feature, provided me with the practical, real-world experience in filmmaking that strives to be emulated in a classroom. Learning how to break down a feature-length script, creating shot lists and setup schedules, finding locations, auditioning actors, securing equipment, building a crew, working with actors on set, living in the editing bay for days on end, getting three hours sleep between turnarounds from one shoot day to the next to make sure the crew got more time to rest, finding completion funds to get the movie finished, it was all worth the moment when the movie screened for the cast, crew, friends and family. Sitting in the back of a darkened theatre, watching the people you assembled take pride in what they created together is something that I will never forget nor allow to be diminished in all of its meaning.

Below are links to the official trailer, the full-length movie and the IMDb.com page for Minus One.

Articles and Reviews

• D.C. to see trio's 'Minus One’. (2010, May 15). The Columbus Dispatch.

• Film Seeks to capture emotions of soldiers off to war. (2010, Jul 7). ThisWeek Community Newspapers.

• Denison assistant professor helps bring Afghanistan war story to screen. (2010, Oct 7). Newark Advocate.

• Military movies to watch. (2010, Jul 12). ArmyTimes.com

• Show & Tell. (2010, May 21). The Columbus Dispatch.

• Review on IMDb.com.

Click here for the full review.

Guest Speaking and Appearances

• WRITER’S BLOC, Guest Speaker, May 2011
  Screenwriting: from script to screen, Minus One
  The Thurber House, Wayne Rapp

• COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Guest Speaker, July 2009
  Screenwriting, Minus One
  Nestor Hall, Prof. Rita Bova

• WRITERS TALK, Guest, June 2010
  Screenwriting and Minus One
  The Ohio State University Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing, Doug Dangler

Education and Research

Below is a list of the classes and workshops I have taken:

• MasterClass, Directing
  Ron Howard, 2019

• MasterClass, Screenwriting
  Aaron Sorkin, 2020

• Cinematography Workshop
  Scott Spears, 2006

Over the years of classes and from having worked with various production creatives, the following is a list of a few of the books on acting which I have read and continue to come back to for new contextual discoveries and inspiration:

• The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives, by Lajos Egri

• Conversations at the American Film Institute with the Great Moviemakers: the next Generation, by George Stevens, Jr.

• Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, by Claudia Hunter Johnson

• Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television, by Judith Weston

• Directing the Film: Film Directors on Their Art, by Eric Sherman

• The Directors: Take One, by Robert J. Emery

• Essentials of Screenwriting: the Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing, by Richard Walter

• Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen, by Steven D. Katz

• Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay, by Syd Field

• The Godfather Notebook, by Francis Ford Coppola

• Making a Good Script Great, by Linda Seger

• On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

• Screenplay: the foundations of screenwriting, by Syd Field

• Story: Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting, by Robert McKee

• Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by a Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner, by Jon Franklin

• Writing Movies for Fun and Profit!: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!, by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas F. Lennon.