I was on track to be a doctor. Until a film festival flyer outside the cadaver lab sparked my comatose creativity. I made a crappy dramatic short about love and death (super original, I know) but the packed auditorium of college kids CRIED. I was dumbstruck. And hooked.
The thing is, when I get excited about something, I go all in. Like 1,024 percent.
So I got to work. And got rejected. But I devoured the film knowledge and on set experiences, continually thirsting for more. Boldness and persistence landed me on the set of Bones, shadowing the director of photography. I asked him for advice on working my way up the seemingly never-ending ladder that was filmmaking. His simple answer was pivotal—
"Don’t climb the ladder. Do something on your own and make Hollywood want YOU."
So I did. I went home to a small town in Utah and started creating. Short films about flying cats, dancing stormtroopers, real life Fruit Ninjas. I sucked up my insecurities and finally put my music out into the world too. I wanted to tell stories, create characters. Most of all, I wanted to make the audience feel something.
The videos went viral. One after another. Before long, I had over 1 BILLION views across social media, 1.8 MILLION subscribers on YouTube. My music landed on the iTunes Pop & Hip Hop Charts on numerous occasions. I started working with major brands like Ford, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Budweiser, Oreo. I was making videos with The Rock, Ryan Seacrest, Wiz Khalifa, Kerri Walsh.
Then it happened. "Hollywood" hit me up. I had the opportunity to meet with producing legends Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Red, Matrix) and David Womark (Life of Pi, Deepwater Horizon). And currently we are developing a feature film based on my successful High School Dance Battle series.
Now that I think about it, doctors and filmmakers aren’t that different after all. At their core, both are striving for a positive impact on everyone they can influence. Damn, that’s deep. Might be time to create a hip hop musical about a doctor…