Director
Biography
In seventh grade, my friends and I started making videos for school projects whenever possible. By senior year of high school, I made an hour long movie with my best friend for class credit. My Uncle still thinks it’s a masterpiece.
With dreams of becoming the next Wes Anderson, I left the suburbs of Boston to study film at Northwestern University. After just a few college projects, I realized that crafting the lighting and composition of the frame brought me more joy than guiding an actor’s performance. While I shifted my primary focus to cinematography, I still enjoyed directing.
In 2004, I wrote and directed a 16mm senior thesis, My Better Half. After graduation, I rushed to Los Angeles to work as a camera assistant and soak up as much information as possible from talented directors and DPs like Mike White and Eric Steelberg ASC.
Dustin blocks a scene for “Who Shot Mamba?”
In between paid AC gigs, I expanded my cinematography reel whenever possible. For maximum efficiency, I often served as both director and DP. My first feature as a cinematographer in 2007 soon became my first professional directing gig after the original directors departed the project. A large portion of Who Shot Mamba? features me filling both roles.
With a few exceptions, most of my time since then has singularly focused on my primary love: cinematography. In 2013, I shot and directed the comedic short The [What’s Up With Your Friend?] Friend, which premiered at the 2014 HollyShorts Film Festival. Later I shot and directed Harry Mack’s debut music video for Napoleon Hill in 2018. During the 2020 lockdown, I shot and directed a spec commercial for Chewy with my newly adopted pandemic puppy. In 2022, I filled both roles on a promo for TNT/TBS/TruTV for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (Tiffany Chiao, Josh Oh, and Tony Kahn were shot in NY by a different crew).
I look forward to more opportunities to direct in the future.
Resume
Click here to download a .pdf of Dustin’s directorial resume.