Professional Summary
Creative director and experiential systems designer who builds immersive environments across art, entertainment, and corporate spaces. Shapes narrative, spatial design, and execution strategy, then owns the production spine that makes it real: scope, seven-figure budgets, vendors, staffing, schedules, safety, and onsite execution. Rebuilt Theatre Bizarre from a money-losing backyard event into a financially sustainable, internationally recognized immersive production drawing 5,000 guests a night through a 50-plus department operating structure. Spent more than a decade as art director for Detroit's regional sports network. 11-time Michigan Emmy Award winner, currently advising a consumer AI robotics company on product development and maker workflows.
Core Strengths
Creative and Experiential: Creative and art direction, experiential and environmental design, immersive concept development, brand and show systems, motion graphics, animation, broadcast design, scenic design and fabrication oversight, large-format graphics, post-production, compositing, and visual effects.
Production and Operations: Executive production, seven-figure budget ownership, vendor bids and contract management, staffing and department design, scheduling, run of show, event logistics, safety and permitting, onsite execution from build through strike.
Leadership and Communication: Team building, hiring and directing specialists, cross-functional alignment, stakeholder and client presentations, pitch and proposal development.
Emerging Technology: AI product development and behavior design, knowledge-base systems, prompt engineering, generative-AI production workflows, maker and developer workflows, and hardware prototyping with Raspberry Pi, Jetson, and Linux.
Experience
Founder, Creative Director and Executive Producer
Ongoing- Lead creative direction and production across experiential design, broadcast and motion design, brand systems, fabrication, installations, and campaign delivery for clients and partners including GM, Audi, Volkswagen, Ford, Epic Games, Blizzard, and the Rochester Knighthawks (NLL).
- Produced full-arena tournament graphics for the WSOE series with eStars at the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor (2019 to 2022): panorama walls, per-player screens, Jumbotron and matchup graphics, and floor, wall, and tunnel animations for titles including Hearthstone, Fortnite, Rocket League, Valorant, and Soul Calibur, collaborating directly with game publishers' art teams.
- Advise X-Origin, a consumer AI robotics company, on product development, product experience, and maker workflows (2026 to present): technical reports for the engineering team, product proposals, and hands-on evaluation of pre-release hardware; featured artist on the AIPi product site.
- Designed and led a Burning Man art car build for a private client: CAD-engineered structure on a 1965 Ford F-250, a 23-foot inflatable, flamethrowers, and a 4,000-watt sound system, driven 2,000 miles to Black Rock City.
- Developed an end-to-end generative AI production workflow that treats AI as a component generator feeding fully layered, revision-proof Photoshop and Illustrator files at true print scale.
Art Director / Senior Motion Graphics Designer
Nov 2015 – April 2026- Built the Detroit network's look and feel from the ground up, owning the visual direction for its marketing, promotions, campaigns, and local team looks.
- Directed and produced the Emmy-winning April in the D seasonal campaign and spearheaded the concept-driven Tigers Spring Training campaign, developing visual language, scripts, and motion design.
- Designed and executed branded media day environments for the Detroit Tigers, Pistons, and Lions, owning scenic design, LED system architecture, budgets, vendors, crew hiring and coordination, and onsite production, plus coverage graphics for the Red Wings.
- Helped spearhead Detroit's rollout of the Bally Sports rebrand, then adapted the network's visual systems through the transition to FanDuel Sports Network.
- Designed in-arena LED graphics for every MLB, NBA, and NHL venue in the FanDuel Sports Network footprint, along with outdoor, direct-to-consumer, web, and social advertising.
- Helped evaluate agency pitches for the network's league looks, wrote the delivery requirements agencies built their toolkits to, and re-engineered agency toolkits into scalable production systems.
General Manager and Partner
2010 – 2022- Brought in as a full partner to professionalize the organization during its move to the Detroit Masonic Temple, turning a money-losing backyard event into a financially sustainable, internationally recognized immersive production drawing 5,000 guests a night.
- Built and ran a 50-plus department leadership and budgeting structure across 21 performance spaces and 8 stages, directing 9 department heads, 50+ managers, and nearly 1,000 performers, crew, and volunteers.
- Owned the seven-figure annual budget, vendor bids and contracts, payroll, and venue agreements; managed a 75-person security team with onsite EMTs, coordinating with the fire marshal, Detroit Police, and city officials.
- Expanded the organization into year-round programming including festival installations, ticketed pop-ups, parade builds, Maker Faire Detroit installations, and public activations.
Co-Founder and Creative Director
Aug 2019 – Present- Co-founded and lead a national membership organization (110+ members, 4 chapters), producing 70+ events across Michigan and beyond, including international expeditions in Costa Rica, Japan, and Vietnam.
- Created the Great American Monkey 1000, a 1,000 km motorcycle adventure for 50 riders navigated entirely through a hand-fabricated narrative mail art system of letters, telegrams, and ephemera from a fictional explorer.
- Wrote and produced the Guild's printed field handbook, designed the complete brand system, and built the merit badge, rank, and mentorship structure alongside the chapter leadership model.
Art Director
2014 – 2017- Defined and led the creative vision for a nationally distributed weekly PBS series, designing the intro, closing, and interstitial graphics systems and maintaining the show's visual identity.
Additional Experience
- Wonderland Detroit: Co-Writer, Director and Producer. Self-financed original immersive musical built from a raw industrial warehouse; sold out, held over, and revived by demand.
- Theatre Bizarre: Stage Manager. Staging, performance flow, and live show execution during the event's growth years.
- MVP Collaborative: Motion Graphic Artist / 3D Exhibit Design. Established the company's first in-house motion graphics department; 3D exhibit and reveal environments for auto shows serving GM, Audi, Volkswagen, Ford, and Kelly Services.
- Los Minstrels Del Diablo: Performer / AV System Designer. Live synchronized audio-video performance duo; commissioned by Kevin Saunderson to create all tour visuals for the Elevator World Tour.
- NBC 24 Toledo: Art Director. StreamDynamics: Media Specialist. Sanctum.FM: Event Producer / Show Host. Trillium Teamologies: 3D Animator. Midwest Video: 3D Graphic Artist / Multimedia Director, built the motion graphics and multimedia department from the ground up.
Tools and Technical
Creative: Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Creative Cloud; Cinema 4D; broadcast and live-event production pipelines; projection and media delivery systems; Midjourney and Leonardo.
Production and Operations: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and Office 365; Google Workspace, Airtable, Asana, Jira, Dropbox; budgets and workbacks, run of show, and vendor coordination.
Emerging Technology: Generative-AI production workflows, prompt engineering, AI behavior and knowledge-base design, and hardware prototyping with Raspberry Pi, Jetson, and Linux.
Awards and Recognition
- 11-time Michigan Emmy Award winner. Telly Award recipient. Knight Arts Challenge Grant recipient. Make Magazine Editors' Choice Award recipient.
- Invited Speaker, Burning Man Global Leadership Conference (2017). Featured Artist, X-Origin AIPi. Theatre Bizarre named in "100 Things All Detroiters Should Do Before They Die."
Education and Certifications
- Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts, Certificate in Broadcasting and Communications. Schoolcraft College, Graphic Design coursework.
- Avid Certified Editor. Adobe Photoshop Certification. Lightwave Masters Class.