Profile
Creative director and executive producer with 30+ years conceiving large-scale experiential environments and leading the teams, budgets, and operations that bring them to life. Comfortable shaping the creative vision in the room and owning the production spine that makes it real: scope, 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, then ran it through a 50-plus department operating structure across a decade at the Detroit Masonic Temple. Hires and elevates specialists rather than soloing every discipline. 11-time Michigan Emmy Award winner, currently advising a consumer AI robotics company on product experience and maker workflows.
Core Strengths
Creative and Experiential: Creative direction, experiential and environmental design, immersive concept development, brand and show systems, scenic and fabrication oversight, motion and media systems, projection and LED.
Production and Operations: Executive production, seven-figure budget ownership, vendor and contract management, staffing structures, scheduling, run of show, safety coordination, onsite execution from build through strike.
Leadership and Communication: Team building, hiring and directing specialists, cross-functional alignment, client and stakeholder presentations, pitch and proposal development.
Emerging Technology: AI product experience 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
1995 – Present- Since 2026, advise X-Origin, a consumer AI robotics company and maker of the AIPi physical AI device and the Yonbo companion robot, on product experience, behavior and personality design, knowledge-base systems, and maker and developer workflows. Evaluate pre-release hardware, help shape product direction across two product lines, and am featured as an artist on the AIPi product site.
- Developed an end-to-end production workflow that uses generative AI as a component generator rather than a one-shot image maker. Elements are generated, then hand-composited and finished as fully layered Photoshop and Illustrator files, so work survives multiple rounds of client revision and assembles to true high-resolution print scale.
- Lead creative direction and production across experiential design, broadcast and motion design, brand systems, fabrication, installations, and campaign and content delivery for cultural, commercial, and self-directed clients.
- Recent and selected work includes brand identity and packaging for multiple cannabis-industry companies, broadcast and live-stream graphics packages for esports tournaments in Las Vegas, arena and print graphics, demo reels, and work for the Buffalo Nighthawks (NLL).
- Built working systems on X-Origin hardware, including a HAL 9000 replica, a Big Bot Bash robot, and the C1-SD interactive AI protocol-droid public exhibit, each demonstrating real maker use cases that informed product direction.
Senior Motion Graphics Designer, On-Air Marketing and Promotions
2015 – April 2025- Designed and executed branded media day environments for the Detroit Tigers, Pistons, and Lions, owning scenic design, LED system architecture, 3D environment design, custom animation, crew hiring and coordination, and onsite production.
- Built multi-surface LED environments with independently controlled walls and reflective-floor integration, mapping content across surfaces and triggering live visuals during shoots, using LED as both display and active lighting.
- 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 for high-impact broadcast spots.
- Led broadcast and promotional creative across on-air identity systems, show packages, seasonal campaigns, promos, and PSAs, spanning broadcast, digital, social, outdoor, and in-arena LED.
- Contributed to two network-wide rebrands and re-engineered agency-delivered After Effects toolkits into scalable production systems that cut update time and improved reliability across high-volume deliverables.
Partner, General Manager and Stage Manager
2001 – 2022- Brought in as a full partner to help architect the organization's transition from a shuttered backyard event to a major venue operation at the Detroit Masonic Temple, turning a money-losing production into a financially sustainable, internationally recognized immersive event.
- Developed the departmental structure that allowed the event to scale, formalizing roles, building management frameworks, and giving department leads real authority over their areas. At peak, directed 9 department heads, 50-plus managers, and nearly 1,000 performers, crew, and volunteers across 21 performance spaces and 8 stages.
- Owned a seven-figure annual budget, vendor contracts, performer payroll, and venue agreements. Managed a 75-person security team alongside onsite EMTs and first aid personnel, coordinating with the fire marshal, Detroit Police, and city officials on all safety and compliance matters.
- Oversaw permit management, catering, valet, parking, vendor relationships, and full build, show, and strike execution for 5,000-attendee nights.
- Expanded the organization into year-round programming including festival installations, ticketed pop-ups, parade builds, convention appearances, and public activations.
Co-Founder and Creative Director
2019 – Present- Co-founded and lead a membership organization built around immersive programming, skill-building workshops, and multi-day expeditions, directing the full brand system across identity, handbooks, workbooks, patches, uniforms, print, and member communications.
- Designed and produced the Dash Remington narrative mail art system for the Great American Monkey 1000, a 1,000-kilometer motorcycle adventure event. Each participant receives a sequence of hand-fabricated correspondence artifacts over the weeks before the event, printed, cut, weathered, and mailed by hand, forming a clue-based puzzle that participants decode to navigate the route.
- Plan and run multi-day events and national expeditions end to end, including budgets, permits, safety planning, route logistics, craft services, support vehicles, fuel staging, and onsite execution.
Co-Creator, Writer, Director and Producer
2009 – 2010- Co-conceived, co-wrote, co-directed, and co-produced with Casey Miller an original immersive burlesque musical from a bare warehouse to a sold-out run. Hired and directed an art director, a 10-piece original orchestra, and a full cast and crew.
- Led scenic and technical design, projection animation and mapping, and full venue buildout including stage, lighting, sound, bar, and modular scenic. Engineered a mirror-bounce projection system to solve a throw-distance constraint.
- Solved the challenge of a non-actor cast by staging the orchestra and a voice ensemble as a live radio play alongside the performance, delivering all dialogue and narration offstage while performers pantomimed the story onstage.
- Self-financed production sold out, was held over, revived by audience demand, and filmed for release.
Art Director
2014 – 2017- Defined and maintained the graphics package and visual identity for a nationally distributed weekly PBS series, designing intro, closing, and interstitial systems and adapting the visual language across diverse craft subjects.
Selected Earlier Experience
- MVP Collaborative: Motion Graphic Artist and 3D Exhibit Design (2000–2003). 3D exhibit and reveal environments for auto shows and trade-show booths serving GM, Audi, Volkswagen, and Kelly Services.
- Sanctum.FM: Event Producer and Show Host (2010–2016). Live events and radio programming: talent booking, venue logistics, live streaming, and brand identity.
- Marche du Nain Rouge: Event Producer (2013). End-of-parade celebration: lighting design, vendor coordination, talent booking, and city fire permits for pyrotechnics.
- StreamDynamics: Media Specialist (2009–2019). Client-facing video interfaces, trade-show and display graphics, encoder hardware and delivery systems.
- NBC 24 Toledo: Art Director (2008–2009). Station identity, news and advertising graphics across broadcast, web, print, and digital billboards.
- Trillium Teamologies and Midwest Video (1997–2004). Built motion graphics and multimedia departments from a zero baseline; animation for Audi, VW, and GM.
- Los Minstrels Del Diablo (2002–2008). Co-created and performed as one half of a live electronic industrial AV duo, performing 32 synchronized audio and video tracks live via MIDI. Beta tester for VJam, developed by Cold Cut and Ninja Tune. Commissioned by Detroit techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson to create background video and VJ animation content for his Elevator World Tour. Co-produced and headlined four years of the Stolen Media Festival.
Tools and Technical
Creative: Adobe Creative Suite (After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro), Cinema 4D, broadcast and live-event production pipelines, projection, LED, and large-format and environmental graphics systems.
Production and Operations: Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Airtable, Asana, Jira, Dropbox, budgets and workbacks, run of show, and vendor coordination.
Emerging Technology: AI behavior and knowledge-base design, prompt engineering, generative-AI production workflows, maker and developer workflows, Raspberry Pi, Jetson, and Linux hardware prototyping, and power-user familiarity with AI agent tooling and integrations including no-code environments and plugin and MCP-based connections.
Awards and Recognition
- 11-time Michigan Emmy Award winner. Telly Award recipient. Knight Arts Challenge Grant recipient. Make Magazine Editor's 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. Lightwave Masters Class. Adobe Photoshop Certification.