Experienced Video Editor and Motion GFX Artist

Elevate your video projects with precision and creativity through Bald Guy Creative. As an experienced video editor and motion GFX artist, I bring a wealth of expertise in post-production to every project. With a passion for excellent storytelling and a deep understanding of each phase of the process, I prioritize effective communication and efficient time management.

Early Years

Sparking My Interest in Technology

As a kid growing up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago during the 1970s, my father worked primarily in the early era of computers. I remember when he would bring me into the office, where I would be in awe of the punch-card machines and the big reel-to-reel tape drives that would whir to life, seemingly like magic. For my 13th birthday, he bought me my first computer, an early 1980s Apple IIe.

By today’s standards, this computer is an absolute joke. It had 256 KB of internal memory, a floppy drive with actual floppy disks, and a monochrome monitor. Everything was text-based. A person had to know “basic” computer language at the time to do anything. But you would have had to pry me off that computer because I loved it! Those early trips into my dad’s office and that first Apple computer sparked my lifelong fascination with technology.

Dabbling in Music Later On

Music was my next big love through the 1980s, when I could be pried away from that computer. I went through various instruments over the years, but piano is what really stuck with me, though school bands are not my thing. I grew out my hair and jumped on the ‘80s glam rock bandwagon.

Then, I played in a handful of rock and metal bands in the Chicago area until I decided I needed to do something more in the early 1990s. I packed up from Chicago, moved out to Los Angeles (so typical), and enrolled in a music performance-based school in Hollywood.

Combining the Best of Both Worlds

After graduating from the Hollywood school, one thing became clear: I wasn’t a good musician and would never make a living as a professional musician. Some of my friends from the Chicago area who moved to Denver, CO, had been trying to get me to come out there and see if I might make a move. I loved it and moved there later that year.

Then, I decided that if I was not going to be a professional musician, I could be an audio engineer. This profession would keep me in the music world since I really enjoyed spending time in music studios. I enrolled in a school in Denver with a program geared toward the audio engineering, video production, and business sides of the industry.

The Internship That Diversified My Skillset Further

Towards the end of the Denver school program in the mid-1990s, I interned at a downtown Denver post house to work in the audio suite. On day one, they said, “We are too busy to have you in the audio suite today. Why don’t you sit in the video editing suite today and help out.”

That was one of those seemingly innocent things that altered my life direction from that day forward. I never went back into that audio suite, at least not to work. I stayed on the video production side, where I learned to edit linearly on a CMX editor and had an ADO FX box.

Here, I edited directly to tape, Beta, ¾” ½” 1″ reel to reel, and even Digital-Beta tape, which was the fancy machine. I would work master control on the swing and graveyard shifts, then go into the post house to help edit and build GFX however they needed me.

Breaking into the Industry

Eventually, I was hired by that post house. A couple of years later, I got a new gig. I was hired by an international distributed cable network based in Denver to help build their interstitial material. These outputs consist of all the promos and GFXs that aired between the movies and shows, including bumpers, trailers, promos, etc., in over 40 different languages, and all on their nonlinear editing systems — Discreet Logic’s Inferno and Fire editing systems running on Silicon Graphics computers.

I had never done this before! I was able to work with some of the most advanced editing and graphics systems of the time used in all the movie studios for editing and effects work. During that time, I spent many long days and nights working on mastering those systems in those editing bays. I couldn’t get my head out of those computers because they were amazing!

Building My Career as a Freelancer

The Start of My Freelancing Journey

Business mergers and layoffs always sting the first time and probably every time after that. In the early 2000s, I found myself out of a job. I thought I’d give freelancing a try since I already had several years of experience working on some of the most advanced editing and GFX systems. But there was much to learn about being my boss and the freelance world.

I realized I may have many years of experience working on Discreet Logic editing and GFX software. However, there were very few of them in the Denver area to work on, outside of the company I worked for that had just laid off half its staff.

From there on out, things got rocky for several years. I spent a year in Denver trying to pick up freelance work while sending demo reels nationwide and even globally to find job opportunities. Then, I made a couple of trips to New York City to meet with some well-known post houses but ultimately moved back to Chicago. Spending a year in my hometown gave me some luck regarding work, but not enough.

Working for a Princeton-Based Company

I had some more luck workwise when I moved back to Denver. Then, a company based out of Princeton, NJ, contacted me and asked if I could come out on a contract for a few months. They had a Smoke system, which was considered the Fire editing system’s baby brother, and needed an editor who knew how to run it. After three months of hotel hopping in Princeton, the company offered me a permanent gig.

Thus began what I fondly remember as my “Princeton” years, a good period in my career while it lasted. The company ended up getting a Flame system, which was also considered the Inferno editing system’s little sister. During my tenure in that company, I worked with clients and other post-houses in Philadelphia, New York City, and D.C. It was fun getting that exposure to big-name places.

However, things were shifting throughout the post-production industry in the mid-2000s. Editing and effects systems were getting cheaper, and the more affordable systems were improving. That is why I started working more with Final Cut Pro and learned how to use Adobe After Effects more for all my compositing and motion graphic work. The time came that I was getting restless in Princeton, and Denver pulled me back once more.

Freelancing Experience in the Mid-2010s

As a freelancer, I was fortunate enough to work with the incredible talent and creative minds of some of Denver’s best and most prominent post houses, advertising agencies, and cable networks. I am so thankful for these experiences, and they will stay with me forever.

Founding Bald Guy Creative

I created Bald Guy Creative after returning to freelancing around the mid to late-2000s. The reason behind the name is that I’m bald, which I have been since I started shaving my head when I was 30.

Around this time, Apple made the odd decision to focus on Final Cut Pro X rather than Final Cut Pro 7. Many people love the latest video editing software, but I am not one of them. A lot of the Final Cut Pro editors — myself included — jumped to using Adobe Premiere, a historically subpar editing software.

It felt like Adobe knew precisely what was going on with Apple and leveled up their software. Now, I and most video editors I know love how well Premiere has stepped up to take over the editing software mantle from Final Cut Pro. Since then, I have been an Adobe Suite enthusiast! I’ve dabbled with Avid, but none of my time in the software has ever stuck.

Who I Am Now

As an experienced video editor and motion GFX artist, I always look forward to meeting new creatives and potential clients and discussing the projects we’ll work on together. I am grateful for the opportunity to be included in these plans.

Passionate Freelance Video Editor

Now 25 years into my career, the clientele has shifted, the industry has changed, and I have also changed. I still feel that becoming and working as a freelancer or contractor has proven to be the ideal way for me to work. It can be rocky sometimes, but I genuinely believe it is the best scenario for me and my clients.

I have become very proactive and adaptable to a large variety of working situations. Whether working from home on my professional editing and graphics system, in-house at a client’s editing suite, or a hybrid of those two, I’m there. I love the face-to-face time with producers and other creatives just as much as my time in my office at home, cutting away. They both have their place if used wisely.

I enjoy the wide variety of clientele I get to work with, the crazy array of projects from all different industries that I get a peek into, and all the talented people I get to meet and collaborate with. Telling the stories of people and their businesses through the visuals we create together has always been a great passion of mine. I also love the creative process, finding it hard to step away and put down the Wacom tablet pen.

An Active Guy Outside of Work

During my downtime, I am an avid cyclist who dabbles in mountain biking, road cycling, and gravel biking. I also love snow sports like snowboarding and cross-country skiing. Whether it is hiking, biking, camping, snowboarding, traveling, or photography, I love getting in my extra vitamin D. In addition to outdoor activities, I focus on family, music, the arts, and keeping up on current events.

I’d Love to Hear from You

Contact me today for additional information about me as an experienced video editor, motion GFX artist, and overall creative guy. I would be more than happy to address your questions about me, my services, and my work.