In-Progress Work
There is a LOT I want to make in this lifetime. Here are the projects I’m currently involved with or actively planning.
Making Marines
After enlisting in the Marine Corps, civilians are sent to boot camp where drill instructors spend 13 weeks molding them into Marines. Any Marine who’s been through boot camp will tell you what a challenging, life-changing experience it is. As a combat camera / public affairs Marine with almost unlimited access to the recruit training process, I thought it would be cool to make something that shows people what boot camp is like, what it’s like to be a recruit going through it, and what it takes to become a Marine.
For three months, Cpl Jordy Morales (one of my combat camera buddies) and I embedded with Platoon 3038 of Lima Company on Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island (one of two Marine Corps boot camp locations). We watched the legendary Marine Corps drill instructors challenge and train the recruits under their charge, watched the recruits struggle and endure the many hardships of boot camp, watched as recruits who couldn’t cut it were sent home, and watched the ones who never gave up experience the triumph and emotion of earning their place in the brotherhood. We captured it all on camera, and despite the hours and hours of footage to go through, we’re deep in the post-production process and are getting excited to share what we’ve made.
Projected release date is late fall 2026.
Feature-length documentary about Marine Corps boot camp and the journey of two individuals striving to become United States Marines.
Untitled AI Movie
Feature-length film made entirely from AI-generated sounds and imagery.
Lmao PSYCHE.
(Ain’t hating on it if that’s your thing, but what this ACTUALLY is…:)
Feature-length film about the existential risk of artificial superintelligence and the catastrophic, potentially world-ending outcomes that seem likely if we don’t change how we’re currently developing and regulating AI.
I plan on making this after the boot camp documentary. I’m currently planning it out.
I don’t actually want to make this movie. There are tons of other stories I’d rather tell and worlds I’d rather create, but I’m pretty worried about artificial intelligence and the future we’re heading towards. I’m not an AI expert, but I’ve read and listened to a lot of the experts, and many of them seriously believe that we’re on track to develop AI systems that are smarter and more powerful than us, that we don’t understand, that won’t have our best interests at heart, and that we won’t be able to control. They predict that if we develop such an intelligence, which researchers at the top AI companies are warning might not be far off, it could mean the literal end of humanity.
Awareness of this issue has been spreading, so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone beats me to making this, nor would I mind. I don’t care whether I make it or someone else does, but something like this needs to exist, so I’m going to continue working on this project until it’s done or until someone else releases something that is appropriately urgent and dire, clearly and comprehensively communicates what the situation is and why we’re in trouble, and gets across emotionally what’s at stake (i.e. the future of humanity).
The situation seems pretty bad to me. Part of what’s helped me grapple with it has been learning about more and thinking about what I can do to make the situation better. I think a movie like this could help. If you’re also concerned and would be interested in working on something like this, reach out so we can do our part, together.