Putting It Together...
Directing Portfolio
As much as performance defines much of who I am, I know myself too well and realize that I can not be satisfied with just one creative outlet alone. Through my continuous journey of discovering what kind of actor I am, I have learned about many other skills that I have fallen in love with as well. From the stage to the (editor's) screen, I have found many other avenues that I enjoy working in, and I hope to continue developing those various skills over the rest of my career.
In my undergraduate years, I was lucky to have multiple opportunities to stretch myself as a creator both on the stage and behind the camera. During one summer, the Department of Student Services at Auburn University reached out to me and to one of my colleagues about producing a series of short videos to market the different resources provided on campus. The goal of the project was to try to make something that was both fun and informative, all in a relatively short amount of watch time. Together, my co-producer and I scripted, filmed, edited, and recorded voice over for 17 individual 2-minute videos, and you can watch a selection of them right here!
Student Services Project
Student Services Project
Med Clinic Edited
Student Counseling
Miller Writing Center
During that following school year, I directed two student-acted pieces of theater. One, In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love, was a 10 minute piece written by Mike Lew that I directed and cast for one of my classes (and you can watch the full performance below!). The second piece was one that I desired to take on as a senior thesis project, which was a new work written by one of my classmates: The Spider. Over two months of production time, we successfully brought this script to life as a staged reading, and it was the first time in recent history that our department put up a show that was directed, written, stage managed, designed, and acted by the student body. It was one of my fondest senior year experiences, and I will cherish it always!
In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes...
The Spider
Written by:
Ian Downes
Performed:
Feb. 18-20 2018
The following year, I served as an Acting & Production Apprentice for the American Stage Theatre Company, a professional SPT company located in St. Petersburg, FL. My cohort and I were given numerous responsibilities and opportunities to develop our skills in theatrical production. During my year, I gave dramaturgical presentations to our audiences, assisted in prop and scenic construction, built and maintained costumes for productions, and got to try my hand at preparing sound design for technical rehearsals. Our cohort also spent the year writing, directing, and producing all elements for our showcase: The Gap & The Glue. I served as costume designer for the show, and for my own challenge, I decided to create a dress built entirely out of found materials from backstage and the costume shop. I am so grateful that the team at American Stage enjoyed my work enough that they asked me to stay as a Production Assistant, where I continued to aide our Director of Production with prop construction and other show-based needs, and that our Artistic Director asked me to assist in building and designing costumes for Vietgone. I had been able to build costumes as a hobby or for personal projects, but it was a real treat to finally be able to put my work on stage.
The American Stage Apprentice Cohort
2018 - 2019
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Costume Portfolio
Like many artists, the Covid Pandemic came as a real shock to the system when shows and events were canceled left and right. At the onset of it all, my colleagues and I knew we had to do something to help those who wanted to work, or who just needed a brief distraction from the world around them. With the help of some new artists at our virtual table, a small group of our apprentice team came together to collaborate on a new project: The Quarantined Theatre Company. Over the first three months of quarantine, we produced and livestreamed three series of new play readings, partnered with another theater company to broadcast a script being read around the country, and grew a community of artists and fans of the performing arts looking for something new and engaging during troubled times. You can find our archive of performances on the QTC YouTube channel, and the marketing and media effort I was responsible for on QTC's Facebook and Instagram pages.
