My Life in Filmmaking

In the poorest areas of highland Guatemala, improper building materials, a lack of appropriate resources, and unsustainable resources turn houses into foul rubble. Many families live in makeshift homes constructed of nothing more than cornstalk, tin roofs, and dirt floors. Decrepit housing quashes hope, fuels health problems, and destroys family unity.

When I first visited Guatemala I didn't know what to expect. I was there for a church retreat, the job was to build a new home for a family that was benefiting from the organization we were there to work for, the company was called From Houses to Homes. It was here that I discovered founder Joe Collins’ story, a man who dedicated his life to drastically reshaping the outcomes of children’s and families’ lives. What I found was a life changing experience, the only problem was, nobody had heard about it. So a year later I returned with a few friends, a minimal production budget, a camera, and a goal of showing how important companies such as this are to this society still recovering from a a violent civil war many years earlier. For somebody with only a summer at the New York Film Academy to show of my filmmaking background. After recently losing his battle to cancer, this documentary was the only footage that ever featured Joe on camera talking about his life's work. My passion project became the companies promo video and provided me with an aspiration to use film as a medium to help others.
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