Ever since JT was a wee lad growing up in Bakersfield, CA., he had always wanted to be an artist, whether it was making stop-motion animation (using Star Wars action figures as actors) with his dad's Super8 film camera or creating Polaroid collages. Art and artistic expression has always been a huge part of who he is.

JT graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a Masters Degree in Film Directing. Shortly after snagging a diploma, he made a short horror film called "Nightshadows". His leap into the world of feature films came with the horror/comedy "George: A Zombie Intervention". The film screened all over the world, winning multiple awards before landing a distribution deal with Breaking Glass Pictures. Next came "Divination", a multi award winning short film. "Divination" found a home at the Hillbilly Horror Show (Vol. 3). "The Peripheral" followed, screening at over 80 film festivals world-wide, also winning multiple awards in the process. In 2020, JT made the short drama/horror film “Do We Really Have To Say Goodbye” for Dekkoo Films.

In addition to his own little terror creations, JT co-founded and ran the NOLA Horror Film Fest (in New Orleans, LA) from 2010 to 2021. In 2022, he founded the Queer Screams Film Festival (in Portland, OR) – a celebration of LGBTQ+ Genre Cinema.