The Mask in Our Hands

Born and raised in Seattle, Joseph connected with film at a young age by browsing VHS tapes at the local Channel 3 Video. Throughout his growth into adulthood, the existential question of “why” lingered in his mind like slate gray clouds over the Cascade mountains where he grew up backpacking. He left college for a stint to cook in a kitchen and then study in Paris. With the privilege of seeing the world and learning from other cultures, Joseph would seek out Art House Cinemas across the world to aid in his existential quandary. He read Steppenwolf on a train across the Moroccan desert, Frankel in a Cafe in Paris, and was able to help create a fundraising video for a Buddhist Monastery in Rumtek, India. Yet, despite making films for school projects and receiving a degree in English from Western Washington University, it wasn’t until a dinner table conversation with a mentor that he set off on a sincere quest to express his philosophy through film.  He left his job working in a bar and with no formal film education, he found work as a creative assistant and helped to develop two novels and co-Produce a feature film, Flag Day, that screened in-competition at the Cannes Film Festival.