About Me

Hello there! I’m Jackson. I’m a writer, director, producer… storyteller of many skills. I’m from Buffalo NY, graduated SUNY Fredonia with a Bachelor’s in Video Production, and my dream is to work creating media that will enthrall and entertain. I have experience making film, television, radio, streaming service, and web content of varying types. I love working on creative projects as a leader or as part of a team. I’m determined, detail oriented, and direct. Plus I like to think I’m pretty funny sometimes.

 

Let’s make something amazing!

 

If you’d like to learn even more, please enjoy my extended origin story below…

The Beginnings

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Jackson was trouble from the start. Armed with a quick wit and a sense of humor, he often found himself making friends and mischief in equal parts. He enjoyed watching funny movies with his family, playing video games on his Nintendo Wii, and creating his own stories full of crazy characters. Jackson’s sense of wonder and creativity lead to further interests in theater, writing, and eventually making movies of his own. These movies were mostly him and a friend or two being silly on camera, often with dialogue that built up to a well thought out yet wince inducing pun. Making movies of many lengths brought some of the most fun moments of his life, yet it never seemed like his future. 

After graduating Orchard Park High School, Jackson enrolled into SUNY Fredonia’s program for Adolescent Education, hoping to become a social studies teacher someday due to his fondness for history classes. Jackson quickly found out after a semester of student teaching that it was a hell of a lot easier to be a student than a teacher, and being a student in collegiate history classes was pretty tough. With that, he decided to look into other majors. Thankfully his knack for finding friends was as sharp as ever, and during that first semester, he made many. He also joined a club that would shape his entire college career: Fredonia Radio Systems. He joined as a standard member, and before the year was out, he was a part of several shows and co-hosted one of his own. After hearing about the wonders of the Communications department from his friends, experiencing part of it through the station, and thinking back to his passions, he decided to join it himself the next semester. 

It’s all coming together…

He started sophomore year as a Video Production major and was elected as the News Director of FRS. He learned a tremendous amount about filmmaking, working with high end cameras and lights on actual organized sets, which was much different than shooting with a phone in his backyard. He spent a lot of time at the radio station, producing more shows and segments, eventually being passed on responsibilities of legacy shows that the station had been running for years. Outside of his hands-on experiences, he also honed his skills in public speaking, writing, and analysis through his other classes. It was during this time Jackson made a lot of his best projects, many of which were with new techniques and equipment. His TV studio works Morox and Nigel Smith’s Apocalypse were fascinating in their execution, being entirely live instead of the familiar multi-take approach to prerecorded and edited video. Wizard Interrogation was his first and favorite short film he worked on, combining his then fascinations with the genres of noir and fantasy. His radio experience was broad during this time, hosting and producing many shows such as Nerd is The Word, High Noon Friday, and D&DVL. There wasn’t a dull moment or a minute wasted during those years. Looking to the horizon, Jackson saw his senior year rapidly approaching, and he had big plans to say the least.

To say more, he was elected Station Manager of FRS, became lead producer of two of its flagship shows, and continued to host a few more of his own. His responsibilities at the station were a handful on its own, but he had a capstone project for his major to complete too, and this would be the focus of his final year at Fredonia. The premise was simple: create a 10 minute short film over the course of a semester with your classmates. His idea was not. Throughout his time at Fredonia, he had met and collaborated with several extremely talented students, and they shared a common interest in making something amazing. After countless hours of intricate planning, Jackson launched his most ambitious and successful project yet: The Cryptid Cast vs. The Goopy Ganker. Planning for the project started in August of 2021, with pre-production beginning that December. As co-writer and co-director, there wasn’t a part of the project that Jackson didn’t touch. He helped plan, set up, and implement anything he could, extending himself wherever possible. Filming began in February of 2022, and finally that May, everything paid off with the project’s premiere. It was an excruciating and difficult few months, but in the end, a team of nearly 50 students managed to make a 46 minute short film out of a crowdfunded budget and all the effort in the world. The film would go on to be entered into festivals internationally, receiving several nominations and even a few awards. Jackson was immensely proud of the team and their dedication, pulling off something truly extraordinary. 

Then what?

After graduating from Fredonia, Jackson spent the following summer at Chautauqua Institution as part of their Remote Production Team, shooting performances, interviews, and more across their grounds. There he got even more experience hands on with camera operation and editing while also learning a lot from his mentors there. Since then, Jackson returned home to Orchard Park to recover. The last year of his life was incredible, but the lightning in his veins that had kept him moving had just about run out, and he was utterly exhausted. However, Jackson had never been one to be able to sit on his hands, so he began to work on many smaller projects that he now had the focus to complete. Between shifts bussing tables and visits to see old friends, he’d be hard at work at his computer. Before he knew it, he had a showreel, a resume, a website, and more. 

Now, Jackson is looking for his next project. His adventurous sense of curiosity and ravenous creativity are dying to see some action. He wants to create, whether that be for film, TV, radio, animation, video games, or whatever else. He’s got no idea when, where, or how he’ll do it, but he’s sure as hell excited for it.