I create worlds people want to live in.
Through direction, photography, and creative leadership, I develop cinematic campaigns and visual systems rooted in atmosphere, emotion, and sense of place.
CASE STUDY: INTO THE ROUNDUP
Building an Award Winning Travel Campaign Through Storytelling, Place, and Cultural Identity
My work is often rooted in the relationship between people, place, and emotional memory. For Tourism South Dakota’s 60th Anniversary Buffalo Roundup campaign, the challenge was not simply documenting an event, but building a cinematic visual system around a living cultural tradition.
The Challenge
Tourism South Dakota needed a campaign that preserved the authenticity of the Buffalo Roundup while expanding its appeal and national reach.
The Approach
We developed a five-part documentary series that explored the culture, landscape, stewardship, and generational identity surrounding the event.
Results
While our primary goals were to assist in preserving the American West culture and protecting the American bison, our campaign goals with this series were reach and awareness.
A total series watch time of more than five years (2,057 days or just under 50,000 hours)
Estimated booking revenue associated to this campaign was over $1.3 million, tracked only through our OLV placements (13.5% of ad spend)
16.9M total impressions between ads and series views
2.4M total series episode views
.09% Post-Impression rate (PIR)
82% of people that watched the first 10 seconds of the video completed the video
44% of people who were served an ad completed the video
Paid social was the top traffic driver, generating 94% of all landing page views. It outperformed benchmarks with a $0.19 cost per landing page visit (vs. $1 KPI) and a 6% click through rate, exceeding goals by over 400%
In addition to the success we saw boosting economic impact for the state and growing awareness of this iconic event, Into The Roundup has won several awards and was featured in AdAge in Editor Tim Nudd’s, “19 creative campaigns to know about today” and is featured in Communication Art Photo Annual.
My role in all of this?
Creative Leadership
Led concept development and visual direction
Oversaw photography and motion production as director and photographer
Collaborated across agency, production, and marketing teams
Directed narrative approach across five-part series
Helped shape campaign identity and rollout
The success of the campaign came from treating the Buffalo Roundup not as a spectacle, but as a living cultural story rooted in identity, stewardship, place, and emotional connection. We were able to create something that felt both emotionally authentic and effective a balance many campaigns strive for but rarely fully achieve.
I can’t swear this is exactly how it happened. But this is how it felt.
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I can’t swear this is exactly how it happened. But this is how it felt. -
Photography
Creating cinematic imagery with an emphasis on atmosphere, emotion, and sense of place across editorial, commercial, and campaign work.
Direction
Leading projects from concept through execution, shaping narrative, performance, visual language, and on-set collaboration across stills and motion.
Creative Direction
Developing cohesive campaign systems across photography, motion, identity, and storytelling while guiding cross-functional creative teams from vision through delivery.
Visual Development
Building emotionally resonant visual worlds through tone, pacing, composition, casting, location, and aesthetic direction.
CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY
As a director, photographer, and creative director, I’m drawn to work that feels emotionally lived-in rather than manufactured. I’m interested in rhythm, atmosphere, and the relationship between people and place.
My work often lives at the intersection of storytelling and visual world-building, developing cohesive campaigns across stills and motion that feel both visually refined and emotionally resonant.
Whether documenting a cultural tradition, shaping a travel campaign, or directing commercial work, my focus stays the same: creating imagery that invites people to feel connected to a place, to a moment, or to one another.
“I’m most drawn to work that helps people feel connected to place, culture, and one another.”