about

I'm from San Bernardino, California.

I lived in Tokyo for a few years, am fluent in Japanese, pretty good in Spanish, okay in Mandarin,

I have a PhD in Asian Studies from Cornell University, a post-doctorate at Princeton

I mostly work as a documentary filmmaker, with work on HBO, on VICE TV, and on Showtime.

Thus far my work has won three Emmys (plus two nominations), a Pulitzer (with the Los Angeles Times), and a Fulbright in Japan,

I’ve also established the (possibly) world's largest public collection of Japanese hip-hop, and hosted a TV show about video games.

The most recent class I taught was at UCLA, entitled ‘Why is Japan so Cool?’. It was fun, might do it again soon.

For recent things I've written for various places, check here.

if you'd like a more detailed resume, here you go.

Feel free to contact me if you need specifics.