Front of Camera
In my teens I auditioned a lot thanks to Talentworks and Abrams Agency, but only booked commercials for Skechers, iPhone, xbox, yoplait, Wells Fargo, CSI and I realized that overnight success takes 10 years which I am comfortable with waiting for, but my fate was not really in my hands during these casting calls.
Behind the Camera
When YouTube became the 2nd biggest search engine on the internet I knew that I had to invest in learning FCP and owning an HVX200. I started entering video contests, offering free videos at Sundance, and finally scored a consistent job in production for Randi Zuckerberg. I teamed up with the brilliant Rob Dipple to shoot stars like Avril Lavigne, Miley Cyrus, Jeff Dunham, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera in an incredible career opportunity. But I still felt like I could do more with my life.
Housing
Telling people’s stories in video was not as rewardingas building creative housing so that people could write new chapters of their lives in community.
I believe that strangers from all over the world living under one roof, for any duration of time, creates identification. People different than themselves are sleeping in close quarters – the most vulnerable place. Differences in economic status, color, gender, orientation, and age. Identification leads to empathy. That person can take that memory home or to work or to the polls.
Hollywood/Vine 2012
MVP
10 pods in a ground floor 1200 sqft Live/Work loft previously occupied for retail storage.
Venice Beach
Private Loan
38 pods in a ground floor 4000 sqft church converted to residential, previously occupied by Media company
Downtown Arts District
Indie Gogo Funded
20 pods in a ground floor 2000 sqft Live/Work loft, vacant.
Westwood by UCLA
Bank Loan
90 pods in a two floor 9000 sqft hotel, previously vacant for an office tenant. This is the first location that segregates males/females and offers rooms.
Los Feliz
JV with Landlord
10 pods in a ground floor 980 sq ft lodging house that we converted with the city of LA from a marijuana dispensary.
San Francisco
Self funded
17 pods in a four-story 3500 sq ft house zoned residential on second floor and commercial ground floor. Vacant for 1 year, and tech office 6 years prior.
Next Steps…
As I think about the most organic grass-roots way to grow this housing network, I keep thinking about the franchise model. I’ve lived in LA for 16 years and in the pods for 7 of them. I am certain this model could work in other expensive cities, but I don’t know them like the locals do. Sub markets also have housing needs that could be offered in a lower tiered price. Besides more pods for a member to live across, i LOVE the idea of empowering the common Joe and Jane to live and work in their PodShare – offering housing and income from the fruits of their labour. I’d love to figure out a creative loan for these non-accredited retirees or college graduates or midlife crisesers.
So that is where my head is these days…
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