All About Bill
Producer | Director | Guy
Bill has a lot of stories. Growing up amidst the wooded hamlets and wandering harbors of Long Island's north shore, Bill's "Huck Finn-styled” youth was a fluid adventure of curiosity and discovery. Whether surfing Ditch Plains in Montauk, trying to ice skate across Long Island Sound (d’oh!) or spending a day in the City at MoMA (under some questionable influences), Bill has always found life to be exciting! A passionate, inquisitive life, is a life worth living.
Bill went on to study film + design at San Diego State University (unofficially majoring in surfing and other illicit activities). He holds a BA in Film+TV. While designing slideshows for Apple, Bill was instrumental in the press launch of the original Macintosh. Later he was invited to work in Paris as art director for Sogitec, an early pioneer in Europe’s burgeoning CGI commercial landscape. While based in Paris, Bill exhibited at the Centre Georges Pompidou museum, art directed at Europe’s first High Definition Television facility, worked in Stockholm, Milan and Munich, for a diverse roster of clients, including French and Italian television, Air France, BMW, SAAB and Volvo. Paris… Five years… Sure...there might be a few stories ; ) Then there were the Oprah Winfrey and 40th Anniversary Today Show opens, music videos, video wall installations, IBM case studies, casino commercials and...well, he sometimes jokes that he goes back so far, he's in front of himself.
As a seasoned director, cinematographer, editor, writer, designer and all-around creative director, Bill’s work spans commercials; broadcast promos + show opens, music videos, corporate marketing and case study videos. He is a visual strategist combining a 360º technical perspective with a passion and commitment to stories and the creative product.
As Bob McKee said, “Stories are the currency of human contact.” Have a story to tell? Make contact; Bill’s your guy.
Awards
Broadcast Designers Association (BDA) Gold Medal for Nickelodeon’s Upfront (1996)
EMMY Nomination for the 40th anniversary of “As The World Turns” Main Title Design – Designed & directed the show open and redesigned the show logo. (1999)
NY Festivals Silver World Medal for Court TV’s “Mugshots” – Designed, directed & edited the show open & bumpers (2000)
“Best Documentary” at the NY State International Film Festival 2020. I wrote, produced, directed, and edited a short “mocumentary,” The Road, A Driver's Diary. It premiered at the Garden State Film Festival in 2018.
Over the years, Bill has produced, designed, directed, shot, and edited projects for Adidas, IBM, Intel, Heineken, Dell, Boeing, Ashton/Woods Home Builders, Sony, R&R Partners, TBWA, BBDO, Ogilvy, Caesars/Harrahs Entertainment, Metropolitan Water Authority of Southern California, Condé Nast, the Animal Foundation of Las Vegas, Hard Rock Casinos, Verengo Solar, HBO, Showtime, TBS, Court TV, TLC, CBS, CNN, NBC News, ABC News, FX, MTV Networks and many others.
Personal Insights
My Sons
Although I never planned on having kids, they eventually showed up… Of course, the arrival of my first son changed EVERYTHING! Being a dad has made me an infinitely better human. My sons are my top priority. I strive to help them grow with fortitude, integrity and love. Everything I do, I do for them.
If Money Was No Object…
Money or not… I love what I do! Whenever things are slow, I make movies about anything I find interesting and/or amusing.
Experience
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Over the years, I have supervised and directed production crews from two to thirty people for a diverse range of projects. Knowing what you want from people and getting it is a skill. As someone who is well practiced, it's a skill that comes naturally – with a smile:) Experience is invaluable.
Stories
In recent years, I’ve enjoyed making short marketing, “case studies” and human interest films for IBM, CNN and others who have a story to tell. Some may think social media has changed the video landscape. I don’t think so! When people ask, “Can you do TikTok?”, it makes me smile. A story worth telling doesn't care about video formats. Having done broadcast commercials, promos, digital signage and lately, social media, my simple answer is, “I tell stories. Let’s make yours the one to watch.”