ROLE: Producer/Director/DP/Editor
CLIENT: Vantuna Research Group
RELEASE: 2025
Founded in 1974 by Dr. John S. Stephens, Jr. (1932-2022), The James Irvine Professor of Environmental Biology Emeritus, the Vantuna Research Group continues to study the marine environment of Southern and Baja California, engaging Oxy students in immersive research projects, collecting data, and publishing their findings in peer-reviewed journals in preparation for graduate programs or careers in marine science. This documentary highlights the rich history and enduring impact of the Vantuna Research Group’s legacy.
ROLE: Producer/Director/DP/Editor
CLIENT: Vantuna Research Group, NOAA
RELEASE: Initial release in 2021, update to the project provided in 2022 release
AWARDS: Official Selection at Earthx Film Festival, tve Global Sustainability Film Awards, Environmental Film Festival at Yale, Climate Action Film Festival, Friday Harbor Film Festival, World Whale Film Festival, Portland EcoFilm Festival,
The rocky reefs that are home to countless species of fish and invertebrates and support the lush giant kelp forests of the Palos Verdes Peninsula (California) are under threat. They have historically been ravaged by landslides, burying the rocky structure and killing off plant and animal life on the reefs. Fortunately, there is a team of scientists at the Vantuna Research Group and NOAA who are working to bring these beautiful rocky reefs back to Palos Verdes. Join us as we watch the team put their decades of research to use to create a new system of reefs, restoring the underwater world of Palos Verdes.
ROLE: Underwater Cinematographer
DIRECTOR: Justice Nnanna
CLIENT: NOWNESS
RELEASE: 2021
AWARDS: Official Selection at Cinema Gallaggiente, Part of Onassis Stegi's Public Art Program: Plásmata
This film channels black joy and pain through the fictitious religion of Octavia E. Butler called Earthseed: a way of life that embraces our intangible and fluid universe. This video poem crosses divides of climate change, economic disadvantage, and race relations in diaspora communities. To make this piece, Justice Nnanna collaborated with people in California, Lagos, Brooklyn, Saõ Paulo, and London. I was lucky to be one of them.
ROLE: Aerial Camera/Assistant Camera
DIRECTOR: Merete Mueller
CLIENT: New Yorker Magazine, Van Alen Institute
RELEASE: 2019
In six cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, local planners, designers, and citizens work toward cross-border collaboration on shared economic, environmental, and humanitarian concerns.
ROLE: Aerial Camera/Assistant Camera
DIRECTOR: Merete Mueller
CLIENT: New Yorker Magazine, Van Alen Institute
RELEASE: 2019
With more and more homes being built in fire-prone ecosystems, architects and homeowners are coming up with thoughtful design elements to help protect homes from wildfires.
ROLE: Producer/Director/DP/Editor
CLIENT: Boy Scouts of America, Camp Emerald Bay/Pennington Marine Science Center
RELEASE: 2019
The Pennington Marine Science Center at Camp Emerald Bay had a problem. They wanted to bring the deeper parts of the ocean to their aquarium guests but couldn’t find a way to successfully collect fish from deep. Their solution was to build a cutting edge fish recompression device that would allow them to do so without harming the fish.