One of the first things people who I meet ask me is: Is what I trained to do in college? The short answer to that is… yes and no. I certainly didn’t attend film school or anything like that. I was a journalism student and worked for the first five years of my career as a primarily print and online journalist at The Wichita Eagle in Kansas. It was a great career in which I met so many amazing people, and I experienced wonderful things like flying in a KC-135 Stratotanker, diving with sharks, interviewing minor celebrities, reviewing concert tours, sampling an exotic gun range and more. And I learned from some of the best in the business about how to structure a compelling story: what details to look out for, how to let people’s unique personalities shine through, how to build drama and interest, et cetera.

So, yes, while I didn’t technically train in cinematography, I trained in the art of storytelling, which is universal. When I changed careers in 2019 to focus on videography I was able to apply these same narrative principles to my video work - and to great success. I’ve won an Emmy Award for a documentary film project, as well as three Telly Awards. I’ve been named the Catholic Media Association’s Videographer of the Year and the Multimedia Journalist of the Year, as well as receiving the Cardinal John Foley Award for innovation in Catholic storytelling. It’s been an amazing career and I wouldn’t change a single bit of it.

So what is “Riedlvision,” anyway? It comes from a term one of my past bosses would use to describe the unique way I create videos. We would discuss a rough, half-formed idea and he would say “…and then you put the Riedlvision on it,’ like some magic ingredient that cures all ills. I always thought it was a funny phrase, but now I’m realizing “Riedlvision” is a way of seeing. It’s a way of looking at the world through eyes of wonder and curiosity, with the recognition that everyone has a unique story to tell of their own lived experience. And that we can learn more about ourselves and others by listening and by showing far more than by telling.

Hence I’m dubbing this assemblage of creative work “Riedlvision.” Coming to a screen near you!