HD EXPO March 2008 Speakers

Joseph Toman, Director/Producer, disarm films

Joseph was born into a middle-upper class family in Kensington, London. At an early age he was staying up late, sneaking downstairs and watching his Dad’s VHS copy of “Duran Duran: A Decade of Videos” and “Status Quo Videos.” Joseph would shoot composites of his surrounding on his handy-cam or his dad’s old super8 and edit them on his home computer. He soon discovered a fascination for low-budget horror movies and big-budget drama and before long was boasting a rather developed collection of movies ranging through the genres.
Joseph attended Watford Grammar School for Boys – one of the UK’s most prestigious grammar schools, from which he graduated with impressive grades excelling primarily in English and Drama.

It was when he watched “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” for the first time that he really started becoming interested in ‘how are movies made?’ The film encouraged and inspired Joseph at a very impressionable stage of his life. Right after school Joseph made a 25-minute documentary on “Social Class” that earned him praise through many circles throughout Europe for it’s rawness and articulation. Born into a family of medical professionals it was a giant step away from the family business when he announced that he wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career. His family couldn’t have been more supportive and he soon moved to Los Angeles to face the ever-growing film industry.

Within a week of living in Los Angeles Joseph was working on a feature film set as a Production Assistant and finished the film as the 2nd AD. Since then things have moved quickly for him. It was on this film that he met his now best friend and frequent collaborator Aaron Platt. Joseph found every inspiration he needed in Platt as a young, happening cinematographer. Aaron very much took Joseph under his wing and gave him the early opportunity to AC, work as an operator and shoot 2nd Unit photography – including works such as Queens of the Stone Age “Sick, Sick Sick”, Enrique Iglesias “You Don’t Know” and Mumm-Ra “She’s Got You High.”

This was the perfect stepping-stone for Joseph who used the momentum to push off into his own projects. He has directed a number of music videos over the past year, one of which earned the no. 2 spot on “MTV2: Best Videos” and just wrapped shooting a film on s16mm in Seattle. Furthermore, he has written a feature that should be entering production in 2008. Joseph and Aaron have also recently wrapped a music video for The Glitterati “Keep Me Up All Night” which was shot on the RED ONE camera and has gathered huge industry appeal for it’s innovation and aesthetic beauty.

Through these collaborations and hard-work Joseph has found himself in an exciting position today and has achieved a massive body of work at such a very young age. When looking at Joseph’s work it is obvious he is someone who strives for originality and the creativity he brings into his direction is what makes him such an exciting part of the film world. If he keeps going at the pace he has set, he has a fantastic career ahead of him and we’re sure you’ll be seeing more of him.

Event: THE DYNAMIC CASE STUDY: FROM PRODUCTION THROUGH POST WITH RED IN THE REAL WORLD