AN ONGOING AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
Follow The Journey
THE START
Starting my career as a videographer at just 17 years old was a challenging journey that taught me the value of persistence and hard work. I reached out to many publications, asking for help to obtain credentials for various events so I could capture footage and showcase my skills as a videographer. After several attempts, I was finally granted the opportunity to attend Rolling Loud Miami in May of 2017 while still in high school thanks to DMNDR, a NYC based publication company. This was a turning point in my career as I was able to capture incredible footage of the festival and work alongside some of the biggest names in the music industry. The experience was a valuable lesson that taught me the importance of taking risks, putting myself out there, and never giving up on my dreams. It was a pivotal moment that gave me the motivation and confidence to continue pursuing my passion for videography and creating visual content.
EXPERIENCE
Meeting the Combs brothers was a pivotal moment in my content creation career. Working with them allowed me to gain a wealth of experience in the industry. I was fortunate enough to travel alongside them, capturing behind-the-scenes footage of music videos with legendary artists, parties, studio sessions, and everyday life content. This experience gave me a unique perspective on what it takes to create high-quality content and helped me to refine my craft as a videographer. The Combs family and friends taught me the importance of hard work, attention to detail, and pushing creative boundaries. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with them and the impact it's had on my career.
Instead of going to college, I began building my content portfolio by creating with local artists. One day in September 2017, A$AP Rocky and his crew came to perform at a nearby venue. I managed to obtain credentials for the show and on a whim, decided to follow them for the rest of the tour and attempt to create content for them. Despite not knowing how I would do it, I was determined to make it work. I slept in various places like bus stops and airports, following them around and after a few long nights, I was finally accepted by them and invited to join them on their tour bus for a few cities. During this tour, people started calling me "Woody" because they thought I looked like the character from Toy Story. I kept the nickname and decided to create my videography brand called "Directed by Woody." Despite the ups and downs, I'm grateful to have been a part of that journey, which inspired me to take my content creation career to the next level.
UNPRECIDENTED FUTURE
MAJOR TRANSITION
My passion for content creation had given me the opportunity to work with numerous notable celebrities and artists, and I was grateful for those experiences. However, when COVID-19 hit and the world came to a halt, I knew it was time to explore a new direction in my career while staying within the entertainment industry that I loved. This led me back to my childhood passion for exotic cars, and I discovered an office near my home in Maryland that showcased these incredible machines. As fate would have it, the owner of the office also owned a ticket sales company, which inspired me to launch my own called Ticket Apex. I founded ticketapex.com alongside my financial partner Connor Murphy, CEO of Goodness Gardens Inc. (a large scale produce distributor connecting grocery stores and fresh culinary herbs nationwide.) While learning the ropes of the ticketing industry, I made a dear friend named Alex Boutin who helped guide me through the process. Sadly, Alex passed away suddenly, but his memory has become a driving force behind my continued pursuit of excellence. Today, Ticket Apex is a rapidly growing ticket sales company based in Miami, Florida selling tickets for various sporting, concert and theatre events nationwide. We are continuously searching for new partnerships to broaden our reach and leave a lasting impression on the ticketed event industry's distribution and strategies.
