Have you ever wondered who’s really behind the camera in your favorite TV show or movie? Would you like to be someone who produces, writes or edits films for people all across the world? On September 30^th some who does produce, write and edit films all over the world visited PCHS! Angelo Mei is an independent film maker and director. He was introduced to this business by visiting the beach one day. He was with a friend, and began to shoot some footage of his friend surfing. He showed the friend his footage, and his friend was amazed at how good of a job Mei did.

Mei grew up in Los Angeles, California with surfing in his blood. Without surfing, Mei would not have gotten into the filmmaking field. Mei received his Bachelor in Science with honors at the Art Institute of Los Angeles. His education focused in the film making area, but he was mainly pursuing a career in directing. He met his mentor and soon to be editor, Maggie Carey, at the Art Institute. With her help Mei filmed and completed Film This! a documentary short film. The release of this first film began his passion for documentary films and filmmaking.

                One of Mei’s biggest projects was Chasing the Dream. It is an award winning feature documentary about what it takes to become a professional surfer. It was released in 2007 and was narrated by Gary Busey.  “Chasing the Dream” was directed, produced, and co-written by Mei. Another multi-award winning short film by Mei is Howie.  Howie is a dark comedy about a man who loses his job and is forced to move back in with his sexually active mother. Mei both wrote and directed Howie.               

Recently Mei has worked on Featured which is a documentary about the lives of top board-sport athletes. In the course of a year and a half, Mei has been to 10 different countries and has lived in Australia. Featured is set to air on MTV New Zealand, Australia and Asia. Currently Angelo Mei is working with MADE, a hit show on MTV. Mei lives in Los Angeles, California where he develops new ideas for new projects. He continues to pursue his passion for narrative and documentary filmmaking.