ABOUTI just graduated from ArtCenter’s film department.

Spent my time there soaking it all in.
           I knew it wasn’t about the degree.

It was about entering mindscapes:
    films, philosophers, poems, myths.
           Anything that would kick open my mind.

It was about the folks I met along the way:
       Berkman, Harlow, Rolston, Merfeld, and many more.

They taught me things you could never learn on a computer.

Assisted the great director Tarsem Singh,
    learning the ropes, feeling the pulse of advertising,
        seeing its possibilities unfold before my eyes.

Started writing, directing my own films and commercials.

Could come up with ideas that could make your head spin,
wrote lines that could make brands seem cool, honest, desirable.

It wasn’t about putting myself across but about the ideas;
values, sentiments, images that could stand the test of time.

Now I stand here, 24 years old, hungry and eager, ready to take
on a new beast and chase dreams as wild as the untamed winds.