Staff Spotlight: Joe Olmstead

Joe Olmstead, the director of Director of Education & Community Outreach here at Precision Camera & Video has had a passion for the arts from a young age. His interest in filmmaking and photography stemmed from his love of music. Joe is self-taught in playing guitar, piano, drums and bass. After graduating from the University of Dayton with a BS in Marketing, Joe tried his hand at making music videos, combining his two passions: music and videography.

A few years after earning his BS, Joe decided to go back to school to get an MA in Filmmaking at the University for the Creative Arts, UK. His graduation film, Development of June, was selected by festivals in the UK and US, including the Academy Award qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival and the Blow-Up International Arthouse Film Fest. While writing and directing narrative films is his main passion, Joe also composes music for film, edits, mixes and engineers audio, and works as a cinematographer.

More recently, Joe is set to direct a short film called Bert & Amanda that follows an on-again off-again couple as they navigate their relationship and own insecurities. Bert & Amanda was written by actress and writer Holly de Jong and will star Rose Muirhead as Amanda and Will Hearle as Bert. 

The Bert & Amanda team is now crowdfunding to make the film a reality. Learn more about contributing here.