2025 was a very mixed year for me. It was filled with experiences both good and bad, but when I look at the big picture, I’d say I had more measurable growth and achievements this year than in the past three combined (my Masters years, which was a different level of stress).
Career: Unexpected Pivot
I spent the last few years deep in the trenches of AI and Computational Photography for AI-assisted movie post-production (check out the amazing lab at the CPLab). The grand plan was always to blend my technical background with my passion for filmmaking. So, naturally, I ended up working in the oil and gas sector.
Wait, what?
Yeah, not exactly what I planned, lol. I found myself working on ultrasound imaging for the energy sector. But fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, I found the project I got to own... problematic. And I mean that in the best way possible. I love problem-solving; the satisfaction when you finally crack a challenging task is unmatched. Since I already had experience in the medical sector, I saw this as a massive opportunity to apply that knowledge in a new field. It’s been challenging, but I’ve genuinely enjoyed owning it.
Tech Side Quest: The Custom Build
Somewhere between the corporate work and the creative projects, I decided to torture myself by building a custom PC from scratch for the first time. It was a fun experience, though "tedious" is probably the better word for it. I learned a ton about hardware components and compatibility, and getting it to post for the first time was incredibly rewarding.
I built it primarily for my personal AI experiments—specifically focusing on long-form video understanding, generation, and editing. I'm currently obsessing over a "model agnostic temporal coherence engine" (fancy talk for making AI video look consistent). I intend to write a detailed blog post about that build and my experiments in early 2026, so stay tuned.
Travel: Lowkey Tourist
Travel wasn't really on my bucket list for 2025, but life had other ideas. I somehow ended up in five different cities across Canada and the US: Oregon, Seattle (twice), Miami, Nashville, and Toronto.
My Highlight: Nashville.
I was there for the CVPR 2025 Conference on a company-sponsored trip. Before going, I had zero expectations—I just thought it was some countryside state. Less than a week later, I was in love. They call it the "City of Music" for a reason. The vibes were immaculate; everyone just seemed happy. (Side note: I definitely felt a little depressed after returning home to reality).
Pro Tip: To anyone planning to visit Nashville, I'll 100% recommend checking out Peg Leg Porker. In fact, your trip is incomplete without it. Thank me later :)
The Rest:
- Miami: Fun, but mostly family time. I did catch a game at Chase Stadium though.
- Toronto: My first time there, and I hit the jackpot arriving during Caribana season. I spent 4 days there, but it felt like one because the schedule was packed. I tried attending the parade, but the heat humbled me within an hour. I literally ran back to the hotel AC.
- Seattle: Look, I’m just going to say it—Seattle is the most "dead" out of all these places lol. I only go because it's close to Vancouver and I have friends there.
- Oregon: I have a whole separate blog post about that trip.
In 2026, I’m hoping to explore cities outside of North America — maybe the UK or somewhere else in Europe.
Filmmaking: Turning Dreams into Reality
This year, I decided to take my passion for directing out of my head and into the real world. A couple of friends and I finally kicked off 4th Frame Media.
It takes a lot of courage to start something this big. We were paranoid at first—what if we mess this up? what if nobody shows up? But I learned that all it takes is a few like-minded people to turn dreams into reality.
I vividly remember our first shoot. Despite setbacks (and people ghosting us), we pulled it off. I even had to step in front of the camera to fill a role in one episode just to make the numbers work. Don't ask me which one—go watch the channel and figure it out for yourself.
My Directing Debut & Continuous Learning
The most memorable moment was our last shoot of the year, where I took on my first official role as Director. This happened less than a week after I wrapped up a 7-week "Introduction to Directing" course at VFS, taught by Gabriel Souza Nunes.
To supplement the course, I also started reading Making Movies by Sidney Lumet. It’s been super insightful, offering practical tips on directing and understanding the filmmaking lifecycle from a veteran's perspective. I plan on finishing it early next year and maybe writing a full review.
The VFS course was intense. I worked on three main final assignments (which you can see on my works page):
- Shot for Shot: Recreating a scene from an existing film with zero dialogue to understand angles and nuance.
- Subtext: A monologue where the real meaning is revealed via on-screen subtitles.
- Locked Masters: Learning how to block actors dynamically within a static frame.
One major takeaway from Gabriel was: "Always work with people smarter than you." I see a huge correlation now between being a great director and having high emotional intelligence. It’s about making the cast feel safe and transforming a script into something that feels natural—something a lot of Nollywood movies struggle with, let's be honest lol.
The "Disaster" That Wasn't
On the day of my directing debut, a "funny" thing happened. (It wasn't funny at the time). We planned for 7 cast members. Only two showed up.
I felt defeated. How do you rewrite a story meant for 7 people down to 2, on the spot, while the studio clock is ticking? This is where Gabriel’s advice about working with smart people kicked in. My friends/colleagues immediately started brainstorming, and suddenly, we had a new script. Huge shoutout to these AI tools (ChatGPT or Gemini, I forget which) that helped generate ideas on the fly.
I went from feeling defeated to running to a desk like a student with a past-due assignment, scribbling down question ideas for the two cast members. It was an adrenaline rush. We ended up successfully shooting all the sessions we planned for that day!
By the way, my takeaway on AI in Film: I do not see AI making actual movies (at least not yet), but for tedious stuff like animated storyboarding or script assistance? It’s a lifesaver. This was crucial for the storyboarding process which I shared with the cinematographer.
Legal: A Hard Lesson Learned
I had my first-ever legal feud this year. I won't go into details, but it was crazy! Thankfully, it was resolved at mediation and didn't go to court.
The lesson? Get your IP and legal agreements in writing before you start anything with anyone. I don't care if they are family or best friends. I learned this the hard way. Relationships were broken and friendships were destroyed because we didn't have that clarity from day one.
Goals for 2026
I’m not really a "New Year’s Resolution" guy; I'm more spontaneous. But there are a few things I want to lean into:
- Write more.
- Read more (I struggle with this as a visual person, but I need to do it).
- Build more. We are in the era of "vibe coding," so I want to get my hands dirty.
- Take on more leadership responsibilities.
See you in 2026.
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