Spawn Box Setup Tech Demos

This one might seem a bit odd, but little did 14-year-old me know how impactful it would be for my career.

Back in 2010, my dad was working for a company called SpawnLabs, which made boxes that let you plug your game console in and stream the video to your PC anywhere in the world—along with your control inputs. This meant you could play your Xbox 360, located at home in Texas, while on a business trip in California or anywhere else. It was pretty cool streaming tech at the time, and something Sony and Microsoft eventually added similar versions of to their consoles about 10 years later.

At that point, I was into film—making music videos and random short films—but was also looking to start earning some money. My dad mentioned that his company needed tech demo videos for their products and was looking for someone to make them. I don’t remember if he suggested me or if I volunteered, but I ended up making the videos—and earned a couple hundred dollars, too! :) It was my first tech demo out of a few I would do later, and it pushed me to start my DBA in Austin and begin paying taxes at age 14.

After that, I went on to create several more videos for SpawnLabs, other tech companies, and even a music school. Not only did this mark the beginning of my short film career, but I’ve also kept my company, ESD Productions, on my resume and shared the entrepreneurial stories of my teenage years in various interviews. One such instance was during my interview with Epic Games, where I mentioned my experience producing tech demos—and coincidentally, they were looking for someone to help produce tech demos for Unreal Engine.