Well at this point you've probably gathered my name is Nathan and if you haven't stumbled across it yet, my last name is Murphy. I'm a west coast guy through and through but am currently living in NYC where I have been for the last three years, learning anything and everything there is to know about the digital world.
I fell in love with media while working at a summer camp (strangest place, right?) where I was asked to create the camp movie. Of course I said yes, so I started to research what I was up against. The prior camp movies had all been made using a small handheld JVC (yes, with TAPES) and were between 4-6 minutes in length. So naturally, I bought a DSLR, shot the whole thing in HD, and re-created James Cameron's Avatar with a major dollop of camp style. In only two weeks, we had a nearly hour long move starring the kids in the camp, rented out the school's movie theatre, laid a red carpet for the kids to be stars and we watched as the kids in the film, and the film itself, became famous at camp. Needless to say, I did the camp movie for the next 2 years as well but there was no doubt in my mind that when it came to media I was already hooked.
Skip ahead a few months and a few sleepless nights and my first company was born. We handled small time video and web production for start-ups and small businesses and within a year were operating in 4 states. My classes, since I was still an undergraduate at this time, took place Monday through Thursday and I became a regular at the San Diego airport boarding the 6am flights out of the state on Friday morning.
"Don't just focus on doing good work, but focus on doing work that does good. Measure the effects of that work not by the splash, but by the ripple, and never work for 1 second on something you don't believe in - you're wasting your time."
Videography became editing, editing became coding, and thanks to coding I am where I am today. The world of code has opened up so many doors and helped me to unlock the web and understand not only how it works, but how most other technologies work too. I feel like the first time I sat in front of a code editor and typed in the transcendent Hello World I was hooked. Well, I wasn't wrong.
Today, I help universities & K-12 institutions integrate & adopt video for use in the classroom, sit on the Board of Directors for a small non-profit called Elsies Hope, run a wonderful food blog aptly named Nathan and Christina Make Food with my even more wonderful wife Christina and develop small web apps and websites in my spare time. (this is my wonderful wife & I below)
In all of these things, and in everything I do, I look far beyond the work itself or just the results, but what the motivation is and what the work is for. Our food website doesn't reach millions of people, our non-profit hasn't cured cancer and I don't remember ever selling an app for millions of dollars. What I have done though is create work that effects people's lives. I have gotten emails from people who learned to cook from our website that had never made more than a PB&J for themselves. I have helped put fresh water into the impoverished nation of Haiti and helped children avoid disease and thirst. I have built incredible teams of astounding people who trust each other, work hard, and most importantly believe in a mission bigger than their own selves.
"its easy to get distracted. everyone thinks we are much better than we actually are. be humble and honest about the fact that more is left to do than has already been done. keep moving quickly and don’t get bogged down in the things that don’t matter. we risk becoming like everyone else. the only chance we have is the discipline and resolve of the silent majority who needs to and MUST become more vocal... fight for the culture the way it should be, not the way it was or the way its becoming."
I hope this has helped you to get to know a little more about me as a person, and feel free to learn more about My Hobbies and My Skills by following these links. I leave you with my own personal quote, the one from above, that I have followed for years. This is something I have learned to be true and look at to guide the choices I make and the projects I take on: "Don't just focus on doing good work, but focus on doing work that does good. Measure the effects of that work not by the splash, but by the ripple, and never work for 1 second on something you don't believe in - you're wasting your time."
Go do awesome things because you rock.