Tony Petrossian

Tony Petrossian was twelve when his dad brought home a video camera from Circuit City. "I remember looking through the lens for the first time and pressing 'record'. From that day on, my life changed. I spent the entire night locked in my room fiddling with the camera's 'single frame recording' function. Twelve hours later, I emerged with a 30 second stop motion animation piece in which my G. I. Joe figures beat the crap out of each other. It was epic. Well, at least for me." At age thirteen, Tony jumped into full blown 3D animation with the revolutionary software 'Lightwave 1.0.' Now, he has the firm footing to be able to problem solve in the midst of the most complex shooting / effects scenarios.... "because it's all built upon the same logic and processes with which I experimented as a kid."


At 18, Tony attended UCLA. While there, he tried every major in the book - he settled on Literature, and then later decided to go to law school. Tony actually attended law school at USC and even passed the California Bar Exam before jumping back into the filmmaking world. "I don't know why I took such a circuitous path in following my dream. I just followed my instincts. It may sound crazy, but I actually learned a lot about storytelling in law school. After all, to study the law is to study human nature, human conflict, human motivation and human behavior. These are all the key ingredients to a good story. And ultimately, a good story is really no different than a good argument. Both must be totally undeniable in order to capture the audience's attention."


Tony's early passion for filmmaking has evolved into a full blown directing career. He signed with Rockhard Films in 2002 and has been directing ever since. He has done groundbreaking work for artists including Three Days Grace, Taking Back Sunday, Avenged Sevenfold, and DMX. When asked how he would describe being a director, Tony responds, "You spend a lot of time up in your own head . . . it is lonely, grueling, and often very painful - but it is simply the best damn job in the world."