Stuart Ortiz has been making films since the early age of 5 years old, when he first discovered his parent's VHS camcorder. He seemed to have a natural talent for the craft, and by the time he was in middle school had already pounded out hundreds of short films, most shot in his room with action figures. Although these early pieces were crude at best, they sharpened his visual skills and taught him how to shoot and edit.
     High school brought on the second wave of Stuart’s ability, where he acquired more advanced equipment and began working on a computer based editing station. In those 4 years, he completed over a dozen high quality DV shorts, most notably "Focused Intensity", "C.E.O.", "Where the Dark Ends", "Posing the Question", and "Ida’s New World" which each featured impressive cinematography and effects work. It was in those later years of highschool that Stuart also began developing his writing skills, hoping to eventually become a writer/director in the industry.
     The fall of 2003 brought Stuart to the elite California Institute of the Arts where he now studies as a film/video student. It was here that he met Tiaraju Aronovich and collaborated to shoot/direct/edit "Far West", his first feature film. Stuart is currently writing a feature length horror script and is in search of a literary agent. He can be contacted at stuart_ortiz@yahoo.com.