A B O U T
If Bobby Ross asks you to carry something for him, put on gloves: all of his film equipment is spattered with blood.
It’s all (mostly?) fake- left over from whatever independent horror film he’s working on at the time- but that doesn’t change the fact that the 33 year-old director knows exactly the kind of film he likes, and how he likes to make it.
“I think the boldest images can be packed full of the most meaning,” he muses. “Horror can be filled with the richest metaphor and the deepest subtext because all the meaning can live beneath the surface. It doesn’t need a complex plot; it just needs real people experiencing powerful emotions. I love films that can touch the parts of being human that words don’t do a good job encapsulating.”
With a bachelor’s degree in Songwriting and Composition from Visible Music College, Bobby spent a decade touring with various metal and hardcore bands, working whatever minimum wages jobs he could find between tours. At 29, he called his wife Victoria from behind a tour bus in Vancouver, and emotionally informed her that he was finished pursuing a music career. “I wanted to make art all the time, not just 45 minutes every other day. I was exhausted and frustrated.” He’d only learned to use a camera a year earlier, but less than 18 months later he had worked up to full-time videography and directing through his production company Stoke Shed.
Building on a foundation of travel documentary and Obstacle Course Racing content, Bobby has since begun focusing on music videos and short film work. Working with brands such as Ororo Apparel, Conquer the Gauntlet, Reach Out Honduras, and bands the likes of Casii Stephan & the Midnight Sun, Bringer, and Lone Wild, he’s continually worked to build a style that’s graphic, textural, and impactful, drawing on influences such as Sam Raimi, George Miller, Brandon Cronenberg, and Panos Cosmatos.
“Art should always speak to the world we live in, especially the most fantastical art.
There’s so much horrible shit going on, and film is my way of expressing all these emotions that I’m just not equipped to deal with otherwise. I have to make these things just to cope, but I have a feeling other people need this kind of art, too.”
