Chel White (born May 30, 1959) is an American film director, composer, screenwriter and visual effects artist. In his independent films and music videos, White is known for his stylized, often experimental use of images, animation and first-person narratives told from the perspective of the estranged individual. He often adopts darkly humorous and poetic sensibilities to depict the human experience, exploring topics of love, obsession, alienation and dreams. He describes his own work as “stories and images that reside on the brink of dreams, or linger on the periphery of distorted memories.” A Rockefeller Fellow, Chel White has made three films based on the work of Peabody Award-winning radio personality and writer Joe Frank (Dirt, Soulmate, and Magda). The Austin Chronicle says, "(Chel White's) work seems to dispatch itself in some secret, subversive code, flashing messages amid animation, obscure stock footage, and actors with crazy eyes." Chale Nafus of the Austin Film Society says, "I have been amazed at the stylistic and thematic diversity in (Chel White’s) films. Surreal, ethereal, wistful, and witty, I just allow my imagination to be taken into his complex, mysterious worlds.” Chel White has directed music videos for Radiohead's lead singer Thom Yorke, The Melvins, Tom Brosseau, Chrystabell & David Lynch, and collaborated with the Oregon Symphony. He has worked extensively with film director Gus Van Sant, creating visual effects on several of Van Sant's projects. White began directing commercials in 1992, and directing television programs in 1999, including two parodies for Saturday Night Live. Along with Ray Di Carlo and David Daniels, Chel White is a co-founder of the international production company Bent Image Lab in Portland, Oregon. Early life and education Chel White was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Colorado, Michigan, Stockholm, and Evanston, Illinois where his father was a Northwestern University professor and his mother a schoolteacher. White cites his earliest influence as being the Surrealist paintings he was exposed to in grade school when visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. He began making films in high school where, studying under instructors Peter Kingsbury and Kevin Dole, he was introduced to the films of Norman McLaren, Bruce Connor, Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger and Jean Cocteau. White went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts, with a central focus on experimental film, from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Independent filmmaker Chel White began making