Biography
Alberto O'Neill is a former U.S. Navy Combat Camera Seal operating member, renowned filmmaker and renewable energy expert who, for the past 3 years of his 25-year career has specialized in creating and developing incredible renewable energy solutions for filmmakers working on and off remote locations where electrical power is obsolete. His most iconic work is created with Apple's ipad, GoPro Hero action cameras, Canon DSLRs, DJI Phantom aerial drones, and O'Neill's custom (MGS Series) off-grid solar power generators. As one of the biggest advocate for disable veteran's vocational rehabilitation training programs and off-grid renewable energy use in film and video productions his Film & Video Academy is becoming the place to go to for budding filmmakers as well as experienced ones keen to embrace the new technology.
While enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a combat photographer, he was selected by the Navy Research Laboratories to work on the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) program and the Navy's first Digital Tactical Aerial Reconnaissance Pod System (Di-TARPS) in which he earned an Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal awarded by the Department of Defense. Building a strong military technical experience, he has been working on battery technology such as Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) for the use in robotics, film/video industry, electrical vehicles, LED lighting, solar/ wind off-grid power electrical generator systems.
His use of solar, wind power and LED lighting to shoot on-location, aerials, and underwater footages proved a huge point to the naysayers of carrying heavy, bulky, and noisy gasoline generators. This technology was proved very viable in large-scale productions.
O'Neill has kept up with the advent of newer tools like the ipad's filming, effects, and music apps. In addition to many others tools like canon DSLRs, irig keys, irig mic, GoPro cameras, Blackmagic cameras and many others, using them in various productions and undertaking in depth video workshops, which have helped many people in the huge decision of buying a camera and equipment.
Independent projects are important to O'Neill and he mostly works in both fields of filmmaking and off-grid renewable energy (company My Solar Wind & Lighting Inc.). Always combining both technologies together One of his most successful projects was "MSG-400 SolarPower Backpack" which uses foldable solar panels and LiFePO4 quick charging batteries. The SolarPower Backpack can charge and provide 400 watts constant power to film/video cameras, sound equipment, video editing laptops, and other small electronic devices.
He is constantly stretching his creative abilities whilst still taking time to keep his Film & Video Academy career school relevant and teaching young and old filmmakers better techniques. Not just through technology but through better storytelling skills. His workshops have been an enormous success and he will continue to run them for as long as possible as learning never stops.
