Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Wahl.
Hi Steven, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I think like a lot of folk that end up finding a career in the creative industry, I’ve had a less than linear path to get to where I am today. If you told me when I first picked up a camera that I would be able to pay my rent making videos and telling stories, I don’t think I would have believed you. Granted, I would have been 10 years old and hadn’t really honed in my career trajectory yet nor had a grasp of what bills are (was probably building skate ramps in the driveway and wouldn’t have really been listening to the question anyhow), but almost everyday I have a moment where I can’t really believe this is my job.
Like a lot of 90’s kids in Southern California, skateboarding had a huge influence on my life. More or less as soon as we could walk, we were messing around with some sort of toy you could ride. With the activity, comes the culture. The music, the clothes, the art, the attitude and a lot of anti-authority angst. I grew up with a lot of punks. We were all delinquents in one way or another. We’d watch skate videos like CKY on repeat and go out everyday and try to get clips with our hi-8 cameras. My first “film” was a compilation of footage accumulated over 4 years of things I had shot or sometimes a friend would come over with a backpack full of tapes he’d gathered from the kids around the neighborhood filled with skating and general jackassery, and we would spend the next 20 hours log and capturing. I realize now as an adult, editing video was the only thing I could sit still and do for literally days on end; never thought that would come in handy later in life.
“What even is college?” – John Mulaney
After graduating from SDSU with a degree in political science (bet ya didn’t see that coming), I wasn’t sure what to do.
I knew I didn’t want to go to law school, but I had no real interest in film or moving to LA for work. After lifeguarding for the City of San Diego and working for the Consortium Holdings restaurant group, I was offered a junior position at a small marketing agency. There I got a chance to do my first professional editing and motion design.
After the agency, I went to work for Stone Brewing Co. as an in-house video producer. There I learned to shoot and edit product content and communication videos, but my main task was “Stone TV”, a weekly news series highlighting beer news and whatever we thought was funny that week. Without Tyler Graham, Greg Koch, Steve Wagner and all of the folk I was lucky enough to work with at the brewery, I wouldn’t be where I am in my career or life for that matter. The work we did at Stone showed me that you do not have to conform to what is “normal” to be successful. Team Stone gave me the tools and the confidence I needed to go out and try to make a living from something that had always been just for fun.
After Stone, I went on to work in the education non-profit sector (AVID Center) and then moved into tech (YouTube, Google Gemini), all the while operating my side business Wahl Photo & Video. As of January 2025, I’ve rebranded and focused my energy and attention into building, Wahl Media Haus, a full-service media production house here in San Diego. Storytelling is a powerful tool and we are pretty darn good at it.
My crew these days are a humble gaggle of ex-googlers and true creatives that want to do good work with good people. We are focusing our efforts on projects that support improving the community here in San Diego and sparking creativity in our youth.
Our mission statement: “Help thy neighbor and stoke out the groms.”
I don’t know how to end something like this so I’ll leave you with a quote that’s brings it back to where we began:
“Even if nobody ever looked at it, I would still be making cool sh*t with my buddies. Even before anyone was interested, that’s what I was doing. It was a great life.” Aaron Draplin
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m going to hold these ones close and focus on the positive.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
While I have done every job on a film set, where I find the most joy these days is directing photography and running a rig. For my hired work, my style adapts to match the story we are trying to tell, but personally, I try to let the subject and the images show as natural as possible. When I was a younger man, I used to think you needed a gimbal or a drone for every shot, but lately I am going back to more classic styles of cinematography. If your story is interesting enough, you don’t need every shot to be super dynamic and moving.
I enjoy telling human stories above all. My most proud piece is called “The Interrupter” a biopic on a man named Jonathan Grant-Brown (link in article)
I think what sets me apart from some folk is my character. I was once asking my old friend Doug Constantiner of Societe Brewing Co some business advice and he said,
“Steve! Anyone can learn accounting and budgets and all that crap. You can’t teach not being an a******, and you’re not an a******, you’re going to be great at this.” so that’s good.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wahlmediahaus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gnarrrwahl/
