"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"
- Harry Callahan, 1971
The above line from Dirty Harry is one of the defining reasons a creative African- American kid from the small town of Pearl, Mississippi ultimately found his passion for filmmaking. Aaron’s parents, Eddie and Eva Lewis, exposed him to the creative arts at an early age as they took him to the many cinemas and museums, where he witnessed a kaleidoscope of artistic expressions. Once he entered into the educational system, the foundation that his parents planted in him started to bloom when reading was introduced into his life. Spending countless of hours in the school and public libraries, allowing characters to take form in his imaginative mind, paved the way for his overall inspiration in creating and telling stories via motion pictures. Through the encouragement of Aaron’s attentive parents, he was accepted into the exemplary, hands-on film school, Columbia College Chicago.
Columbia College Chicago taught Aaron the fundamentals of filmmaking by providing an environment brimming with cultural diversities implanted in the hustle and bustle of downtown Chicago, Illinois. After creating several carbon copies from the vision of other filmmakers that he admired, Aaron found the fervor to create films in his own voice. With the acknowledgment that complex, character-driven stories about everyday challenges and a love for action/adventure soon aided him in fulfilling his goal of creating original thought-provoking pieces. Aaron gave a nod to Chicago and headed to the explosive city of Los Angeles, California.
With Aaron’s mother’s favorite quote “Everything comes in its own time” looping in his head, he took on the task of finding his niche in the beautiful City Of Angels. Aaron started as a camera operator at The Africa Channel capturing several prominent authors, royalty and musical artists such as Prince behind the all-watching eye of a camera lens. He excelled in his talents by directing and producing several pieces on travel and the culinary arts for The Africa Channel.
Aaron’s passion for cinema comes from the directors he's studied. Great filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Antoine Fuqua, David Fincher, Michael Mann, Akira Kurosawa, Andrei Tarkovsky, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Soderberg, Wong Kar-Wai, John Woo, and the Coen Brothers to name a few, have greatly influenced him. The genres that interest him most are dramas, action/adventure, thrillers, and sci-fi/fantasy. Aaron’s top five films are City Of God, Jaws, Do The Right Thing, Seven, and Seven Samurai.
Aaron has directed several short films. His short films have made it into a considerable amount of festivals around the globe. Aaron’s first short film, Troubled Man, that he wrote, directed, and produced, premiered at the Black Hollywood Film Festival and won 3rd Place for Best Shorty Short at The Urban Media Makers Film Festival (UMFF). His most recent short film, Tattooed Tears, that he produced and directed, premiered at the MECCAcon International Film Festival and has gone on to be screened at AM Egypt Film Festival, Sankofa Film Festival, and Indie Wise Film Festival.