A young filmmaker & businessman, Joshua Sikora has produced, written, & directed a number of award-winning independent films. Committed to high-quality, low-budget filmmaking, Sikora has a passion for the freedom and creativity that independent cinema offers.

In 2005, he founded the Sikora Media Group and New Renaissance Pictures, which are breaking new ground in the creation and delivery of the next generation of multimedia. Sikora's latest endeavor is WebSerials.com—an exciting new network for serialized media, which is host to several Sikora productions, including Project X and Cataclysmo and the Time Boys. The serials, seen by over two million viewers, were dubbed by YouTube "some of the best dramas the web has to offer."

Sikora also occasionally teaches film for the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University. He lives in La Habra, CA with his wife Alisa.

A New Renaissance...
In the fifteenth century, art was at its height. Florence had more woodcarvers than butchers—to the Italians, art was more important than food. Even those with modest incomes valued the creative works of the many artists around them. Italy was world-reknowned for its painters, sculptors, and authors.

It is this time that we remember as the Renaissance—a powerful revival of beautiful art and brilliant literature that captured the culture at large and literally changed the face of our planet. Their work still stands—mostly unmatched—today, almost half a millennium later.

These sorts of revivals occur when art permeates a society—when everyone you meet either is an artist or loves art. In a surprising turn, the technological revolutions of today are setting us up for this sort of cultural revival. We are on the verge of a New Renaissance.

Today, the artistic mediums are slightly different. Technology, and what we call "new media," are laying the groundwork for a different kind of artist. In the last decade we've seen a unique evolution that started with the internet. As the internet rapidly permeated our society, new communication methods quickly developed. We turned to the 'net for our news, then our music—and now video and film media stream into our homes through our computers. It's never been easier to propagate creative works of art into our communities.

Simultaneously, the way we create art is changing. The blog, with all of its many purposes and uses, provides everyone a voice. Strong communicators and creative writers can now spread their message or their stories to the world, without printing costs, without publishers, and without financing. The MP3 revolution of a few years ago gave many musicians a chance to be heard, without having to navigate the messy business of the recording industry.

Artists connected directly to their audiences. Artists given new freedom to create for the sake of beauty or truth, rather than for profit. Art, permeating our culture far and wide.

But one medium has never been granted this freedom. Film, for all of its power and popularity, has always proven to be far too expensive. Exorbitantly-priced equipment, massive crews of technicians and artists, and highly-paid egos have always hindered the artists. The exclusivity of the film industry has denied many creative people their chance at creating motion pictures. With these impositions, no renaissance can occur within cinema.

But technology is freeing us. Within the last few years, digital technology has been introduced that provides film-like quality images at a fraction of the cost. Improved technology means fewer people are needed on a set—a camera crew can be cut in half and can shoot more, faster. Directors now can see their work immediately, without needing film to be sent to labs and developed—allowing faster decisions and less redundancy. Today, a creative team of independent filmmakers can make a movie with Hollywood-level production values at a cost of tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of millions of dollars.

If we're to learn anything from the propagation of blogs, MP3s, and internet-based communities, it's that we no longer need huge distributors to get creative content to consumers. Filmmakers can produce their art and distribute it through the internet, directly into people's homes: Art permeating culture. An artistic revival. A renaissance, all over again.