"Back when I started freelancing for Room On Fire I went from event to event. It was pretty much one week of event, 2-3 weeks of editing and then another event. Obviously preparing for the next event was part of my 2-3 weeks away from events too. I really enjoyed that time but it was really stressful after some time. It’s not like you're working for a team that sometimes doesn’t qualify for a tournament, which means you get some time for other stuff. Nowadays, with the project OnFire Studios which is our new content production company, it gives me much more freedom in choosing which event to go to. It obviously also depends on whether or not we have a job at an event. Also the content we do isn’t specifically linked to events anymore. Nowadays I spend more time writing concepts and do an event from time to time."

"Back then, when League of Legends season 2 started I got to know esports for the first time. Fortunately I lived near Cologne, Germany, where the LCS studios were back then. I took some friends of mine and we went there for an evening which was really cool. That event pretty much got me into the scene and I started writing for a small German community site that covered the German national league. Back then I studied civil engineering which I quickly dropped and started studying media science."

Phil was nominated for esports videographer of 2017 for quality work like this

"Due to a friend who played League of Legends for the mousesports team back in 2015 I got the opportunity to help them (I specifically don’t say manage since that’s pretty much a joke back then) build and develop a team to qualify for the EU LCS. I really enjoyed my time with the guys and the org and we, even if we were considered one of the worse teams in the EU Challenger Series, made it to the offline finals in Berlin but unfortunately failed in the finals. After this trip to Berlin I knew that I want to keep working in this industry since I enjoyed the position back then and really enjoyed the company of the people around me."

"After that managing stint with mousesports, their CEO Cengiz Tüylü asked me if I could take pictures of their CS:GO team at ESL One Cologne and the Dreamhack event in Stockholm. I went there and had a great time with the team. It felt really rewarding coming back with great footage and memories and the feedback was amazing too. I wanted to stick with it and my two year plan I put together, in retrospect, worked out for me. Thanks to a friend who connected me with Anders and Semmler, I got my first gig at Katowice 2016 which started a hell of a year for me. Getting paid for doing what I love the most, visiting all these exciting places on the world is the best thing that could ever happen to me."



"MLG Columbus was a really special event for me. It was my first trip to the US and I was really nervous going into it. But the people I met there and the passionate esport fans attending made it an unforgettable experience. The American esport fans are in my opinion way different from the European and especially the German fans. They go all in on everything (which might be linked to their college sport scene) where the European or German crowds (ESL One Cologne e.g.) are a bit more reserved. When I went there it was a small culture shock for me but I quickly got dragged in and captured it all with my camera."

"As I mentioned before, I love the travelling aspect as well as meeting new people with different backgrounds (but also meeting people I know from other events feels like a small family reunion everytime). We all have the same goal: to make esports the best it can be. Whether it be through content, enthusiastic commentating or just simply attending an event and cheering for a team. That all keeps esports running and growing. As long as people keep coming to events there will still be commentators, there will still be an awesome looking stage and people like me or my colleagues will be able to capture these unique moments a live esport event delivers. Then we can edit them into a video that you can watch when you're back home to remember the emotions you went through during that time. I love the competition and I love the energy the players have during a match. Exploding on the final kill, jumping on top of each other in pure joy. All these things make me love this industry so much."

Phil has been a constant friendly presence in my esports career so far, from when we played Counter-Strike together due to mutual friends, to making a point to seek me out and say hello at events. I remember during one ESL One Cologne, I'm not sure if it was 2015 or 2016, Phil helped me and my brother set up our camera properly for the dark arena as we were much more accustomed to outdoor photography up to that point. He is yet another person who has got where he is, and helped our scene from behind the curtains, through hard work and dedication to his trade.