VIGILANTE STUDIOS
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Vigilante Studios’ Mission is to produce creative projects while training and serving the artist community. Vigilante Studios was built to serve artists and help them move toward their creative goals utilizing digital tools.
The seed for Vigilante Studios began 17 years ago in Paradise, California with a small group of youngsters in a pint size building on the main thoroughfare into town. These young people wanted to create a youth magazine for youth and presented the idea to leading adults in the community who applauded their vision but didn’t see how it could be done … until a local grant became available and a young adult named Daniel Seward stepped in … Thus began 18 bi-monthly issues of VOICE Magazine. The production of the magazine quickly evolved into offering workshops in art and writing to local youth as financial and community support grew. Dan had previously been living in SF, attending the Academy of Arts and then working for a dot.com tech magazine in the Bay Area.
After a fire threatened the town of Paradise in 2008, the VOICE Magazine building was evacuated and the project never recovered.
Daniel returned to his roots in North Idaho to begin his dream to provide a creative center in digital arts for all ages. In January 2020, Vigilante Studios opened its doors in Bonners Ferry, then moved to Sandpoint in June 2021 with a new team of visionaries, including Luke & Laylah Inman with additional ingenuity and support from Michael Marchetti.
Today Vigilante Studios is a fully equipped training studio accompanied with a clothing brand and a full service design company. Come in and see for yourself. Sign up for a workshop to learn, create, and produce your own project for the simple joy of it!
FOUNDER / DESIGNER / TEACHER
Daniel Seward grew up in Bonners Ferry, Idaho—where early on he was recognized by his parents and teachers for his drawings and designs in and outside of school. At sixteen he moved to California, finished high school in Paradise CA, attended Pacific Union College in Angwin, CA, then the Academy of Art University in San Francisco — soon to be free-lancing with a few Academy friends who sought similar paths.
During the dot.com era he worked in Silicon Valley as an in-house designer for a tech company but found his talents and interests leaning more toward building his own projects. This lead him to develop the VOICE Magazine back in Paradise, CA and creating a non-profit arts organization called Youth on the Ridge. This organization served Butte County for years by inspiring, training, and publishing countless local youth artists while inviting professional world-class artists into the publication as well.
After the catastrophic fires in California, specifically the unprecedented, devastating Camp Fire in Paradise, CA, Dan decided to return to North Idaho to stay close to family and continue serving others in the digital arts field.
Most recently he has launched Vigilante Studios in downtown Bonners Ferry to offer training and support to other artists in the multiple-faceted arena of digital arts.
OPERATIONS MANAGER / DIRECTOR OF APPAREL
Luke joined Vigilante Studios in the summer of 2021 as a business partner, and is directing the launch of Vigilante Clothing Co, and helping manage the broader picture of Vigilante Studios which includes vigilantestudios.net, vigilanteclothing.net, and vigilantestudios.us. Along with the launch of Vigilante Clothing Co. coming in 2022, Luke handles public relations, studio activities, planning and management.
3D ARTIST / PROGRAMMER/ Teacher
Michael Guiliano Marchetti spent his childhood lost in the wilderness of North Idaho. He felt a deep connection to everything in the wild and often could not tell where he ended and everything around him began. Gifted with a huge imagination and a massive natural environment around him, Michael continues to create and inspire.
It was by running through the diverse landscape that Michael’s appreciation for art began to emerge. The contrast of things like a shadowy tree line bordering a glowing sunlit wheat field compelled him to try to hold on to the inexplicableness of it all. Taking up landscape and fantasy painting was a natural consequence.
Later he developed an interest in Science and Technology. After attending college and gaining a degree in science, he pursued biotechnology and medicine while spending his free time attempting to merge Science and Art. Now he uses his time combining 3D Art study with Computer Programming by developing video games, apps, 3D art and robotics art. Michael teaches 3D arts, and programming at Vigilante Studios.
SOUNDS ARTIST / AUDIO TECHNICIAN
Leonard James Turner II is an EDM/RAP Producer, Recording/Mix Engineer, Voice Actor, Cartoonist and “post-apocalyptic audio survivalist” based in Northern California.
After attending a local Community College for 2 years Leonard started his audio journey by building his first PC in 2001. His passion to create music started out as ideas that became reality.
In 2005, he was renamed “LT2 The Sound Mechanic” by Daniel Seward and Ryan Mulford of VOICE Magazine. LT2 The Sound Mechanic was born. Composing music behind a computer screen was not enough though. In 2008 LT2 performed his first live show. In 2009, “The Sound Mechanic” album was released under the WROK ON Productions record label. In 2012 “The Sound Mechanic” album went live on PANDORA RADIO.
Leonard’s journey through sound continued with designing and building speaker cabinets and modifying audio equipment. Experiments with unique recording methods and vintage analog equipment set the standard for capturing the soul of the sound.
Leonard is currently rebuilding his entire life’s work after losing everything to the Camp Fire in 2018. He said this about his loss: “Fire consumes and fire also refines”.
Lenny helps with sound production for animation at Vigilante Studios.
