At age nine, in the middle of third grade, he moved to Texas with his parents, Nancy Pattillo and Randall Hobbs, where Big Bend and Hill Country, South Texas and Panhandle Plains, Piney Woods, Prairies and Lakes, and the Gulf Coast reinforced his love for the southern geography of America. At age twelve he became interested in science and through his teens began writing science fiction stories, poems and making movies with his parent's and grandmother's cameras, mostly with toys as actors (legos, action figures, etc). During high school he made several short live action movies with friends and fellow students in film class. In his early twenties he worked as a videographer shooting local mixed martial arts fights as well as a videographer and photographer for the Air Force shooting training exercises and graduation ceremonies.