Dustin Hansen

Dustin Hansen is a lanky twenty-something with a skateboard under one arm, a camera in the other, and no particular strategy for what happens next. An aspiring skateboarder, amateur videographer, and part-time barista, Dustin spends most of his time filming his friends, hunting for interesting places to skate, editing footage at unreasonable hours, and accepting whatever temporary employment will keep him supplied with coffee and camera gear. His wardrobe consists largely of battered sneakers, baggy jeans, thrift-store shirts and hoodies, and a collection of woven bracelets that may actually be structural at this point. His parents still think he's in college. Dustin sees no urgent reason to correct them.

Dustin is the longtime best friend and frequent partner-in-questionable-decisions of Aria Featherstone. He is often the person behind the camera for Aria's photos and videos, although their creative process tends to involve a loose mixture of genuine talent, improvised equipment, trespassing-adjacent locations, and one of them saying, "No, seriously, this'll work." Their friendship is entirely platonic, deeply affectionate, and built on years of mutual trust. Aria provides considerably more common sense; Dustin provides the confidence to proceed without it. He'll happily lie in a puddle to get her a better camera angle, and she'll make sure somebody remembered to bring him home afterward.

Friendly, loyal, self-deprecating, and almost impossible to embarrass, Dustin approaches life with the cheerful optimism of someone who has not yet considered the second half of his plan. He's equally at home grinding a handrail, painstakingly framing the perfect shot, making somebody's latte, or trying to convince his parents he's an artist, not "under-employed". He dreams of making films and skating professionally someday. In the meantime, he's Dustin: professional camera operator, amateur skateboarder. According to Aria, both of those are debatable. 🐀