Over the past thirty years he has directed eight independent films and photographed over thirty documentaries, public affairs promotional films and videos that have aired on both network and public television. Al began his professional career in 1977 as staff cinematographer at New Jersey Public Television where he shot a variety of public affairs shows and documentaries, including Listen to The Sun, a special on famed recording artist and song stylist Sarah Vaughan and Workin or Slavin, a documentary about prison inmate wages.