Welling's career began in dance, before his rise in the indie film world. Soon after, he opened the dance studio Planet Funk Academy in Houston, TX. His career as a dancer saw him performing & choreographing for the NBA World Championship games for the Houston Rockets in 1994 and continued with NFL & NHL half-time shows, Cirque du Soleil (Dralion), Good Morning America, where Diane Sawyer heralded Planet Funk as "legendary."
Welling has also produced a variety of successful master classes for clients such as Disney's "The Lion King" dancers and the cast for the Broadway hit "Oliver!" He has also worked with well-known MTV stars, Wade Robson, Brian Friedman, I.aM.mE, Les Twins, and many more. Welling's still photography work has been used by top dancers and models and was featured on the cover of Adobe Photoshop Users magazine.
As a director, his first film, "The House of Dreams," won a Gold and a Platinum Remi at the WorldFest International Film Festival. His second film, "The Messenger: 360 Days of Bolivar" was released at Landmark, AMC, and Angelika theaters to sold out screenings, and was awarded Best Feature Film of 2009 by Houston Press. In 2011, Welling premiered his third feature film, also based on a true story, entitled "Project Aether." It earned numerous awards including Houston Film Critic's Society Best Actress, the coveted Young Performers Award, Houston Film Critic's Society director award for Best World Premiere, and Best Director of 2011 by Houston Press.
Welling is working on his latest project -- a web series entering its fifth season -- "AXI: Avengers of eXtreme Illusions" (winner of the Grand Remi for best web series 2012 & 2013), and he is now enjoying the lauded release of his fourth feature, "The Legend of DarkHorse County," starring Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar Man), Michael Biehn (The Terminator), and Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales.
In 2015, Welling Films won a studio record 11 awards for its short film, web series, and web site work. Welling released a short film about the love of his life, his dog, Max. The short, "If I Could Talk," quickly became Welling's most successful and awarded work of his career to date, achieving 6 award wins and nomination in its first year on the festival circuit. In 2015, Welling married the real love of his life, Michelle, a Houston-based photographer.
Welling entered 2016 with four shorts and two features in production and an ambitious slate of coming features, shorts, and webisodes, including the true-life family feature, The Blimp Trap, the story of two imaginative Texas pre-teens who "caught" the Goodyear Blimp in 1970s Texas.
