HERE, THERE, WHEREVER

Director | Christopher Vanderwall

DP | Jake Brusha

Production | One at Optimus

I directed and produced this branded content video series for The Atlantic Monthly.  A two part series about neighborhoods outside of the city center, focusing on Sunset Park in Brooklyn and Pilsen in Chicago. The videos paired with a written essay and reportage style photography and were sponsored by Lincoln Automotive.

Director: Christopher Vanderwall

Producer: Emily Weinstein

DP: Gregory Wilson (NYC) | Simeon Pratt (CHI)

Color: Parker Jarvie (Company 3 Chicago)

Score: Mark Sutor

The projects can be found here:

Sunset Park

Pilsen

Urban Initiatives is a Chicago based after school program that engages youth through team sports in the hopes that they'll build relationships, learn, grow, and ultimately walk away with an expanded world view that goes beyond their own neighborhood.

Production | One at Optimus
Director/DP | Christopher Vanderwall
Producer | Mia Reggi
Editor | Jenny Schaye

Keegan-Michael Key's first day on the Kennedy campaign.  He's excited, and he brought some ideas that are....interesting.

Shot on the fly in the aesthetic of a Funny or Die style video. This video served as part of the viral marketing for the Kennedy for Illinois campaign.

Director | Chris Vanderwall
Co-written | Chris Vanderwall, Gus Murray & Kick Kennedy
Produced by | Kick Kennedy & Mia Reggi
Mixed by | Mark Sutor

In the span of 10 hours Niki Glass had 5 heart attacks and flatlined 4 times. She'd had no history of heart problems, and when she was told weeks later that she'd need a heart transplant she must've felt unstuck from reality. Niki spent nearly 6 months in the hospital waiting for her number to come up on the transplant list, not knowing if she'd survive to come home to her husband and three children.

Presented by the American Heart Association, this story is about the power of family, and one woman's journey to get home to them.

Production | BMP Film Co.
Director | Chris Vanderwall
Producer | Emily Weinstein
DP | Aaron Preusch
Editor | Talia Pasqua
Mix | Mark Sutor

A reveal of a new space located inside of one of the oldest member's only clubs in Chicago.  

Producer | Emily Weinstein

Director | Chris Vanderwall

DP | Aaron Preusch

Edit | Talia Pasqua

Production | BMP Film Co.

A series of videos for the Grubhub website, for prospective new delivery drivers.

Director/DP| Chris Vanderwall

Production | Optimus ONE

Shot this video over one day with the band, and had a great time.  It was fun to have a performance based music video that was just all about seeing the band doing their thing.  The song was great, the guys had some moves, and the rest just kind of came together!

Director: Adam Moorman

DP: Christopher Vanderwall

Edit/FX: Sam Kreps

Gaffer: Jon Hamblin

A portrait of a designer and woodworker based in Chicago, IL

This story follows Oscar Munoz, the current CEO of United Airlines and is about the heart failure he suffered in 2016. Oscar has always been a healthy person, even a vegan at one time, but in 2016 he suffered a major heart attack in his home. He recognized what was going on and called 911. Because they had a 12-lead EKG on board, EMS was able to deliver Oscar to the proper care where he was put on life support 38 minutes from the time he made that phone call. This life saving tech was only recently made available to all ambulances in Chicago in part because of the work of the American Heart Association.

Thanks to the Munoz family and the staff at Northwestern Hospital for sharing their story.

Director/DP: Christopher Vanderwall

Co-DP: Aaron Preusch & Simeon Pratt

Sound Mix: Mark Sutor

Production: BMP Film Co.

I was lucky enough to team up with the folks at Optimus Design for this commercial that introduced the new amphibians exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium.  We had a fun day capturing all of these critters on blue screen (except the giant salamander which was in Cleveland).  All in the the spot turned out great and it was right in line with the rest of the Shedd's branding.  

The second video highlights the attempts at using the lowest energy possible while running the aquarium, it plays on video monitors along side various attractions on site.

Client | Shedd Aquarium
Production | Optimus Design

Commissioned for the company's website, these documentary shorts serve as a portrait of of several Allstate agents and business owners.  These videos are designed to show a prospective agency owner the perks of working for Allstate.

Director | Carolyn Chen
A Camera | Chris Vanderwall
Agency | Leo Burnett

Kresse Wesling, of the design team Elvis & Kresse, talks about the reclaimed leather rugs they've created for FLOR.

Director | Kate Wrobel
DP | Chris Vanderwall

At 17 Rachel Castro had a massive stroke while at work and had to be rushed to have emergency brain surgery.  When she awoke she was missing a large piece of her skull, and brain. She found herself unable to speak, control her right arm or walk.  

Commissioned by the American Heart Association, this short documentary is the story of Rachel's recovery after her stroke as well as the way this traumatic experience shaped the person she is today.

Director: Christopher Vanderwall

Producer: Emily Weinstein

DP: Aaron Pruesch

ESPN's Depth Chart is a series that aims to offer a rarely-seen glimpse into the lives of these elite student-athletes. Hour-long installments at Auburn, Oklahoma State, and Wisconsin chronicle the lives of QBs, from freshman recruit to incumbent senior, beginning with the rigors of training and practice and continuing through each school’s first home game. Depth Chart culminates at Arkansas with the final episode exploring how each QB on the depth chart prepares for game week.
I served as the unit director of photography for the Oklahoma State University episode with Brent Ramsey. The overseeing DP of the show was the very talented Matt Peterson.

Unit DP (OSU) | Chris Vanderwall
Client | ESPN
Agency | DLP Entertainment

An ad series designed to introduce Time Warner Sportsnet, a new station with exclusive rights to all Los Angeles Lakers content.

Agency | TWC
DP | Chris Vanderwall

This short video served as an introduction to the 2016 United States Artists Fellows, and ultimately will live on their website as an explainer video. The Fellowship offers $50k in unrestricted funding to up to 50 artists every year and 2017 marks their 10th year anniversary.

Director/DP/Edit | Christopher Vanderwall

Production | BMP Film Co.

Graphics | Sara Goener

Sound Mix | Mark Sutor

These documentary shorts illustrate how professionals have integrated Jenn-Air appliances into their work.

Client | Jenn-Air Appliances
Director/DP | Carolyn Chen
B Camera | Chris Vanderwall
Agency | Production for the People

A short documentary piece on Aardvark Letterpress, one of Los Angeles' oldest printing presses. Done as part of a series of documentaries that highlights family-owned small businesses in the Los Angeles Area.

Director | Carolyn Chen
DP | Chris Vanderwall
Agency | Production for the People

This short documentary was commissioned by Lincoln to coincide with the release of the 2013 Lincoln MKZ. At the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, Lincoln Motor Company celebrated its rich heritage with seven classic models on display, courtesy of their owners. This piece is meant to emphasize the unique design features of these classic models, which are referenced in the new MKZ

Client | Lincoln Motor Company
Director | Peter Serling
DP | Chris Vanderwall

Shot on spec on a beautiful day.

This project with Digital Twigs was a lot of fun to work on. While the piece was very post heavy, it was decided early on that none of the elements would be computer generated, so everything you see in this sequence was built by hand, lit and filmed. There's a certain something that is lost when elements are generated in the computer, and I was glad to be a part of this project. Check out the behind the scenes video to see how this sequence was made!
This main title sequence was created for a series that is currently airing on the Nerdist Channel. The show goes into the puppet filled dreams of actor Neil Patrick Harris.

Agency | Digital Twigs 
Creative Director | Ryan Wehner
DoP | Chris Vanderwall
Client | Nerdist