Discover Top Documentary DPs in Salinas, California, USA

Jonathan Smith is a Director of Photography and editor from Pontiac, MI. He moved to Oakland, CA, in the summer of 2017, after graduating from Eastern Michigan University with his B.S. in Electronic Media and Film Studies. Jonathan uses his passions for photography, videography, and storytelling as conduits for others to share their stories. From 2014-2017 in Michigan, Jonathan worked as an ESPN cameraman and radio host for WEMU 89.1. Since 2017 in California, Jonathan formally served as Control Room Operator for KTOP TV-10, Oakland's government television station, as Social Media and Graphic Design Director for Oakland-based nonprofit Safe Passages, and as Visual Media Director for Berkeley Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Berkeley, CA. Jonathan currently serves as the Worship Projection Operator at the historic Allen Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland, CA. Additionally, he is working in collaboration with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Cheryl Fabio as Director of Photography for her upcoming film Baseline.

• Documentary DP
• Commercial DP
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Portrait Photographer
• Fashion Photographer
• Corporate Videographer

With over 20 years of experience in video production, I’m an accomplished DP, camera op, editor, and post-production specialist. My goal is to be the best at what I do, always striving for perfection and delivering it. I’m a dedicated and hardworking team player that always tries to keep it fun. I pride myself on being equally technical, creative, and resourceful. I have experience in documentary, commercial, corporate, and event production among others. My combined talents provide a full stack video production offering. As an editor and post specialist, I offer full-service post-production services. I can take a project from ingest to finishing and delivery. Color grading, motion graphics, compositing and cleanup, mixing/mastering, pretty much all of it. Additionally, this crosses over into production as a DIT. Behind the camera I have worked ENG, docu-style, events, fitness, action sports, and commercial to name a few. My recent work has been on Sony's FX line, Blackmagic and Canon cinema cameras. I am also a seasoned gimbal operator, with rigging and operating knowledge of the entire Freefly and DJI ecosystem.

• Corporate Videographer
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - News
• Colorist
• Senior Editor
• Drone Operator
• Post-Production Manager
• Commercial DP
• Sound Designer
• Animator / Visual Effects Artist

An anthropologist and filmmaker, his first feature, “Adelante,” a feature length documentary about Mexican immigration to a historically Irish Catholic church outside of Philadelphia, screened on over 20 PBS affiliates, played at over 30 festivals, and was screened at over 40 colleges. The film won awards at numerous festivals including the Catskill Mountain Film Fest, the Accolade Film Fest and the International Festival of Ethnological Films. His short doc, Searcy County,” screened domestically and internationally, including the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and the Sebastopol Documentary Film Fest. He has written about film in journals including “Southern Spaces,” “Visual Communication,” and “The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.” He is currently editing a feature-length documentary about Mexican and American tree planters in the southeast United States, an innovative film that be the first documentary film accepted for a PhD at the University of Pennsyvania

• Documentary DP
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Creative Director
• Video Editor - News
• Reporter / Journalist
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

Now based out of Columbia SC, I got my television start in the Boston market at WZMY-TV / My Network TV New England, creating their marketing, promotional and commercial content. After striking out on my own, Craig co-produced and shot of series of short documentaries, many of which were sold as featured content on Current TV. These shorts got me selected as a Current Journalism Contributor for their 2008 Election Coverage Special. Later, one of the shorts would be expanded into a feature-length documentary, called “Libertopia,” for which I rolled footage in 8 US states across 4 time zones and 2 coasts. I have worked passionately in many of the numerous types of video production and I pride myself on being the type of shooter, who, once I gets a camera in his hands, never wants to stop shooting. I recently shot 3 episodes for the Emmy award winning series The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation w/Mo Rocca. Some of my top clients include: Fox Sports, ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, Turner, ESPN The Mag, WWE, Music Choice

• Documentary DP

Débora Silva is a Brazilian journalist now residing in California. She started her career at a television station in São Paulo, Brazil, right after graduating with a degree in Journalism. For four years, she worked as a reporter and producer for a documentary news program about social and political issues in Brazil. In 2009, Débora moved to California to pursue a career as an international correspondent. She graduated in June 2014 from a Master’s Degree program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism with emphasis in television. Following her graduation, Débora served as the Associate Producer for a PBS (Frontline) documentary, RAPE ON THE NIGHT SHIFT – an investigation on the sexual abuse of immigrant women in the janitorial industry. Débora is fluent in Portuguese and English and proficient in Spanish. Her broadcasting skills include shooting and editing videos (Premiere and Avid), producing video segments (studio and field), on-air reporting and interviewing.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Documentary DP
• Fixer
• Video Editor - News
• Reporter / Journalist
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

I'm an Emmy-nominated freelance video producer and multimedia journalist living and working in the Bay Area. I was a staff producer with Engadget for four years, and in the past I've worked with a range of outlets including The Verge, BBC, The Guardian, Mission Local, and I'm a regular freelancer for USA Today, Arts Technica, and Toms Hardware. I specialize in science and technology coverage, but also do works on stories around the arts, education, healthcare, business, and live events. I'm a 2015 graduate of the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. I also do corporate video, multimedia communications, and consulting. I teach multimedia production at both UC Santa Cruz and Stanford, and have made videos and motion graphics for organizations including The Berkeley SETI Research Center, Wing Venture Capital, Hotwire PR, First Republic Bank, USPA Athletics School, Disaster Mesh, and Experian, Planet Labs, Symb.io, Allogene, Vida Ventures, and others. https://ctcschodt.com/

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - News
• Sound Mixer
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Production Company
• HD Live Operator
• Motion Graphics Designer
• Colorist
• Event Photographer
• Portrait Photographer
• Reporter / Journalist
• Digital Content Creator
• Executive Producer
• Corporate Videographer
• Audio Storyteller
• Animator / Visual Effects Artist

Kenny was raised in the rocky mountains of Montana which is where he received his bachelor's degree in Marketing and Media Arts from the University of Montana. Since graduating Kenny has lived in San Diego and Philadelphia. In these cities he sharpened his professional skills as a creative marketer by working for many organizations such as BEMER and the University of Pennsylvania. In the last 2 years Kenny traveled the entire length of the United States by car twice for career reasons but ultimately for the adventure. He now permanently parks his Honda Civic at his new home in Oakland. In 2024 from Berkeley City College he received a film certificate in directing and producing. He loves to travel, but Kenny looks forward to planting his roots in the communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can often find Kenny hiking in one of the many Oakland redwood groves, shooting photographs of the beauty he sees around him or finding his center at a YMCA yoga class.

• Corporate Videographer
• Documentary DP
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• Production Assistant
• Digital Content Creator
• Content Strategist
• Production Company
• Senior Producer / Project Manager
• Creative Director
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Social Media Producer

Howdy! I'm an award winning director, cinematographer and editor based in California. I work with brands, agencies, NGOs and production companies. As a director: I have an extensive background in developing and pitching ambitious projects to executive leadership. My films have a unique look and feel characterized by truth and authenticity in the storytelling and dynamic and creative camera work. As a cinematographer: I always try to work in service of the story. I'm capable of giving it a unique identity in the visual approach or can find beauty in simplicity. I'm highly collaborative and am capable of taking direction or leading the way creatively. As an editor: I pride myself on crafting compelling stories. I try to uncover poignancy and vulnerability in the characters. All my edits have a creative edge and careful attention to detail, taking the effectiveness of every shot into consideration. Freelancer and co-founder & director at The Elevens.

• Video Editor - Commercial
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Creative Director
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• Senior Editor
• Landscape Photographer
• Portrait Photographer
• Commercial DP
• Corporate Videographer
• Documentary DP
• Field Producer
• Colorist

Zachary Stauffer is a director, multi-platform producer, and director of photography. He has reported and produced podcasts, including "Twin Flames" which reached #1 on Apple, and directed and shot the award-winning feature documentary “Who Killed Lt. Van Dorn?" From 2009-2020, he was a staff producer and the primary DP at the UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting program. There, he worked on all of the IRP’s projects for PBS Frontline, films that explored organized crime, death investigation, college sports, and sexual assault, including the DuPont award-winning “Rape In The Fields.” He has also served as a DP on numerous independent documentaries and projects distributed in the U.S. and internationally. His short documentary, “A Day Late In Oakland” (2008), about the murder of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey, was nominated for two IDA Awards. He is a graduate of Boston College and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

• Documentary DP
• Series Producer / Show Runner
• Non-Fiction Film Director

Manuel Ortiz is a social documentary photographer and journalist based in San Francisco, California. He was born in Mexico City where he had formal education in sociology, and visual arts, specializing in documentary film. He has traveled in over 20 countries for his photographic, and multimedia projects, most of them about immigration, and environment. He had taught Sociology, Multimedia, and Communication at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he was the director and founder of the Multimedia Laboratory for Social Research. He has also taught documentary multimedia workshops and talks at Santa Clara State University; Loyola University, News Orleans; Stanford University. He was also the Co-founder at Red Mexicana de Antropología Audiovisual, Mexico. Ortiz has a BA in Sociology and MD in Documentary Film making, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Camera 2 Nikon z7II - Lenses: 50mm f1.2 ; 80mm f1.8 ; 35mm f1.8 ; 28mm f1.8 / 70-20 f4; 24-70 f2.8 Leica Q2 GoPro 9 iPhone 13 Pro

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Documentary DP

Selected as one of Variety Magazine's 'Top 10 Directors to Watch', Emily Abt has directed six feature films - four documentaries and two narratives. Her social issue, character driven films have premiered at Sundance and aired on networks such as Showtime, Starz and PBS. Known for taking on delicate subject matter with skill and diplomacy, Emily is equally passionate about narrative and documentary filmmaking with extensive experience in both as a writer, director and producer. Emily is also a seasoned documentary cinematographer and branded content director who has created films for clients such as 23andMe, Microsoft, Janssen, Pfizer and Oracle. Abt was a Brooklyn based filmmaker for 20 years who moved to the Bay Area in 2016 with her family when her husband became a professor at UC Berkeley. She is a member of New Day Films, Free the Bid, Film Fatales and the Collective of Documentary Women Cinematographers. Emily believes film is the most powerful communication tool of our time and loves to collaborate with fellow storytellers.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Documentary DP
• Corporate Videographer
• Production Company
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• Field Producer
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Commercial DP

I'm a freelance photographer and filmmaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've worked for editorial publications such as National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Guardian, Le Monde, Pop Up Magazine, and commercial clients such as Airbnb, Starbucks, Twilio and Microsoft. My background in journalism has made me a versatile shooter, and after 10 years at it, I've realized my strength is in finding compelling, honest and moving stories and illustrating them through robust cinematography. I was formerly a staff photographer/filmmaker at the San Francisco Chronicle, where I produced a weekly video column called The Regulars, and co-directed the Chronicle's first feature-length documentary film, Last Men Standing, about long-term HIV/AIDS survivors. I've won two Emmys and numerous awards in the POYi and BOP contests. I love to meet new clients and collaborators. So feel free to reach out.

• Documentary DP
• Commercial DP
• Production Company
• Video Editor - Commercial

My name is Michael, and I am a mid 30s photographer and World Wanderer. My photography journey started as a hobby, primarily learning my way around a DSLR by shooting landscapes around my home in San Francisco, California. Soon, I started accepting paid assignments, from commercial ad campaigns to weddings, but my passion for traveling with camera in hand was too great to ignore. I started visiting locations all over the globe, documenting not only the beautiful landscapes of the countries I visited, but also the lives of the local communities. I quickly fell in love with the travel and photojournalism genres of photography and was desperate to recreate that incredible rush. I have been lucky to lead workshops and document the lives of the people in Nicaragua, Peru, Jordan, Cambodia and India. I have also documented the work of elephant sanctuaries in Thailand, who aim to end the ugly and cruel business of elephant tourism.

• Documentary DP
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Reporter / Journalist

David Martinez is a writer, filmmaker, teacher and political activist based in San Francisco. He recently completed "Autumn Sun" (2013), a documentary about Occupy Oakland, where he was filming from its inception. He has worked as a videographer in Indonesia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Darfur, and Iraq, where he filmed inside besieged Fallujah in 2004. His movies have screened everywhere from small community centers in the Midwest to film festivals in Europe. His writing has been published in The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Filmmaker Magazine, CounterPunch, CorpWatch, and Islam Online. He has worked in documentary production with Hector Galan and Billy Nessen, feature film production with directors Richard Linklater, John Sayles, and Jimmy Mendiola, and worked as an actor in the film Waking Life, directed by Linklater. Martinez holds an M.F.A. in Film and Video Production from the University of Texas at Austin. He has also worked as a school teacher, social worker & bike messenger.

• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - News
• Fixer
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Reporter / Journalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Sound Mixer
• Translator
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

Passionate. In one word, that's how my closest friends would describe me. I have moved from veterinary medicine to pure mathematics to documentary filmmaking. I finished my first short documentary, Atomic Dream, for my thesis at UC Berkeley last year. I am endlessly curious and fascinated by people. And I have an eye for design. For stories, I tend to be attracted to character studies, stories related to science, in some way, and anything that pushes the boundaries of visual storytelling. Good stories move us emotionally and change, if even slightly, the way we perceive the world around us. I will chase down any story that sparks my interest. And once I'm on the scent, I don't give up. I grew up in Denver in a lower-middle class suburbia. One like any other. I moved to Santa Barbara in 1999 where I earned a B.Sc. in Mathematics. I also received a Masters in Mathematics from UW - Madison in 2008 and a Masters in Journalism from UC Berkeley in 2013. So, yeah, I would say I'm curious and passionate.

• Documentary DP

Hi team I'm Ranjini Srinivasan, a digital journalist from Columbia University. I am extremely passionate about doing stories that propel a social change. I've worked as a onemanband reporter for NBC, News 12 and NY1. I've been an associate producer for PBS' Worldfocus, a pilot international newscast. I've developed strong bonds in the community I've reported in and my sources are still in touch. I did exclusives on a domestic violence victim and got her case worker on camera, for the first time. I am passionate about human interest stories. I feel privileged to meet people from diverse backgrounds and earn their trust to share their stories in the community. Stories that would inform, educate and / entertain. I also did a 24-min documentary on Parents of children with autism, from concept to air. I have managed newsroom crises and can think on my feet if something doesn't turn out as planned. I thrive in a like-minded team that is passionate about great visual story-telling and believes in team work. My link: www.beyondheadlines.tv has my news reel and documentary. I am working on other stories. I truly look forward to hearing from you. Best Ranjini.

• Documentary DP

Oakland has become one of the most dangerous cities in the United States and for many of its residents staying safe is a constant preoccupation. Victims of gun violence are overwhelmingly marginalized youth of color and their everyday actions are organized around dealing with real or potential danger. For Dante, one of Oaklands residents, that danger is very real. Flatlands is an intimate and moving story filmed over the course of six months in Dantes life. The film is a transformative documentary demonstrating the possibilities for change and challenges our understanding of violence on the streets. Flatlands highlights the role of racial and socio-economic structures at the center of gun violence in the United States. The documentary creates a dialogue, fostering critical consciousness, challenging the basic structures of our society and revealing the need for effective social action.

• Documentary DP

After graduating from USC with a degree in business and cinema, Chris' film career has taken him from the depths of agency work, to coordinating post-production for awful American movies seen late at night in Belgium. His film directing and producing work has resulted in him criss crossing the country with the aid of caffeinated beverages. He eventually made his way in the Nashville country and Christian music video industries, before finally forsaking his soul to commercial LA rock n' roll. These misadventures eventually culminated in him winning a Billboard Magazine Music Video Award. With the success of his theatrically released feature documentaries, PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA and EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE , he has gone on to pursue other sub-cultural documentary subjects, including: rogue economists, lucha libre wrestlers, swamp rat hunters, ganjapreneurs, and evangelical Christian surfers.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

Jessica Schiffman is a multimedia journalist and public relations professional passionate about storytelling and communications via video, writing, photography and collaboration. ? She recently worked for MTV Brasil in São Paulo, Brazil, where she produced, directed and edited off-site shoots and assisted with production and content development for two live daily programs, Acesso MTV and Top10. While there, she established contacts at one of the biggest media holdings in Latin America, Editora Abril, and served as a blogger in the Amazon for one of its organizations committed to spreading social awareness about the environment: Planeta Sustentável. ? ? In June 2012, Jessica graduated from the The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. During her time there she filmed and edited video portraits of student artists for massive.tv, a website created to spotlight and foster campus creativity. Jessica also contributed and edited content as Assistant Video Editor for northbynorthwestern.com, a Pacemaker Award-winning campus news site.

• Documentary DP

Polar Productions is a Bay Area based production company that specializes in turnkey style projects. We collaborate with our clients on every aspect of the process, optimizing their ability to give input, while we do all the creative and technical heavy lifting – Pre-production through Post-production. With 12 years of experience in filmmaking, we bring cinematic techniques to every project to create engaging videos at the highest level. In following with our philosophy of creating the best videos possible, Polar Productions uses the highest quality equipment in the cinematic world, including our RED Epic Dragon 6k camera (the same camera The Hobbit films were shot on). We pride ourselves on going the extra mile to fully understand our clients and their business, and in doing so we create strong lasting business relationships that are grounded in trust and success.

• Commercial DP
• Creative Director
• Production Company
• Immersive/Spatial Video Capture
• Drone Operator
• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial