El Raven Productions: video production and creative studio in New York City and Dallas

Reel

Who We Are
El Raven Productions is a full-service production company based in Dallas and New York. Founded by director Christopher Vernale in 2013, we write, direct, shoot, and finish work for clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to independent artists. Our work includes commercial campaigns for JPMorgan Chase, A&E Networks, and TLC; documentary pieces for law firms and leadership programs; and narrative films that have screened at festivals around the world.
We scale to the job. Some projects need a single shooter and a tight edit. Others need a full crew, locations, and a schedule built from scratch. Either way, you work directly with the people making the film, and a town hall recap gets the same care and consideration as a feature-length film.
Christopher Vernale
Christopher Vernale is a writer, director, and cinematographer with over two decades behind the camera. He was born in New York and raised in the South. He grew up on horror movies his older brother let him watch far too young, and he learned filmmaking the way most good filmmakers do, by making films.
His debut feature, Long Goodbye, won Best Editing and the Audience Award at the Red Dirt Film Festival. His shorts Stake, Near Sight, and Just the Hits have played more than twenty festivals. He was director of photography on the documentary Between the Shades, which screened at Dances With Films. His commercial clients include JPMorgan Chase, A&E Networks, and TLC.
On set, his approach is simple: find what’s true in the room and protect it. His visual style is natural and composed, and his editor’s sense of rhythm carries from the shoot through the final cut.


Video Production
We handle every stage, from concept and scripting through production, editing, color, sound, and delivery. Our work includes commercial and brand campaigns, corporate and internal communications, executive interviews, event coverage, documentary, and social content cut for every platform. For each project, we bring in the right people from a deep bench of industry talent, and we’re happy to travel.
Have a story to tell, an event on the calendar, or a hunch that video could help but no clear plan yet? That’s a good place to start. Let’s talk.

Creative
El Raven made work for itself before it made work for clients, and it still does. Our slate includes narrative features and shorts, documentaries, music videos, experimental pieces, and original screenplays in development. That same creative engine is available to you: writing and strategy, still photography, brand storytelling, post-production, and mastering.
Long Goodbye
Writer, director, producer
Two lovers who never meet… and still turn each other’s world upside down.
- Winner Best Editing and Audience Award, Red Dirt International Film Festival
- Winner Audience Choice, The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival
Official selection: Cinema at the Edge Film Festival









Just the Hits
Director, editor, producer
The music business is tough. Some days you could really kill someone.
- Winner Best Dark Comedy Short and Best Acting Duo, Independent Shorts Awards
- Winner Best Dark Comedy, Top Shorts
- Winner Short Film Comedy, Die Laughing Film Festival
- Winner Indie Short Film, London Movie Awards
- Semi-finalist Miami Short Film Festival
- Semi-finalist Blow-Up Arthouse Filmfest, Chicago
Official selection: Chain NYC Film Festival, Florence Film Awards, Horror Night Shorts, Reel Comedy Fest, Austin Comedy Film Festival








Stake
Writer, director, editor, producer
Sometimes we bring the punishment onto ourselves.
- Official nominee Red Dirt International Film Festival
Official selection: Astoria Film Festival, Bare Bones International Music & Film Festival, The Longhorn Film Festival, Long Island International Film Expo, Chain Film Festival







Near Sight
Co-writer, director, editor
Look at the Light…
- Award winner New York Independent Cinema Awards
- Semi-finalist LAIFFA
Official selection: Chain Film Festival, Venice Shorts, LA Sun Film Fest, Miami Indie Film Awards, Manhattan Film Festival




Between the Shades
Director of photography
50+ conversations about how people define themselves and how we love each other.
- Finalist Best Documentary, Thin Line Fest
- Finalist Best Documentary, SOHO International Film Festival
- Finalist Best LGBT Film, Oxford Film Festival
- Nominated Best Documentary Feature, Queens World Film Festival
Official selection at 14 festivals, including Dances With Films
Dances With Films, San Antonio LGBT International Film Fest, QFest St. Louis, Cinema Diverse: Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival, qFLIX Philadelphia, Erie International Film Festival, Twin Cities Film Fest, North West Fest, East Village Queer Film Festival, In the Life Atlanta: Pride 365, Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival, Crested Butte Film Festival, Kansas International Film Festival, Hamilton Film Festival




Get In Touch
Tell us about the project.





