Shawn Vela

Shawn Vela (born February 8, 1986) is an American filmmaker, director and cinematographer of film and television projects.
 
He is the founder of Vela Visuals; a full service video production and storytelling agency, through which he has produced, directed, filmed, and edited a number of films, including the Emmy® Award Winning Flying Fortress: The Mel Jenner Story, In Good Hands - The Amerivita Story, Good News, and the docuseries Success In Your City.
 
Vela, as of 2021, has directed, filmed, and edited more than 50 documentaries for web and traditional broadcast. His work has been featured on Entrepreneur Network, Amazon Prime Video, Roku, Facebook Watch, ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, and THE CW Television Network affiliates. He has received more than 30 Emmy® Award nominations and has won 17 Emmy® Awards for his work.
 
He is also the creator and host of the online course, Documentary Filmmaking Secrets, on Udemy.
 
Additionally, Vela is known for his storytelling marketing strategy from his premiere keynote speech, Stories Change The World, which was hosted at the Vinoy in St Petersburg, FL in 2021.
 
==Education==
In 2006, Vela enrolled at Montgomery County Community College, where he graduated in 2010 with an AS in International Business Administration and an AA in Communications. After his graduation, he transferred to Drexel University where he graduated in 2012 with a BSBA in Marketing. 
==Career==
Vela started his career in 2008 as a professional camera operator in Blue Bell, PA. During which he filmed several corporate promotional videos, music videos, commercials, high school graduations, weddings, and interviews.
Also in 2008, Vela Co-Created his first television series David Ivory Presents, which earned distribution on Comcast Xfinity in the tristate area.
Vela continued producing corporate videos. In 2010, Vela branched out into real estate video production. He created over 250 sales training videos based on neuro linguistic programming (NLP) techniques, promotional videos, client stories, “HGTV-style” home tips videos, city tour videos, sales funnel videos, and more. 
In 2013, Vela established Vela Visuals, a leading full-service video production agency based in Orlando, FL. The company, since its inception, has created a number of commercials, television shows, and documentary films, gaining recognition for their unique process and authentic storytelling methods. 
In the following years Vela directed, filmed, and edited a number of documentary shorts. In 2016 he directed the documentary short, Alive: Taking A Stand For Christ. Vela was honored with an Emmy® award in the Religion (Program) category at the The 40th Annual Suncoast Regional Emmy® Awards that year.
Vela went on to receive further accolades for his film and commercial work. In 2017 he won four Suncoast Regional Emmy® Awards in the Religion and Photography Categories for his work on Remembering The Fallen: Antoine Smith, Pulse One Year Later: Beauty From Ashes, and Restoration.
In 2018, he won eight Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards for his roles as a Director, Director of Photography, and Editor on Success In Your City, A Mother’s Love, Against All Odds: The Shea Hillenbrand Story, and The Sea Aire Motel.
In 2019, Vela’s documentary short on World War II veteran Mel Jenner, Flying Fortress: The Mel Jenner Story, won two Emmy® Awards. The documentary streamed on Amazon Prime Video in 2020. His most recent works Good News, and In Good Hands - The Amerivita Story are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video as well.
In 2021, Vela created Documentary Filmmaking Secrets, an online film education course hosted on Udemy. Also in 2021, Vela premiered his first keynote speech, Stories Change The World, at a video marketing conference hosted at the Vinoy in St. Petersburg, FL.
==Filmography:==
S.No.	Title 	Year 	Type 	Role
1 	Visioneer: The Peter Diamandis Story 	2015 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
2 	Armonia 	2016 	Short Documentary 	Cinematographer, Editor
3 	Return to Esperanza 	2016 	Short Documentary 	Editor
4 	The Soul of Success: The Jack Canfield Story 	2017 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
5 	Game Changer: The Dan Sullivan Story 	2017 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
6 	Rudy Ruettiger: The Walk On 	2017 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
7 	Against All Odds: The Shea Hillenbrand Story 	2018 	Short Documentary 	Director
8 	Operation Toussaint: Operation Underground Railroad and the Fight to End Modern Day Slavery	2018 	Video Documentary 	Cinematographer
9 	Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: The Jay Abraham Story 	2018 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
10 	Connected: The Joe Polish Story 	2018 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
11 	A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story 	2018 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
12 	Success in Your City 	2019 	TV Series Documentary	Editor
13 	Flying Fortress: The Mel Jenner Story 	2019 	Short Documentary 	Director, Editor, Cinematographer
14 	Success in Your City 	2019 - 2020	TV Series documentary	Director, Cinematographer
15 	Folds of Honor: A Fighter Pilot's Mission to Deliver Healing and Hope to America 	2020 	Documentary 	Cinematographer
16 	Choose Yourself: The James Altucher Story 	2020 	TV Series documentary	Director of Photography
17 	Good News 	2020 	Short Film 	Director, Cinematographer, Editor
18 	In Case You Didn't Know with Nick Nanton 	2020 	TV Series 	Editor
19 	In Good Hands - The Amerivita Story 	2021 	Short Documentary 	Director, Cinematographer, Editor
==Gallery==
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* Official Website
* Personal Website
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Category:1986 births
Category:American filmmakers
Category:American directors
Category:American cinematographers
Category:American entrepreneurs
Category:Drexel University alumni