Matthew Ogens

HONORABLE MENTION SUMMER 2018: Filmmaker Matthew Ogens (r), DP John Tipton, and crew filming a scene in Juarez, Mexico for a new feature doc Home + Away, about kids living on both sides of the US/Mexico border.  In this BTS scene, shot with Apple iPhone, a father in Juarez, a city plagued by cartel violence, finds solace in watching his daughters play basketball in El Paso, Texas where they attend high school. He cannot cross the border into the United States and thus has never seen them play except via FaceTime. It's bittersweet for him as he is proud of them, but heartbroken he can't be there in person. Often families separated by the border rely on technology like texting, social media, and FaceTime to communicate. 

About Matthew Ogens
Matt Ogens is an award-winning filmmaker, known for an evocative visual aesthetic where image and narrative are intertwined. He works across a variety of media including advertising, documentary, virtual and augmented reality. Ogens got his start directing long form docu-series for networks including MTV, VH1, CBS, and CNN, and earned three Emmy^® nominations for his work for ESPN. His feature documentary “Confessions of a Superhero” premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim.  Ogens segued into commercials and branded content, working with top agencies and brands. He continues to work across both commercials and long form entertainment. In the world of advertising, Matt has helmed major commercial campaigns for Ford, Hyundai, ESPN, Ancestry.com, McDonald’s, Visa, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Coors Light, and Nascar amongst others, where he has earned several awards such as a SXSW Interactive award, Clio, One Show pencils, and more. Other notable projects include the short documentary “Kid Yamaka,” which launched on Vice; “North VR,” a virtual reality film shot in Detroit; a Primetime Emmy® Award for “From Harlem with Love” about the Harlem Globetrotters for ESPN’s “30 for 30” series; and several short films for Stand Up 2 Cancer. Current projects include “Why We Fight,” an Emmy^® nominated new documentary series, which Ogens created and executive produces and a recent Emmy^® nomination for “LA Louvre,” an augmented reality film for RYOT and Huffington Post.  His new feature doc “Home + Away”, which follows high school athletes living on the US/Mexico border, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Learn more at www.mattogens.com

Eilish M. Nobes

HONORABLE MENTION: DP Niko Feldman gets dirty as he films X3 Florida Shape Off Champion Mike Whisnant as he shapes one of his custom surfboards for a short documentary on Mike Whisnant. Jacksonville, Florida is home to X3 Florida Shape of Champion Mike Whisnant of Whisnant Surfboards. He can be found in his shop shaping boards 6 days a week. This was a three day shoot in the director Ryan Magennis' home town of Jacksonville, FL.

About Eilish M. Nobes
Eilish is a documentary filmmaker and producer based out of Savannah, Georgia who hopes to give a voice where there is none, and believes that any cause or person no matter how big or small is worthy of a chance for their story to be told. Driven by her curiosity to explore, and tell stories she believes that there is so much that can be learned if the time is taken to listen and observe the environment around us as well as the people too. Learn more at eilishmnobes.com

Paul De La Cerda (Entered By Taillight)

RUNNER-UP WINTER 2017/18: Using a Sony a7s ii with Canon EF Zoom lens, caught Taillight Director TK McKamy in action, using his his Alexa Mini camera with Cooke S4 lenses, on the set of the Granger Smith's music video for Happens Like That.  Paul’s photo was also featured inside the May/June New Directors issue of SHOOT Magazine, on SHOOTonline.com's Homepage, The SHOOT BTS Photo Contest Homepage, and he won $250 USD.

About Paul De La Cerda
Paul is a professional Director/Videographer from San Antonio, TX. He has worked with various artists from country artist Granger Smith to Aaron Watson to Kyle Park. He continues to work with musicians from Texas and Nashville creating music videos, documentaries and web content videos. Paul is also a tour videographer. He travels with artist Granger Smith and creates web content videos. Visit www.pauldlc.net to see more of his work.

John Platt

HONORABLE MENTION WINTER 2017/18: Camera operator Jonno Tyler and dolly grip Troy Pachini on the set of Nekromancer, Fox Studios, Stdney Australia. Shot last year, John used Fujifilm X-T2 23mm f1.4 camera & lens to profile these two crew member characters.

About John Platt
After 30 years working on set in the camera department both in Australia and Canada John Platt has a vast catalogue of behind the scenes images. In 2016 he turned his eye 180 degrees and now shoots those in front of the camera as a Unit Still Photographer based out of Sydney Australia.

John's three decades in the film industry working within the camera department places him in an unique position as Unit Stills Photographer. He has a thorough knowledge of film set etiquette, is personally known to the vast majority of any crew that he will work with and most importantly for the Stills Photographer who is given little time on set, he has the invaluable asset of their respect. "My aim as Unit Stills Photographer is to to recreate the essence of the story through stills," says John. "Achieving the results with as little disturbance as possible to the actors, crew or the flow of the days work".

John's photography has been purchased by buyers throughout Australia, the U.S. and Canada. His work has hung in Panavision Australasia as well as their head office in Los Angeles. Presently he is preparing his first book, 'Observations' based on his behind the scenes images shot over the last thirty years on set. In  Martha Ansara's "The Shadow Catchers" celebrating the history of Cinematography in Australia the number of his images included was second only to that of The Australian Film and Sound Archive. Visit johnplatt.com.au to see more of his work.

Tennille Teague (entered by Pereira & O'Dell New York)

WINNER SUMMER 2017: Sam Spiegel directs actor Fernando Becerril in this debut short film for National Geographic's "10 Days of Genius Film Festival." National Geographic partnered with creative agency Pereira & O’Dell New York to develop the concept, content, and strategy behind this unique initiative, kicking off with two short films “The Instrument” and “The Mirror,” both directed by Spiegel.

About Tennille Teague
Tennille is currently Head of Content Production at Pereira & O'Dell New York, helping the agency create innovative branded content while maintaining the highest level of craft and creative excellence. She was the executive producer on the feature documentary film, Lo & Behold, directed by Werner Herzog. The film, which explored the fragility of the internet, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was eventually sold to Magnolia Pictures. It won dozens of industry awards, including 6 Cannes Lions (3 gold).  A 15-year advertising industry veteran, Tennille has produced work for global brands such as Bud Light, Sprite, Virgin Atlantic, Realtor.com, National Geographic, Timberland, Range Rover, LG, MTV, Campbell's, Fox Sports and the NFL and many others. She's also brought multiple productions to life grounded in social causes, including MTV AIDS Awareness, VH1 EXIT/Human Trafficking, Youth Reckless Driving and PETA.  Outside of Pereira & O'Dell, Teague is in the process of developing a premium line of dog carrying bags called Jaxx Hound.

Michael Ralla (Entered by framestore)

On location Walmart receipt "Lost & Found" scene photo by Michael Ralla  Walmart gave Director Marc Forster a receipt with six items on it and said; "Tell a story using them anyway you want." Marc took the opportunity to take us to a whole new world with its own kind of beauty. Cinematographer was Matthias Koenigswieser.

About Michael Ralla
Michael is a Compositing Supervisor at Framestore’s Los Angeles office, having worked within advertising and feature film VFX for almost a decade. After graduating from the Audiovisual Media program at HdM Stuttgart, Michael landed his first professional role at Scanline VFX in Munich. Michael’s career has seen him traverse the globe, gaining experience from studios including Animal Logic in Sydney, MPC in Vancouver, Digital Domain in Los Angeles and Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco. His feature film credits include Academy Award® winners and nominees Avatar, Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Transformers: The Dark of the Moon, and Iron Man 3. During his tenure at Framestore, Michael has overseen major advertising projects including the recent 360° Eyes On Gigi campaign for BMW, Destiny 2's trailer New Legends Will Rise, Walmart's 'The Receipt' and the hypnotic Rihanna ‘ANTIdiaRy’ film series for Samsung. 

Amy McMullen

HONORABLE MENTION SUMMER 2017:  Humor on set of ADDY's spot BTS shot by Amy McMullen​ was shot on location at "Fave Creative," in Downtown Huntsville, Alabama. Amy's BTS entry was taken using a Canon EOS 5DS with a Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM Wide-Angle Lens. Actor Mark Strand was captured laughing in between takes. "Mark had such a vibrant smile that it seemed to light up the room," says Amy. Makeup artist Jennifer Gibson can be seen in the background helping Adriane Van Kirk prepare for her scene, her character was a beautiful, whimsical rabbit. Adriane is also the owner and brand developer at Fave Creative. Credit for production goes to the talented team of IByte Films, Director Alex Gibson and director of photography RJ Ortiz. The production was for AAF North Alabama ADDY awards official 2017 ADDY opening ceremony video presentation. 

About Amy McMullen
Amy is a highly dedicated professional in her career as a photographer. She's traveled to different states across the U.S. to capture Behind-the-Scene (BTS) stills for television, film productions and various business owners. Amy combines unit stills work with a variety of other professional photography (portraiture, travel, beauty, editorial, and special events). Amy is a photojournalist for Kiernan Group Holdings (KGH) collecting, editing, and presenting still images for publications on behalf of the KGH team. She also works as a portrait photographer for Greg Machen Photography, Madison, AL, where she dedicates her time and attention to portraits for children Pre-Kindergarten through their senior year in high school. Ms. McMullen is also the founder and photographer of her beloved charity, Courageous Photography, where she travels the U.S. visiting children who fight life threatening illness. She celebrates the life of each child with free photo shoots given to the families while documenting the children's moments with their family. For Amy, "Photography was my way of reconnecting to life" after she became a military widow 13 years ago. In addition to her passion for photography, Amy is a single mother, living in Alabama with her daughters always encouraging each of them to "move forward with their dreams, be resilient and never give up."

Eduardo Ramirez-Gonzalez

HONORABLE MENTION SUMMER 2017: On set selfie photo by Eduardo Ramirez-Gonzalez where he used his iPhone 6 to take a selfie of the set of Cranial Sacral a feature film that he shot in June of 2017. The idea was to get a photo of the main camera the Alexa Mini and a Selfie on the mirror  with himself, his gaffer Jose Jaime Rodriguez and his Key Grip Juan Felipe Gonzalez. This is not the first creative selfie Eduardo has entered in SHOOT's BTS Photo Contest; he landed runner-up spot in the Contest's Winter 2016-17 edition  with an underwater selfie, "The Underwater Set Today" while working on a underwater commercial shoot in the USC pool in Los Angeles last year. Pictured is the DP, a Red Dragon Camera, and the Hydro flex underwater system. He took the selfie with his GoPro 3+ Black Edition in time lapse mode. The shoot was a proof of concept, for showcasing a new product, for all type of athletes. See Eduardo's Runner-up photo here

About Eduardo Ramirez
Passionate about photography, Eduardo got involved in the film industry working as a technician, then as Key Grip, Gaffer and 1stAC until he became a Cinematographer 13 years ago. He has a masters degree in Feature Film Cinematography from Prague Film School (Czech Republic). He's done 8 feature films and works in commercials and music videos on a daily basis. Living in Los Angeles, born and raised in Colombia, South America, he is a member of the Colombian society of cinematographers (ADFC) and had the honor to work with DP's like Claudio Miranda ASC, Alex Barber and Lula Carvalho (as their second unit). He has also worked with first class directors such as Guillermo Navarro ASC, Michael Abt and Marcelo Szechtman. He also specializes in aerial and underwater cinematography. www.eduardoramirezdop.com