SURVIVORS PRODUCTION.

The studio

Nine years of stories that survive.

Where it started

Survivors Production started in 2017 as two people, one camera, and a stubborn belief that commercial work deserves the same care as cinema. The first office was a converted darkroom; the first client found us because a wedding film went unreasonably viral. We kept the darkroom instinct — work the image until it’s true — and lost the weddings.

Today we’re a crew of eight in the Arts District, with a stage, an edit floor, a calibrated grade suite, and a sound room next door — so a film never leaves the building between the first treatment and the final master. We shoot commercials, documentaries, music videos and corporate films, and once a year we make something of our own to stay honest.

The name is a promise, not a boast. Most films don’t survive — briefs get diluted, edits get made by committee, campaigns vanish in a week. We build the kind that make it through: prepared to the frame, shot with nerve, and cut until only the true thing is left.

The Survivors Production crew adjusting lights between takes on a film set

The crew

Eight people, one call sheet.

Portrait of Mara Ellison

Mara Ellison

Founder & Creative Director

Started in documentary, still thinks like a documentarian: find the true thing, then light it. Directs most of the studio's original work.

Portrait of Jonah Reyes

Jonah Reyes

Executive Producer

Fifteen years of making impossible schedules quietly possible. Keeps the budgets honest and the coffee strong.

Portrait of Ines Kowalczyk

Ines Kowalczyk

Director of Photography

Shoots with one light whenever she can get away with it. Aurora Award winner for Hinterland; will trade anything for golden hour.

Portrait of Theo Marchetti

Theo Marchetti

Senior Editor

Believes every film is remade in the cut. Fluent in rhythm, ruthless with darlings, allergic to montages set to uplifting whistling.

Portrait of Priya Nandakumar

Priya Nandakumar

Head of Color

Runs the grade suite like a darkroom. Ten years of features and spots; can spot an over-cooked LUT from across the room.

Portrait of Elliot Frei

Elliot Frei

Sound Designer & Composer

Records everything — factories, lighthouses, furnaces — and builds scores out of the places we shoot. Mixes in the room next to the grade.

Portrait of Aya Tanaka

Aya Tanaka

Producer

Ran three coastal locations in five days without losing a single call sheet. The reason clients come back.

Portrait of Denny Okafor

Denny Okafor

Director, Motion & Titles

Directs music videos and builds the studio's title sequences. Thinks type should move like it was shot, not animated.

Awards & press

Kind words, heavy objects.

  • 2026Staff Pick
    Vimeo — Midnight Frequency
  • 2026Wood Pencil, Direction
    D&AD — Static & Light
  • 2025Best Cinematography
    Aurora Film Awards — Hinterland
  • 2025Official Selection
    Aurora Documentary Festival — The Last Lighthouse Keeper
  • 2025Production Company to Watch
    Shots Magazine
  • 2024Sports Film — Shortlist
    The Webby Awards — Second Wind
  • 2024Silver, Cinematography
    Ciclope Festival — Salt & Citrus
  • 2024Merit, Branded Content
    The One Show — Quiet Capital

Roll camera

Have a story that deserves better than ordinary?