Chris Keener, Aquarius, and principal of Goldenbear, has been producing and directing broadcast quality films in the DC area for the past 6 years, and working in the industry bi-coastally for a lucky 13.
Chris began his career in Philadelphia, working in various crew roles on studio features including Invincible and The Village, in addition to TV shows for DreamWorks, NFL Films, and VH1. While at Temple University, he developed and directed the short films Trophy and Taking Blandman that played at festivals worldwide, including the Philadelphia Film Festival, Palm Springs Intl. and Tokyo Indies. He also created the video e-Card website Cardsharque.com, producing over 60 short comic videos that continue to be sent the world over.
He concurrently honed his acting skills, racking up credits that include The Village, Annapolis, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, In Her Shoes, Identity Burglars, Taking Blandman, and several regional and national commercials.
Chris moved to Washington, DC in 2007, as producer of a talk show called The Voice for RLTV. He then spent 2 years producing for National Geographic Channel, creating web content and the original online series ‘Traveling Without Footprints’.
In 2009 he founded Goldenbear, a production company that specializes in short-form online video and branded content. Local DC clients have included National Geographic Channel, Discovery Production Group, Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, AARP, Weber Shandwick, USPS, Pulsar Advertising, The Woodrow Wilson Center, BYT, The Corcoran Gallery of Art and the IDB.
Last summer, Chris traveled to Antigua, Guatemala with a crew including 12 DC residents to co-direct and act in Goldenbear’s first narrative film, The Garden of Steven. The 25-minute dark comedy is currently being submitted to film festivals. Piggy-backing on the success of the film, Goldenbear is developing their first feature, which will be shot primarily in Washington DC in 2014.
At the moment, Goldenbear is hot off a trip to Argentina for The Vines of Mendoza; wrapped on an intimate portrait for the Abramson Foundation; producing a wildly popular web series for AARP; and helping the Corcoran showcase their hot young talent.
Chris is excited about shooting a series of Daisy Dukes (comic short-shorts) in DC this summer with talented collaborators from their studio in Adams Morgan.
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