The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development (MPTD) is pleased to honor filmmaker Chris Keener, founder of Goldenbear, as the June 2013 Filmmaker of the Month. His work spans commercial, feature, television, and documentary filmmaking he has had success in the online arena as well. He created the video e-Card web site Cardsharque.com, producing more than 60 short comic videos that continue to be distributed around the world today and most recently produced a wildly popular web series for AARP.
In 2009 Chris founded Goldenbear, a DC-based production company that specializes in short-form online video and branded content. Local 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. Chris is currently developing Goldenbear’s first feature film, which will be filmed primarily in Washington, DC in 2014.
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 concurrently honed his acting skills, appearing in such projects as Annapolis, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, In Her Shoes, Identity Burglars, 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 two years producing for the National Geographic Channel, creating web content and the original online series Traveling Without Footprints.
This summer, Chris will be working with talented collaborators on branded content and a series of Daisy Dukes (comic short-shorts). He resides in the Ward 1 neighborhood of Mount Pleasant and Goldenbear's studio is in Adams Morgan.
The DC Film Office launched the Filmmaker of the Month initiative to feature a District-based filmmaker who exemplifies the vast amount of talent and creativity based here in the nation’s capital. The Filmmaker of the Month initiative is part of its mission to elevate the national and international profile of the city’s most talented filmmakers. Previous filmmakers honored include Chinatown creator Yi Chen; Theresa Bucci, documentary filmmaker specializing in short films about social causes; actor, comedian and filmmaker Tommy Taylor, Jr.; and producer of The West Wing and K Street Jonathan Zurer.
You can visit the Filmmaker of the Month section to learn more about Gemal and previous Filmmaker of the Month recipients.
Do you know a filmmaker you would like to see featured as the DC Film Office’s Filmmaker of the Month”? If so, please forward your suggestion to [email protected].