Shane Yeager✦Dir / DPBooking Summer + Fall ’26
Director · DP · Host · Content advisor

Hi, I’m Shane

I’m a director, DP, host, and content advisor. Film is my foundation; building with AI expands how I solve creative problems, from shaping a story to designing the workflow behind it.

Work with me↗Watch the reel
Portrait of director and cinematographer Shane YeagerShane Yeager · DC★ 40 Under 40
The short version

Learned by making & shipping.

Shane Yeager built his career from hands-on production outward — from early broadcast and entertainment camera work to founding CineSalon, a company known for campaign-minded video across government, agency, brand, and association work.

He brings the same practical curiosity to content strategy and software: shaping the story, testing the tools, and building workflows that support the people doing the creative work.

His public credits connect him to the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force/JBER, the U.S. Department of State, the Maryland Judiciary, the Washington Nationals, Park Hyatt, JOOLA, Toyota, and the National Restaurant Association — plus narrative credits including Rabbit's Day Off, Uso-Tsuki, and Man at Arms: Reforged.

Training: university coursework in marketing and entrepreneurship; Adobe-certified; FAA Part 107 drone license.

10+
Years directing & shooting
CineSalon
Founder
Adobe · FAA Part 107
Certifications
What I do

One director,
the whole pipeline.

Direction, cinematography, hosting, and content advice — shaped around the work you need to make.

01

Direction & Cinematography

Leading the creative and the camera — story, frame, and performance.

02

Hosting & Documentary Interviews

On-camera hosting and documentary interviews, with a director’s ear.

03

Content & AI Workflow Advisory

Shape content, production plans, and tools around the audience.

04

Commercial & Branded Films

Campaign-minded brand and agency films built to perform.

05

Creative Development

Concepting, treatments, and visual strategy ahead of production.

06

Public-Sector / Regulated-Environment Production

Cleared, compliant production for government and institutional clients.

07

Aerial & Drone-Enabled Shoots

FAA Part 107 aerial cinematography integrated into the shoot plan.

The operator

Credible end to end

I help teams decide what to make, how to shoot it, and where AI can improve the workflow. That means directing, cinematography, hosting, and building software around the real needs of a production.

Adobe Certified Expert

Premiere Pro + the Creative Cloud video stack

FAA Part 107

Licensed commercial drone pilot

Founder, CineSalon

Bi-coastal production studio — Washington, D.C. + Los Angeles

Co-founder, ShortKlips

Production-management software platform

On set

Where the work
actually happens.

A camera, a crew that likes each other, and a lot of long days. Open a frame for the story.

The crew in full costume on a shoot
Off the clock-ish

If the crew’s having a good time, it shows up on screen.

The path

How I got here

  1. High school

    Started in media

    Began making video as a teenager; by 18 had won a national business award for video production.

  2. 2012

    Beach Boys 50th

    Shot a year-long documentary feature tied to the Beach Boys' 50th-anniversary reunion tour.

  3. 2014

    CineSalon takes shape

    Results-driven production work for brands, agencies, and institutions dates back to 2014.

  4. 2018

    U.S. Coast Guard

    Began multi-year recruiting + brand campaign work alongside LMD/LMO — later recognized with Hermes, ADDY, NAGC, and SABRE honors.

  5. 2019

    ShortKlips

    The operational overload of running DCV sparked ShortKlips — software to fix production management, collaboration, and payments.

  6. 2020

    JBER + JOOLA

    Turned a cancelled air show into a 37-camera, 360°/VR campaign with 2M+ reported views; relaunched JOOLA across the U.S. and Germany.

  7. 2024

    Writing the craft

    Published hands-on pieces on AI video tooling and audio-video marketing.

  8. 2025

    Scaling up

    Technical workflow writing (QNAP NAS, Blackmagic URSA Cine 10GbE); CineSalon's Los Angeles expansion and a Maryland Judiciary master contract.

Recognition

A few that
meant something.

2026
Gold ADDY
U.S. Coast Guard (LMD + CineSalon)
project
2024
Business Elite 40 Under 40
Honoree
personal
2023
Best Thriller — Uso-Tsuki
Uso-Tsuki
film
2020
VEGA / Canopus Award
U.S. Air Force "Operation COVID Strike"
project
2019
SABRE Awards — Top-5 North America Nomination
U.S. Coast Guard
project
2017
Official Selection — Under The Same Sun
Under The Same Sun
film
Off the clock

A few things

The real questions

What it’s like
to work with me.

Will you actually be on set?
Always. I direct and I run the camera — you get one head making both calls, not a handoff between two.
How early should I call you?
The earlier the better. Half the value is in the planning — strategy, look, logistics — long before anyone yells action.
Can you work in locked-down or regulated rooms?
Yes. Cleared, compliant, and calm. Government and institutional shoots are a big part of what I do.
Do you fly?
FAA Part 107 licensed. If aerial helps the story, it’s planned into the shoot from day one — not bolted on.
What if I don’t know exactly what I want yet?
Perfect. Figuring that out together is the fun part. Bring me the goal and the audience and we’ll find the film.
How do you use AI in creative work?
I use AI to explore ideas, prototype tools, and support production workflows. People still make the creative calls. The Lab shows what I’m building and what remains experimental.
Where are you based, and do you travel?
Bi-coastal — Washington, DC and Los Angeles — and I travel for the work constantly. Projects have taken me across the U.S. and overseas, from Alaska to Germany to multi-location hospitality shoots. If the story lives somewhere, that's where we go.
What's the typical crew size?
It scales to the job. I've run lean creator-led shoots with a small crew and staffed up large studio builds — set builders, carpenters, wardrobe/makeup/craft, full camera departments — when the scope called for it. The crew is sized to the shoot, never the other way around.
Can you host or advise on content?
Yes. I can host on camera, shape content strategy, and help teams test AI in their creative workflow.
How do you work with agencies and in-house teams?
As a production partner, not a competitor. I've collaborated with agencies and in-house creative teams — concepting, scouting, crewing, producing, and posting — and I'm comfortable slotting in as an extension of an existing team and matching its cadence.
Can you handle a lot of deliverables from one shoot?
Yes — that's where pre-production earns its keep. I design from the edit backward so a single shoot can carry an entire campaign: I've delivered twelve broadcast spots from a two-day shoot for a season launch, and routinely plan one shoot to produce many cutdowns and formats.
What kinds of work do you take on?
Range is on purpose. Public-facing work spans government and defense recruiting, sports, hospitality, automotive, consumer electronics and gaming, associations, and brand launches. The throughline isn't a category — it's complexity: distributed crews, real logistics, regulated environments, and campaigns that need more than one hero cut.
Why does the "operator" side matter for hiring you?
Because most of what makes a production go smoothly is invisible — prep, clarity, logistics, and how footage actually moves from camera to post to delivery. I came up running productions and a production company, so I think in systems as well as images.