Eben Hall

My work with OceanX began as a freelance director in the Spring of 2021. Since then I have been privileged to join the organization full-time as Executive Producer. I am the creative and editorial lead of our in-house produced content and work with outside partners to develop media projects that reach audiences across the globe.

Directed / Produced / Co-shot. The Impossible Ride documents Denise Mueller’s attempt to become the fastest cyclist on earth. We spent a week baking on the Bonneville Salt Flats to capture this. The film was recognized at domestic and international film festivals, including taking home Best Documentary Short at the International Motor Film Awards in London in 2019.

Developed series / Directed / Co-shot. Mission Wild is a series I developed around bear biologist Wesley Larson. We travelled the world to film scientists on the front lines of the fight to save endangered wildlife. Highlights included transporting a pack of wild dogs across South Africa and meeting the researcher who pulled that infamous straw out of the nose of a sea turtle.

This series won critical acclaim among the scientific community with its focus on the facts and our commitment to capture the scientific process accurately. This approach built trust with our subjects who gave us unprecedented access to their field research.

I am an experienced Director of Photography with thousands of hours on the Sony FS/FX series of cameras. Also fluent on Canon and RED. I love sticking GoPros to things.

The ability to produce premium content remotely is more important than ever. I have hired crews all over the world and have developed an extensive network of freelancers from Canada to Japan. I’m experienced on platforms like Storyhunter to find talent and am comfortable scripting and producing in all sorts of languages. Here are some some of my favorite projects produced and directed from afar.

At Great Big Story I was fortunate enough to produce two Vimeo Staff picks. The first was about a handmade amusement park in Italy - the passion project of one man. The second was about one of the strangest intersections of pop culture in history — the time Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees.

Handmade Amusement Park: Produced.

Hendrix & The Monkees: Wrote, Directed.

Just because a video is branded, doesn’t mean it has to be boring or disingenuous. Over the years, I have produced content for world-class brands such as Toyota, Genesis, Patron, Mercedes-Benz, Bloomberg, Lenscrafters, and the national tourism boards of China and India. Fun fact: I have a marketing degree from The George Washington University School of Business.

I am Part 107 certified, fully insured, and licensed to operate in all 50 states (including North Carolina). I also have experience in arranging international permits.

In 2018, I joined the CNN AIR aerial photography team, which has a unique relationship with the FAA and some of the highest safety standards in the business.

Thanks to John at Firesound for the sound design on my reel.

Produced / Directed / Co-shot. One of the best parts of my job is meeting amazing people and sharing their story with the world. Here are some of my most favorite people I’ve shot over the years.

I love working with artists and animators to bring stories to life in different creative ways. Here are some of my animated features and explainers that I wrote and produced.

Directed / Produced / Co-shot. The Nightmare Machine was one of my first breakout hits at Great Big Story, garnering over 10 million views on YouTube (and counting).

Wrote / Directed / Co-shot. It was a pleasure to interview one of Hollywood’s most prolific sitcom set designers: John Shaffner. This video — about John’s work on Friends — became one of the most picked-up videos of Great Big Story’s history appearing everywhere from Time Magazine to Glamour.

Produced / Directed / Co-shot. This was one of the most grueling shoots of my career, believe it or not. We tagged along with some of the world’s most prolific rollercoaster enthusiasts as they sought to increase their “coaster count.” Filming this required permission to film from a dozen different amusement parks plus over 1,000 miles of driving over the three-day shoot.

Produced / Directed / Co-shot. We visited sculptor Anthony Howe on his island home in the Pacific Northwest. This piece was one of the first viral hits for GBS on Facebook. After this shoot Anthony went on to create the Olympic Cauldron for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

I also make podcasts! The Genius Generation is an interview show that I produced for PRX and Seeker. I worked with editor and sound designer John Pappas to create the 22 episodes that comprise the inaugural season in just 13 weeks.