From Ad Hoc Video to World-Class Film
Studio Build · Lumen Technologies
You don’t build a film studio by accident — especially inside a 30,000-person tech company.
During a period of company-wide transformation, I helped build and lead Lumen Films, turning an undefined internal video function into a trusted, world-class in-house studio responsible for the company’s highest-stakes storytelling.
Building Lumen Films
The Story
Lumen is a global infrastructure company operating at enormous scale, with complex products and little tolerance for creative risk.
The mandate was to build creative ambition inside that system — attracting top-tier talent, raising the bar on craft, and earning trust across a non-creative organization.
By shifting the team from order-takers to collaborators and grounding the work in human stakes, Lumen Films earned autonomy and momentum.
Over two years, the studio grew from 4 to 15, evolving from improvised internal videos to award-winning work with partners like the Kentucky Derby, AWS, and the Space Needle.
Today, Lumen Films is the centralized owner of all film and video across a 30,000-person company.
The Work
Lumen Films produces:
Premium customer stories and brand partnerships
Films supporting multi-billion-dollar deals
Executive and earnings content
Event films for town halls reaching 30,000 employees
Elevated documentaries and technical explainers
The studio operates primarily in-house by design — owning its gear, process, and standards — with freelance support used selectively when scale requires it.
The Process
End-to-end ownership across:
Creative development and narrative strategy
Stakeholder alignment across Product, Sales, Legal, and Operations
Full pre-production, production, and post
The culture is disciplined and collaborative: shared knowledge, high accountability, and zero ego.
My Role
Creative Director & Studio Lead
Set creative vision, taste, and standards
Helped hire, manage, and develop a 15-person team
Directed the studio’s most ambitious productions
Partnered directly with executive leadership and customers
Translated complex infrastructure into clear, human stories
I applied 20 years of directing experience to building a high-functioning creative organization inside a high-expectation enterprise.
Impact
Studio Growth
Team scaled from 4 → 15
Centralized all film and video production company-wide
Audience & Engagement
36.6% increase in total video views across platforms (365,511 total views)
66.3% growth in YouTube views, reaching 264,072 views
31% QoQ increase in engagement on customer story content on YouTube
Business Contribution
44% of all organic video views driven by Lumen Films assets
21% of Lumen’s total organic clicks originated from posts featuring Lumen Films content
Recognition
AVA Digital Awards — Platinum (Intelsat, San Manuel)
ADDY Awards — Gold + Best in Show (Intelsat)
Communicator Awards — Award of Excellence
2x Lumen “Marky” Marketing Award Winners: for Courage, and Teamwork
Trust
Primary creative partner to the full C-suite
Embedded across Product, Sales, and Executive Communications
Why It Matters
Building Lumen Films showed that creative excellence isn’t about scale or permission — it’s about leadership, taste, and trust.
In two years, I built a studio that could operate at enterprise scale, deliver under pressure, and raise the creative bar inside a 30,000-person company.