Douglas Cheney - Director / DP
I fell in love with movie cameras at age seven when my family shot a short film in our backyard. My Dad served as cinematographer and shot on his 8mm Supermatic. I was instantly hooked. From that moment on, I could be found behind a camera and by age nineteen, I'd written and shot my first feature film, "Nuclear Family" a post-apocalyptic drama captured on Super VHS.
After graduating from WSU, I found work as a film loader and quickly started climbing the ranks of the camera department. Later, I’d work as a staff Director/DP at North by Northwest Productions in Spokane, where I’d hone my craft under some seriously skilled cinematographers, including Danny Heigh and Matt Clark. While there, I shot hundreds of thousands of feet of film and directed scores of commercials which helped me develop my voice and style.
After moving to Los Angeles, I directed "Frank," a feature film starring Britt Robertson, Garrett Morris and Jon Gries. In the same year, I co-founded new media shingle, Big Fantastic with my fellow WSU alum, Chris Hampel. Along with our partners Chris McCaleb and Ryan Wise, we produced some of the first major deals in the new media space, including the Emmy-nominated web series “Sam Has 7 Friends” and “Prom Queen.” Along the way, we created many shows: "Sorority Forever," "Kill Spin" and Robin Cook's "Foreign Body" among them.
In 2007, I joined the Writer’s Guild of America and have since written features and teleplays for Warner Bros. Television, Fox 2000, Alloy Entertainment and Colorforce.
While I enjoy writing and producing and feel lucky to have experienced so many facets of the industry, I never stopped shooting. In 2013, I shot "Why We Ride" (along with Co-DP Andrew Waruszewski) which won best documentary at the Motorcycle Film Festival. Over the years, I've shot many unscripted TV shows like "Hollywood Medium," "Hacking the System" and "Expedition Unknown," and I continue to shoot and direct for a roster of networks and national brands, including Newegg, Discovery, NBC, Nat Geo, MTV, Ford, Sprint, Smirnoff and Toyota.