San Diego Video Production Services

Video production services in San Diego

I produce corporate, product and documentary video in San Diego with a compact, owned cinema kit. Typical work covers executive interviews and leadership messages on one or two cameras, product films and demonstrations, customer and employee testimonials, conference and product-launch coverage, and short brand documentaries. Every project is edited, colour graded and mixed in-house, with versions for web, social and internal channels.

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Who you're hiring in San Diego

I'm Theo Solnik, founder of Haikai Media and the cinematographer on every San Diego shoot I deliver. I trained in directing and cinematography at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb) under Fred Kelemen, Béla Tarr's cinematographer on The Turin Horse, and I have been shooting corporate, documentary and cinema work for 30 years. My first feature, Anna Pavlova Lives in Berlin, won the inaugural Prize for Young Film Art (Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Filmkunst), presented by Iris Berben and Bruno Ganz, and was shown daily for four months at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin.

I work in English on set, along with Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian, French and Norwegian. I hold Italian and Brazilian nationality and was granted a U.S. O-1B visa (as an Artist with Extraordinary Ability). When you book a San Diego shoot, you're hiring the director of photography who lights, frames, edits and delivers the work. Full biography and credentials here.

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Video work in San Diego

Most of my San Diego work has been for Brain Corp, the autonomous robotics company behind the BrainOS platform. Over five years I have covered its events and product launches in San Diego, New York and Las Vegas, and produced a corporate film at the company's San Diego headquarters explaining how its robots scan inventory in warehouses and fulfilment centres. I have also filmed executive interviews with Brain Corp's CEO, David Pinn. For Brain Corp and Tennant I also shot a commercial for the full X-ROVR line of autonomous floor scrubbers, in a studio in Temecula, California.

Working with the same client over several years means each shoot runs faster than the last: I already know the people, the brand and the product, and the footage stays consistent from one release to the next.

Beyond Brain Corp, I was cinematographer on a short brand documentary for Café Izola in San Diego, directed and produced by Sasha Milovanova: the story of a bakery started during the pandemic, told through its founders. I also covered the World ADC congress in San Diego in 2022.

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Case study: Brain Corp corporate film, San Diego

Brain Corp needed a clear, credible film explaining BrainOS to decision-makers in logistics and retail, an audience that buys on evidence rather than messaging. I filmed at the company's working headquarters in San Diego, with controlled interview positions on site and observational footage of the robots scanning shelves and pallets. The lead interview was with Chris Doran, Director of Technical Program Management. I shot, edited, graded and finished the film in-house, and Brain Corp uses it for marketing, sales enablement and industry conferences. Read the full case study.

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Executive interviews in San Diego

Executive interviews are the request I get most often, filmed in offices, labs, boardrooms or hotel suites that hold clean sound and a consistent look across several speakers in one day. My standard setup is two cameras, a wider primary and a tighter secondary, on a RED Komodo 6K with Zeiss Standard Speed primes at 16, 24, 32, 50 and 85mm. Audio runs to a Sennheiser MKH-416 shotgun or a Sanken COS-11 lavalier, with a 32-bit float recorder as backup. For teams coordinating from another time zone, I share a question framework beforehand and send review links after the shoot.

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Events and product launches

Event filming is unforgiving: there is one take, the schedule doesn't wait, and the atmosphere of a room is gone the moment it passes. My highlight films are built from atmospheric b-roll of the room, the speakers and the audience, cut to music, with short on-location interviews where they add depth. Highlights can often be turned around the same day or the next, so teams can publish while the event is still fresh.

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How I work in San Diego

I work as an owner-operator: I plan, light, shoot, direct, edit, grade and mix, so you deal with one person from brief to delivery. On larger productions I bring in vetted local crew, such as a sound recordist or second camera operator, and direct them myself. Most corporate shoots in offices, labs and private venues need only the owner's permission. Where a shoot uses public space, I confirm the permit requirement before the schedule is fixed and build the lead time into the plan.

My own equipment: RED Komodo 6K, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Sigma fp, Zeiss Standard Speed PL primes, DJI RS 3 Pro with LiDAR and Focus Pro, Zoom recorders, Sennheiser and Sanken microphones, and a full lighting package. I'm also a TRUST-certified drone pilot (DJI Air 2S).

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Deliverables and turnaround

Deliverables are prepared for how you'll use them: masters for internal distribution, compressed web versions, short social edits and subtitles on request. Interview-based productions deliver a first cut within 24 to 48 hours of wrap. Two revision rounds are included, and each revised cut is delivered within 24 hours of your feedback.

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Pricing

Every San Diego project is quoted individually based on shoot days, crew, deliverables and post-production scope. Payment terms are 50% on signing, 50% within five business days of final delivery. I invoice under Italy's regime forfettario (Art. 1, c. 54–89, L. 190/2014), so my invoices carry no VAT.

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Frequently asked questions

Have you worked in San Diego before?

Yes. I have worked with Brain Corp for five years, including a corporate film at its San Diego headquarters and coverage of its events and product launches in San Diego, New York and Las Vegas.

Can you film robots and technology in a working facility?

Yes. I have filmed Brain Corp's autonomous robots at work in warehouses and at its headquarters, planning coverage around the machines and the working day rather than stopping production.

What's included in the day rate?

The day rate covers me as DP, the RED Komodo package, Zeiss primes, standard lighting and audio kit. Additional crew, specialised lighting and permits are quoted separately.

How fast can you deliver?

First cut within 24 to 48 hours of wrap for standard interview projects. Two revision rounds are included, and each revised cut is delivered within 24 hours of your feedback.

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Start your San Diego project

Tell me what you need shot in San Diego, when it's due and where it's happening. I read every enquiry myself and reply within one business day.