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Hello, my name is Chris Ungco.

I am an Award Winning Cinematographer and Producer based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in New York, I came up working with Musicians, Journalists, Comedians, and Commercial Documentary Companies.
 

I’ve spent most of my life in rooms with specialized crews, setting up under pressure, and hoping for magic to happen. In feeling the sensitivity of a safe
space, you are more conscious of your shadow, of your breath, of when to bounce a light, of what light reveals and what light conceals.


In addition to learning the gear and techniques of shaping light, I spent a lot of time on the road, filming documentary work, and learning about The Wonder
And the Context.

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Selected Works

I spent much of my 20s as a road dog, shooting in 12 countries for Google for  their progressive campaigns, and when I was home I worked on as many narratives  for Comedy Central as I could.

NBC Olympics : Artists + Olympians Series // DP // 2024 
“War Is Over” Oscar Winner Best Animated Short // Motion Capture DP // 2023
PBS American Historia Series EP: John Leguizamo // DP // 2022-2023

Chanel: Runway Show // Camera Op // 2023 

MSNBC: Leguizamo Does America // Camera Op // 2022 - 2023
 

The Tonight Show // Series Field Camera Op // 2021 - 2023 

Sesame Street Seasons 50-53 “Big Bird’s RT”, “Racial Justice Series” // DP // 2019 -  2023 

Comedy Central “Stand Up Featuring:” // Series Camera Op // 2018 - 2023

Xtina Aguilera Feature for Time // Camera Op // 2022 

Roku “Lining” Dir: Tyler Davis // DP // 2022 
 

PBS Black Artist Legacies // DP // 2022 

Vice // Contributing Videographer // 2020 - 2021 

CNN, Great Big Story // Camera Op // 2019 - 2020

SOA Steadicam Workshop - August 2019 

Patton Veterans Project Workshop Supervisor - 2019-2024 
 

MTV/Snapchat “Wrong Distance Relationship” // Season DP // 2019-2020

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee // Camera Op // 2017 - 2020

Black Jack: A Jackie Ryan Feature // Steadicam Op // 2019 

Google Puerto Rico: Hurricane Maria Relief // DP // 2019 

Facebook & United Nations - 200 World Leader Interviews // DP // 2017 - 2018
 

Comedy Central “Alternatino” // Camera Op // 2016 - 2018

Free Meek Amazon Documentary Series // Camera Op // 2017

Frank Ocean Tour/ Spike Jonze // Pre-Tour Camera Op // 2017

Sony Lost In Music Series // Camera Op //2015 - 2017 

Universal McCann: Case Studies // DP // 2014 - 2017 
 

BBC: The Great Outdoors // Camera Op // 2014 - 2016 

USAID New Delhi “Mom and Baby” // DP // 2015 

Google: Made with Code, AdWords // DP // 2012 - 2015 

Billboard Magazine “Tastemakers” Musician Series // Camera Op // 2011 - 2013

Brooklyn Philharmonic x Mos Def + Erykah Badu // DP // 2011 - 2013

Chris has held a quiet storm inside for some time now. 

 

The 80s were a time of despotism and social liberation and in the middle of it, Chris’ Mom got her dream job and emigrated to the US to

work at the United Nations in NYC. Growing up in a White suburban town,

 

Chris fell in with the punks and the movie-watchers. College came and felt wasted at first until a deadline for a semester film project loomed suddenly. Boston snowstormed in feet and Chris was out in it, marching over the Charles River toward the Steenbeck Room. 

 

But the splicers were all locked in the closet, and without thinking Chris was in the CVS, buying a shaving razor, and taking the blade out to cut the film. 

Every meaningful work since then has required that same blood. 

Over the next two decades…

  • Masters in Film - School of Visual Arts

  • Chris produced and DPed segments for seasons 50-52 of Sesame Street for HBOMax, premiering a Diverse chapter of Social Justice campaigns.

  • Operated 3 seasons of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

  • Shot Commercial Documentaries for Google, Bloomberg, Oglivy, Universal McCann, and CNN in 12 countries.

  • Live Interviews with 200 World Leaders at the United Nations for Facebook.

  • Studio Episodes for Food Network, HGTV, Comedy Central, Billboard Magazine, Free Meek, MasterClass, WestBrook, Finding Your Roots, History Channel, Time, CNN, and attended SOAA Steadicam Workshop. 

The Narrative work in the portfolio represents some of the highlights of a career built on giving dignity and finding strengths in our diaspora.

 

Workshop Supervisor / Curriculum - I Was There Films - 2014-Present

A Non Profit Organization founded by Patton which teaches film workshops to veterans as a form of therapy for PTSD and field related trauma. The organization has made over 500+ films with Veterans. 

 

After working on Frank Ocean's World Tour with heroes Spike Jonze and Chayse Irvin, Chris decided to join the IATSE 600 in late 2017.

Chris Ungco is a Cinematographer by day and Werewolf by night.

Filmmakers

My favorite part of the site is a photo series of peers;  cinematographers, producers, and creatives whom I've been privileged to work with. I owe these people everything for their diligence, patience, and scrapiness. These people are role models, and I'm glad to call them friends.

(Coming Back Soon)

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