About The Film

Shawn Vela, Founder of Vela Visuals, received his first Emmy® Award for the inspirational short film documentary “Alive: Taking A Stand For Christ.” The Emmy® Ceremony was held on December 3, 2016 in Orlando, Florida (Suncoast Chapter).

“Alive: Taking A Stand For Christ” tells the story of Courtnee Newsome, a high school student who suffered from scoliosis her entire life. She loves dancing, but scoliosis prevented her from immersing herself in dance. Despite the physical and emotional pain of watching her dreams diminish, she looks to rediscover Joy in Christ.

The film received an Emmy® Award in the Religion Program category. In addition, Shawn Vela received three Emmy® nominations in the Religion Program, Director and Editor categories.

The Suncoast Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a regional chapter of the Emmy® Awards that recognizes productions in television markets in the entire State of Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Puerto Rico.

“Courtnee’s story is a great example of why I love what I do,” said Shawn Vela, Founder of Vela Visuals. “As documentary filmmakers we are trusted with vulnerable and triumphant moments. What we do with those moments is what defines the story and inspires the viewer.” 

 

Behind The Scenes

The film was produced with the help of First Baptist Orlando’s Student Ministry.  First Baptist Orlando is a 14,000 member congregation. The church’s 130-acre campus is located at 3000 South John Young Parkway, Orlando, FL 32805. The church meets for worship services Saturday at 5:30pm and Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:30am.

Others who contributed to the project include: Christopher Bacon, Brandon Farris, Amy Newsome, Vasile Petrutiu, Vladimr Bykov, Central Florida Ballet Inc, and The Lens Pal.

About Shawn 

Shawn Vela is a 5-Time Emmy® Award Winning Director, Cinematographer, and Editor. He is the Founder of Vela Visuals, a video production agency based in Orlando Florida that specializes in creating lifestyle, commercial, and documentary films.

Vela has been recognized for filming on four Super Bowl Commercial sets, IMBD credits on Documentaries, and director of photography on the Business Travel Show Ambitious Adventures. His work has been showcased on “Entrepreneur Network, Facebook Watch, Amazon Prime Video,  ABC, FOX, My65, CBS, NBC, and THE CW Television Network.

Shawn holds a BSBA in Marketing from the Lebow College of Business at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, an AS in International Business, and an AA in Communications from Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA.

Interested in working together?

At Vela Visuals we work with story-driven companies, cutting-edge agencies, and inspired faith-based non-profits. Whether you’re just starting with video or you’re a seasoned marketing manager, Vela Visuals offers authentic storytelling that inspires your audience.

We will work with you to discover and craft the right stories within your organization to that motivate your audience. From conception to completion and beyond!

Whatever your goals are – to inform or inspire on the web, on television, or internally – our ability is to make the world’s most relevant form of communication work hard for you. If you have a story to tell we can help you bring it to life!