Columbus, Ohio · Available across Ohio & beyond
Eli Hiller—
Documentary director, DOP, and photojournalist based in Columbus, Ohio.
A local collaborator for filmmakers, agencies, brands, and editorial teams. Available for director, DOP, and camera operator assignments.
View selected work ↗Inquire about a shoot
Selected assignments / 01
Client Work
Stories of community, education, resilience, and change. Selected work for Verizon, Bloomberg, and Business Insider.
A Tampa family finds peace under a new, hurricane-ready roof
After Hurricane Milton destroyed Michelle’s Tampa home, rebuilding meant restoring her family’s sense of safety. This film follows how Verizon Community Disaster Resilience and Habitat for Humanity helped create a new, disaster-resilient home.
Agency: Gyrate Media · Production: Ami Studios
Producer: Ruth Gallogy
A bright new future for Tennessee students
In rural Polk County, Tennessee, limited internet access created barriers to learning. Verizon Innovative Learning brought devices and hands-on STEM experiences into classrooms, opening new possibilities for students’ education and careers.
Agency: Gyrate Media · Production: Ami Studios
Producer: Ruth Gallogy
A student pioneers VR for future utility workers
After learning to use 360-degree cameras through Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers, Kentucky student Grace Lester applied her skills to a real-world project: showcasing Big Sandy Community and Technical College’s lineman training program through virtual reality.
Agency: Gyrate Media · Production: Ami Studios
Producer: Kate Kilpatrick
World Chase Tag
A childhood game becomes a high-energy competitive sport. This Bloomberg Next in Sports episode explores World Chase Tag and the athletes bringing speed, agility, and strategy to the chase.
Client: Bloomberg
How dogs are trained to attack US prisoners
This investigation examines the use of patrol dogs against incarcerated people in the United States and the lasting injuries inflicted on prisoners. It traces connections between those who established these prison programs and those who later advised at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
Client: Business Insider
Canvus: a new life for wind turbine blades
What happens to wind turbine blades when they reach the end of their working life? This World Wide Waste episode explores the disposal challenge and follows Ohio company Canvus as it transforms discarded blades into benches and planters.
Client: Business Insider
Independent films / 02
Creative Work
Documentary and personal projects exploring identity, belonging, and the lives we share.
Becoming Us
A filmmaker returns to Ohio after years in the Philippines to connect with four newly discovered donor-conceived half-siblings, their mothers, and their Filipino biological father. Together, they explore their different relationships to Filipino identity, reimagine family beyond tradition, and navigate intergenerational conflict.
Producer: Loi Ameera Almeron
Directors of Photography: Eli Hiller, Cameron Henderson
Current trailer · Vimeo
Film support & filmmaker fellowships
Sundance Documentary Fund
Firelight MediaDocumentary Lab
Berkeley Film Foundation
Jonathan Logan Family FoundationSupport through the Berkeley award
Center for Asian American Media
Kartemquin FilmsDiverse Voices in Docs
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Wexner Center for the ArtsFilm Fellowship
DMZ DocsDevelopment grantPhilippines Reel
A myriad of select footage from various work projects in the Philippines working for nonprofits, news coverage, and documentaries, all filmed between 2016 and 2020.
Kemikal Romance
Three young men share their experiences of chemsex, social discrimination, and the HIV epidemic in Manila against the backdrop of the Philippines’ war on drugs.
On assignment / 03
Your local collaborator.
Director
Documentary and branded storytelling grounded in people, place, and thoughtful interviews.
Director of photography
Cinematic interviews, observational coverage, and visual storytelling for documentary and editorial teams.
Camera operator
Local camera support for visiting productions and Ohio-based crews.
Full-day assignments
Starting labor rate · Up to 10 hours
Full equipment package: $500 per shoot day
Labor + full kit starting at $1,700 per day.
Full-day bookings. Share your scope, dates, and location for a tailored quote.
Discuss your project ↗Camera, Lighting & Audio Kit
- Cameras
- Canon C500 Mark II · Canon C300 Mark II
- Lenses
- Canon L-series 24–105mm · 24–70mm · 70–200mm
- Audio
- 4 Sennheiser wireless lavalier microphones · Sennheiser shotgun microphone · Zoom F6 external recorder
- Lighting
- Aputure lighting kit · C-stands, arms, and sandbags
- Aerial
- DJI Air 3S
- Support & power
- Sachtler tripod · Shoulder mount · HipShot · Cinesaddle · 4 Gold Mount batteries
Behind the camera / 04
Eli Hiller
Download CV (PDF) ↓Documentary director.
DOP. Photojournalist.
Columbus, Ohio.
I’m a documentary director, DOP, and photojournalist based in Columbus, Ohio. Growing up between Appalachian Ohio and Latin America, then living in the Philippines, shaped my transient sense of identity and home.
I’m drawn to stories of belonging, cross-cultural experiences, working-class struggles, and people fighting for a better future. I love uncovering what moves someone to act, the why beneath the why, and following stories where reality is stranger than fiction.
My work includes assignments for Getty Images, Verizon, AFP, Business Insider, The Washington Post, TIME, and More Perfect Union, and I have received a Pulitzer grant.
My filmmaking fellowships include Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab, the Center for Asian American Media, and Kartemquin’s Diverse Voices in Docs. My film has received support from the Sundance Documentary Fund, Berkeley Film Foundation, Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Wexner Center for the Arts Film Fellowship.
Columbus, Ohio & surrounding cities
Let’s make something.
Send your shoot dates, location, role, and project brief.
I’ll follow up about availability and fit.