Chris Nelson is a 6x Emmy winning multimedia producer and visual storyteller with more than 15 years of professional experience. His work has been published by dozens of national and international media outlets, including CNN, People Magazine, CBS, Yahoo! News, IGN and BBC. Below you can explore some video highlights from his career in television news, advertising and public relations.
After 13 years in television, I joined the Public Affairs and Marketing team at UC Davis Health. As the only full-time video producer for the massive health system, I juggled a wide variety of projects that included news stories, short documentaries, PSAs, leadership messages, department tours, and basically anything that requires moving images.
In addition to creating multimedia content, I’ve designed on-site video and podcast studios, and managed the UC Davis Health YouTube account, which has grown from 3,000 subscribers to 150,000+.
2021 Northern California Regional Emmy winner for Health/Medical (Long Form)
This is a short documentary that I shot/edited over the course of a year, from the time these conjoined twins were born to their separation and beyond. Also released as a 6-part series, “Separating Conjoined Twins” has more than 19 million views on YouTube.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I created these Q&A videos with infectious disease experts to provide accurate info to the general public. All together, they were viewed more than a million times on YouTube.
UC Davis Health is home to some really smart people using some really cool technology. I created the Cultivating Health series to highlight both of these facts and got to see some pretty cool stuff along the way.
2020 Ragan’s V3 Award winner for Shoestring Budget (Under $300)
This is a story that I wrote/shot/edited during my spare time between projects on the health system’s impressive art collection.
After spending seven years in the field as a news cameraman and Multimedia Journalist, I retired my press pass and ventured into the wonderful world of advertising and promotion.
As a Promotion Producer at 1331Creative, the creative services department for CBS Sacramento and CW31, I contributed to marketing strategies and promotional campaigns aimed at growing the audience of our newscasts and promoting the "Getting Answers" and "Find Your Happy Place" brands.
In addition to producing, I would direct, shoot and edit projects, and worked with Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator.
2019 Northern California Regional Emmy winner for Promotion: Campaign
“Our Backyard” is an image campaign I did for Good Day. This is an idea that I pitched, then wrote, produced, directed and edited all the spots in the campaign. I also shot several of the segments.
2018 Northern California Regional Emmy winner for Promotion: Single Spot
2018 Gold Promax Local Award for Holiday/Special Event Promotion
This is a commercial that we spent months working on for Good Day. I produced, wrote and mixed the sound for this spot. Read more about it in the BLOG.
"Good Day Promo Collection"
Working with Good Day is always an adventure! Here's a batch of my favorite commercials I've produced for them.
Image campaigns, station topicals, sweeps promotion... here's a batch of some of my favorite spots I've produced for CBS13 in Sacramento.
Every day was a new adventure in my seven years as a news cameraman. Once I pulled into work, I could have been sent anywhere... Celebrity interview! Fly with the National Guard! Water district meeting! There were good days and bad, but it was rarely boring.
Eventually my position morphed into that of a "Multimedia Journalist," or someone who shoots, writes, voices and edits stories alone. While I never wanted to be on-screen talent, it allowed me to refine my writing and reporting skills while still shooting and editing.
In addition to the days spent as an "MMJ," I worked with reporters and operated satellite and microwave live trucks. I was with FOX40 News in Sacramento, CA for six years, and KEZI-9 News in Eugene, OR for a year before that.
I had some wild adventures during my years behind the camera, including being in the clubhouse as the Giants celebrated their 2012 World Series win, covering the red carpet for several American Idol finales, sitting in on the trials of Phillip and Nancy Garrido, and finding myself in the middle of countless blizzards, forest fires and riots.
These are some of my favorite stories.
2012 Northern California Regional Emmy winner for Feature News Report: Light
This is a story I produced, shot and edited for FOX40 News in 2011. Read more about it in the BLOG.
They can be seen across Solano County, but what does it look like inside these massive wind turbines? This is a video I shot and edited as a part of FOX40’s All Access series back in 2010.
Wacky stories like this were my specialty during my years as a "Multimedia Journalist." I shot, wrote, tracked and edited this story in about three hours in 2011.
In 2012, I was shipped off to Detroit to cover games 3 and 4 of the World Series. After the Giants won, I made my way into the clubhouse for the celebration! I'm really just posting this one to show off.
