I'm Aaron Lieber, a commercial director and cinematographer based in San Clemente, in south Orange County, California. I direct brand spots, product launches, and athlete commercials for brands and agencies, and I shoot them on a cinema package I own. I founded Lieber Films in 2008.
San Clemente sits at the south end of Orange County, between Los Angeles and San Diego. The coast from Trestles to Huntington Pier is the stretch I know in every tide, swell, and light, because it is the one I shoot most. For an Orange County brand, scouting happens on my own time, the forecast gets read by someone who knows that lineup, and the camera does not have to travel to reach you.
The gear lives here too. I own the A-camera, a RED V-Raptor, plus a Nikon ZR for B-cam, Zeiss CP.2 cinema primes, DJI stabilization and wireless focus, a DJI Transmission video village so the client sees what the lens sees, Aputure lighting, and a location audio package. For producers that means fewer rental line items and no compatibility surprises. When a job needs more, a crane, a helicopter and Shotover gimbal, bigger lighting, I pull from rental and crew relationships I have shot with for years.
The base is local. The work travels: Chicago for Miller Lite, Los Angeles for Puma, Milwaukee and Pennsylvania filming for Ready Nutrition. If your brief is on the coast, it is also worth reading the water cinematography page: surf, swim, and ocean work is where I started.
Short, persuasive, built for paid placement. LifeProof × Rob Machado (30 seconds, director and DP), Miller Lite × Chicago (two cuts, English and Spanish), Velveeta × Drip (15-second vertical).
Hero film, vertical cuts, and stills from one shoot. Reef × Paipo, the launch film for Reef's most upscale sandal. Puma × Dixie D'Amelio, a debut sneaker and apparel collection.
Commercials built around a person with very little time to give. G-Shock × Kanoa Igarashi and eero × Cal Raleigh. More on the athlete and sports page.
eero's marketing team sent a one-page brief and a hard constraint: three hours of Cal's time. I took it from there: look, boards, location, crew, shoot day, post, and every format. Every room pre-lit, every angle pre-set. Five scenes, twelve gags, no reshoots. Briefed as social for Cal's Instagram, then expanded by eero into paid placements.
Great White Twin, S-Boss, and Boss Up, with the 11-time world champion, shot at Surf Ranch and in open ocean. Concept, board launches, and a multi-format rollout for the brand's website, retail, and social. Telly Award winner.
"The taste Chicago can depend on." Two cuts, English and Spanish, with photographer Brett Nadal on stills. Motion rolls between photo takes, so stills and video come out of the same shoot days.
Reef's most upscale sandal: real wood, full-grain leather, carbon neutral. A product launch film, with the hero film and social cuts coming out of the same shoot day.
I start with the one-page version of the idea and the real constraints: talent time, budget, deliverables, air date. You get a treatment and a plan sized to the number, not a wish list.
Location, crew, and boards. On eero × Cal Raleigh I storyboarded every setup from photos of the location, and the client left notes on each frame, so the edit existed as pictures before shoot day.
I direct and run the camera, or direct with a DP, depending on the job. The package is already built around how I shoot, so the day goes to performance and coverage, not troubleshooting.
Hero spot, cutdowns, 9:16 for Reels and TikTok, 16:9 for broadcast and online, and stills when the brief needs them. Planned on day one, not requested in week six.
Send the brand, the idea, the budget, and the air date. I'll come back with a treatment and a production plan built for Orange County or wherever the story needs to shoot.
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