Tommy Saunders
Filmmaker. Producer. Founder of Intelligent Operations. Turning creative vision into cinematic reality.
Selected Work
Featured Projects
Travis Kelce Brand Campaign
Full-scale branded content production for Travis Kelce — creative direction, cinematography, and post-production across multi-platform deliverables.
Kansas City Chiefs
Branded video content and campaign production for the Kansas City Chiefs organization. Game-day visuals, player features, and fan engagement content.
Tru Kolors Documentary
Feature documentary exploring identity, culture, and creative expression. Directed, produced, and color graded from concept through distribution.
Chris Burrow Documentary
Character-driven documentary following Chris Burrow's journey. Intimate storytelling through cinematic visuals and authentic narrative structure.
Brand Campaign 2024
End-to-end creative campaign — strategy, pre-production, principal photography, editorial, color grading, VFX, and final delivery across CTV/OTT platforms.
Background
About Tommy
Self-Taught Filmmaker
Tommy Saunders is a self-educated filmmaker and creative producer based in Kansas City. With no formal film school background, he built his craft from the ground up — mastering camera operation, lighting, editing, color grading, sound design, and VFX through relentless hands-on production work.
VMLY&R Creative Background
Sharpened his creative and strategic skills at VMLY&R, one of the world's leading creative agencies. Worked on high-profile branded content campaigns, developing a deep understanding of brand storytelling, agency workflows, and delivering premium content at scale.
Intelligent Operations — Founded 2023
Founder & CEO
Founded Intelligent Operations in 2023 to bridge the gap between creative production and AI-powered systems. Building tools, templates, and mentorship programs that help video creators scale output, grow audiences, and monetize content across every major platform.
Expertise
Core Skills
Career Arc
The Journey
Changelog from my journey
I've been working on Aceternity for the past 2 years. Here's a timeline of my journey.
Self-Educated Filmmaker
Self-Educated Filmmaker
Self-taught across every discipline of filmmaking — camera operation, lighting, editing, color grading, sound design, and VFX. Built a foundation rooted in relentless curiosity and hands-on production experience long before any formal industry role.
VMLY&R Creative
VMLY&R Creative
Sharpened creative and strategic skills at VMLY&R, working on high-profile branded content and advertising campaigns. Gained deep understanding of brand storytelling, agency workflows, and delivering premium content at scale for major clients.
Intelligent Operations — Founder
Intelligent Operations — Founder
Founded Intelligent Operations in 2023 to bridge creative production with AI-powered systems. Building tools, templates, and mentorship programs that help video creators scale output, grow audiences, and monetize content across every platform.
2023 – PresentWorkflow
The Process
Every project moves through four deliberate stages. No shortcuts, no guesswork — just a proven system that delivers cinematic results on time and on budget.
Pre-Production
Script development, shot lists, location scouting, casting, scheduling, and budget planning. Where money is made or lost.
Production
Principal photography, lighting design, camera operation, audio capture, and on-set direction. Every frame is a decision.
Post-Production
Editorial, color grading, VFX compositing, sound design, mixing, and final mastering across all deliverable formats.
Distribution
Platform-specific encoding, CTV/OTT delivery, social cutdowns, metadata optimization, and performance tracking.
Creative Code
The 5 Laws
Every frame is a decision.
Pre-production is where money is made or lost.
Story is structure — structure is story.
Color is emotion before it is correction.
Distribution is not an afterthought — it is the strategy.
Endorsements
What Collaborators Say
Tommy doesn't just shoot — he sees the whole picture. From concept to final color, his creative vision is unmatched. Working with him elevated our entire campaign.
Marketing DirectorFortune 500 Brand PartnerOne of the most talented and driven filmmakers I've worked with. His ability to translate brand strategy into cinematic storytelling is rare.
Executive ProducerVMLY&RTommy brought our documentary to life in ways we never imagined. His eye for color and pacing turned raw footage into something truly cinematic.
Project LeadTru Kolors
About the Author
Tommy Saunders
Director & Creative Producer
Tommy Saunders is a self-taught filmmaker and creative producer based in Kansas City. With a background at VMLY&R and experience producing content for brands like Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs, he founded Intelligent Operations in 2023 to help creators scale with AI-powered production systems.