Hope in the heart of chaos
A pediatric heart team travels into war zones and fragile hospitals to operate on children born with congenital heart defects, for whom surgery can’t wait.
CHRIS DELA CRUZ · STORY ARCHITECT
The format changes. The architecture doesn't.
Writer, director and producer. Every project starts with the structure of the story, then takes the form that serves it best: feature, series, short, vertical or documentary. Written, shot and cut under one roof at Float Entertainment.
PLACES I'VE FILMED
DEPARTURES
WORK WITH FLOAT
From the first frame on paper to the final cut and the page that launches it.
Storyboards, a vertical series, a site, or a film. Say what it is and when you need it.
Narrative, documentary and branded work, from concept and packaging through delivery. WGA West writer-director; Tiny Hearts was an SF DocFest 2026 Official Selection.
Development · packaging for buyers · directing · producing · delivery
Short-form series built for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, for brands and for mission-driven organizations. I produce, shoot and cut episodes designed to hold attention in the first second and carry a story across a season.
Series format · field production · editing · title packages · delivery to spec
Full-feature boards, built fast. Every scene planned with a director's eye, using AI-assisted tools, so your DP, AD and investors see the film before cameras roll.
Shot-by-shot boards · key frames · previs sequences · pitch-ready visuals
In-house editorial for documentary, branded and episodic work. AI-assisted logging and selects get me to the story faster, and I spend that time on the cut.
Footage indexing · selects · rough to final cut · multicam · finishing
The site a film, studio or company launches with. Custom design and animated scroll, built, hosted and kept current, so it looks like it means it.
Design · build · hosting setup · launch · ongoing updates
CASE STUDIES
STORYBOARDS & PREVIS
Horror feature · Ryder Media
The production needed the whole film on paper before cameras rolled. I boarded it end to end: more than 900 frames, built with AI image tools under a director's eye, giving the director, DP and team one shared picture of every scene. I also sourced the film's signature mask, designed the one-sheet and built the landing page.
VERTICAL SERIES
Impact series · Tripoli
GCA wanted its first vertical series: real stories from pediatric heart missions, told in 60 to 90 seconds. I travel with the surgical team, shoot in the OR and ICU, and cut self-contained weekly episodes for Reels, Facebook and Shorts. For Tripoli, I indexed all 667 clips with AI-assisted logging to find the story fast. Next mission: Tanzania.
LAUNCH SITES
Production company site
Ryder Media needed a site that matched its slate. I designed and built a custom premium site with an animated scroll that walks visitors through the company and its projects, then launched it.
WRITER · DIRECTOR · PRODUCER · WGA WEST
Chris is a story architect: a writer, director and producer who builds the structure of a story first, then chooses the form that carries it. Through Float Entertainment, his Los Angeles production company, he develops and makes features, series, shorts and vertical work.
His first feature screenplay, LAYOVER, is complete. His feature TINY HEARTS was an Official Selection at SF DocFest 2026, and its companion book, LIKE-HEARTED: A FILMMAKER'S PATH, is out now. He has filmed across Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Raised in Daly City, based in LA.
ALSO WRITING
THE BOOK
Like-Hearted
A FILMMAKER'S PATH
The companion book to TINY HEARTS: following Dr. Bill Novick's team from Lebanon to Ukraine to the heart of Africa, and what it took to film it.
Available on Amazon →
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
I build stories the way an architect builds a house. Structure first, then the rooms, then the light. I've carried cameras into operating rooms in Libya and across the border into Ukraine, and every one of those rooms taught me the same thing: a true story has a load-bearing beam. Find it, and the form follows, whether that's a feature, a series or sixty seconds on a phone. The question never changes: what does the person watching walk away with?
Writer · Director · Producer · WGA West · Los Angeles
Story architect. Features, series and vertical, written, shot and cut under one roof at Float Entertainment.
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