A little bit about us

We tell stories told through high-level production techniques. We are in a sense an American factory. Nothing leaves our four walls until we know it is ready for the world.

Melissa Cherel

Chief Executive Officer

Graduating Magna cum laude from Towson University, Melissa’s entry into the production world came after a career in early childhood education. Decades later, she overseas the administrative functions and business affairs of DCP Productions. Melissa and her husband Don have assembled a team of creative artists, skilled technicians and seasoned accounting personnel enabling DCP to efficiently produce high level content for audiences everywhere. Executive producing commercials in the early days of DCP, Melissa has managed multiple production departments such as locations, wardrobe, art department and casting. Her creative signature can be seen on many of the national campaigns DCP has produced.

About Don Cherel

Director/Cinematographer/Producer

As a Director, Don has delivered over 500 national ads for top brands such as GEICO, Michelin, JetBlue, LG Electronics and Warner Brothers. He has directed and produced several music videos for artists such as Drake White, Son Signal and The Marshall Tucker Band. As a Cinematographer he’s done 1st and 2nd Unit on multiple feature films such as Rambo: Last Blood, Resident Evil 6 and Dead Reckoning. Don Cherel specializes in the entire pre, field and post production world of both music and motion picture production. He has amassed several industry awards in various areas of content creation but the common thread throughout his portfolio of work remains… quality. He believes great work speaks for itself and resonates with audiences everywhere

Amy Hooks

Executive Producer

Amy is a brand marketing and content expert with 20 years of creative and multimedia production leadership, team management, and media fulfillment. As Executive Producer for DCP Productions, Amy manages client relationships and the entire production process to ensure project scopes, timelines, and budgets are met. Prior to DCP Productions, Amy worked at GEICO where she was the lead manager for the brand team responsible for partnering with creative agencies and production companies, for the purpose of advertising and content development, to drive successful business results.

Marissa Dahl

Post Production Supervisor

Marissa is a media specialist with a demonstrated history of managing high quality workflows for national brands. With over 200 editorial credits ranging from commercials and music videos to narrative film and documentaries, her work has earned multiple awards for editing and visual effects. As Post Production Supervisor for DCP Productions. Marissa communicates with the internal team and with vendors to ensure that all projects are delivered on time, within budget, and with attention to all the little details.

Our Process.

The five key ingredients that make us different.
Creative design, Pre-production, Field production,
Post Production and Content Delivery – all under one roof.
It’s not a secret in fact we openly share
it with anyone who asks.

  • 01.

    Pre-Production

    An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

    Do we really need all these people? YES

    Do we really need all this equipment? YES

    Our process is our product, and so pre-production is a process we focus on meticulously.

    One DCP advantage: We’ve had 15 plus years to make mistakes, learn from them and deliver stellar work year after year.

    Pre-production is key to a successful shoot as well as project delivery, without it we have nothing.

  • 02.

    Creative Design

    This sh#t writes itself!

    No it doesn’t.

    It requires a talented group of passionate creatives to distill every influential piece of life experience they’ve had the privilege to know and construct a message that connects the idea to the audience.

    Then it needs to be transformed from the literary medium to something tangible like motion picture production- which requires meticulous Pre-Production. ​Once we’re green lit-it’s on!

  • 03.

    Field Production

    Roll Camera!
    Sound Speed!
    Speeding!!
    Camera set!!!
    Background!!!!
    And Action!!!!!

    (Huge Explosion)
    DIRECTOR:
    Cut! Cut! No! No! No!
    The explosion happens after the chipmunk does the
    cartwheel!
    Reset! Let’s go again please!

  • 04.

    Post-Production

    Creative specialists preparing for final delivery. Our Post team is like the back of house team in any gourmet restaurant.

    All the ingredients get diced, mixed, combined, heated, chilled and ultimately plated.

    Sometimes we add garnish, sometimes we add salt, sometimes we add sweetness and other times vinegar is the only thing that will do.

    We have 4 Online 4K suites, a color correction suite and three world class audio suites. DCP has Post Production more than covered, we have it conquered.

    Enjoy the meal and go with the recommended pairing.

  • 05.

    Content Delivery

    Here it is audience-Bone. Ape. Ah. Teet!

    We’ve designed, concepted, and produced over 300 national advertisements with 100’s of millions of combined views. We trade the traditional barriers for open lines of communication and partner directly with your marketing teams. Through meticulous pre-production, rapid prototyping, and the highest level of precision production we create branded stories that demand engagement.

    We move the needle for our clients’ initiatives because our process is the product.

HIRE OR INQUIRE

To learn more about us or give a chance to tell you more contact us. We’d love to continue telling you our story. So hopefully we can tell yours.

CONTACT US