9:16 native · New York City
Vertical video production
Athena Films produces vertical video for brands from an Emmy winning studio in New York City: 9:16 native series, creator hosted formats and short form video, shot for the frame people actually watch in and finished in house.
Shot vertical, not cropped vertical
A vertical frame changes the grammar. There is less room either side of a face, so blocking, lensing and coverage all have to change with it.
We build the shot list for 9:16 first and pick up wide versions in the same setups. Nothing arrives in the edit hoping a crop will save it.
Craft does not change with the aspect ratio
Vertical is not a lower standard. The same lighting, sound and colour discipline that wins awards applies, and it is more obvious in a feed than anywhere else because the next video is one thumb away.
What we deliver
9:16 native episodes
Series shot and finished for vertical from the treatment on.
Wide and square versions
Cross platform variants from the same coverage.
Captions and safe area finishing
Type and framing that survive every platform interface.
Hook variants
Alternate openings and lengths for paid testing.
Questions we get
Is vertical video just a crop of a wide shot?
It should not be. Cropping loses the frame the scene was built for. We block, light and shoot for 9:16 so faces sit where the eye already is, and bank wide coverage separately.
Can one shoot deliver vertical and wide?
Yes, when it is planned that way from the shot list rather than fixed in the edit. That is how we keep a feed and a hero film coming out of the same days.
What about text, captions and safe areas?
We finish inside platform safe areas so nothing important sits under an interface, and we burn captions when retention needs them.
How long should a vertical episode be?
As long as it holds. Formats that earn attention run past a minute comfortably, and the ones that do not should have been thirty seconds.
Do you deliver paid variants?
Alternate hooks, lengths and platform versions come out of the same coverage, so paid testing does not need a separate production.
Athena Films · New York City, New York · Est. 2026