Chris Banda

A Los Angeles native, Chris is an accomplished writer, director, editor, graphic designer and digital effects artist.

 

His first play Confined was performed for ACT. From there,  ​he enrolled at Rio Hondo College, studying writing, acting, and directing. He wrote several, produced, and performed plays, including The Long Walk, dAWGS, Liquid Experimentations of Beats and Rhymes, The Hand of Handsome Eddie, and Playing Clean. The Play Playing Clean was performed for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival’s New Works program. 

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In 2008, he enrolled at Mt Sierra College to study graphic effects and design. His focus was to create and design posters for Films.

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In 2010, Chris enrolled at the Los Angeles Film School and graduated with an Associates Degree in Film. While in school, he quickly became recognized for his writing and editing skills with his short films Working: A Jazz Musician, Tomia, and Suerté. He adapted his one-act play Playing Clean into a Short for his thesis film, which received high-acclaim for the writing and editing.

 

After graduating, he began working as a writer and editor on several short films and features. He also wrote and edited two episodes for season one of the award-winning web series Encounters entitled Adobo and Between the Lights, which he also directed.

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In 2015, he began working as a full-time editor, creating and editing content for Machinima and Fullscreen Media. During this time, he also began working as the primary editor for Emmy award-winning director Kico Velarde and his docu-series Lowrider Magazine’s Lowrider Roll Models. He drew inspiration for his next project while editing Lowrider Roll Models.

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In 2021, he completed his play entitled Lolo. The play was invited to be part of the El Centro del Sur Latinx Theater Festival. Because of Covid restrictions, the play was filmed for the virtual festival.​ The producers were so pleased with the filmed version of the play it is now making its way through the film festival circuit, winning several awards, including Best Feature, Best in Show, Best Stage Play, Best Actress, and Best Acting Ensemble.

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His latest is a commissioned piece and a semi-autobiographical play entitled Mariposa. The play opened the 2023 El Centro del Sur Latinx Theater Festival to a sold-out crowd.

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Chris currently works as a full-time digital video for Tennis Channel and does freelance work for NBC Peacock and Chicano Hollywood.