CASING

Portsmouth, Virginia native Chris Abaya is a writer, director, editor and producer. He has been creating films and videos since 2005. In 2008, Chris started working for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Shipyard Instructional Design Center (SIDC) as a videographer. He produced training, marketing and promotional videos for the naval shipyards throughout the country and for the Navy Exchange Service Command. In 2016, Chris became the Director of SIDC and today is responsible for managing and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the entire division. He supervises 17 employees including 5 Audiovisual Production Specialists, 6 Visual Information Specialists and 3 Instructional Systems Designers/Training Specialists. Chris is also fiscally responsible for a yearly budget of over a million dollars on average from various funding lines within the DoD. Chris’s recent accomplishments include the 2017 Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention Innovation Award for the training video “Team of Winners,” where he served as writer, director, producer and editor. In March, 2018 he screened several of his short films at the luxurious Main hotel in Norfolk, Virginia. Chris recently completed production on “Team of Winners II.” Chris has written and directed several short films including Heartless, Leverage, Red Band and Shadow Valley.