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Warren Hansen

Creative technologist · Northwest Arkansas

A filmmaker’s eye. Serious software, built with AI.

I’m an Emmy-winning cinematographer who now designs and builds complex apps, prototypes and visual work — directing AI the way I used to direct a camera crew, and testing everything before it ships.

Discuss a project See the work
A burst of pink, orange, yellow, green and blue powder erupting from an open brushed-silver canister against a bright orange backdrop, its lid flying off at the top of frame
From Lumen, a self-directed AI product film. 2026.

Two regional Emmy Awards

Cinematography · NATAS Mid-America, 1998 and 1999

Four apps on the App Store

Designed, built and shipped independently

National commercial work

Camera credits for Coca-Cola, Target, AT&T and L’Oréal

How I work

I run AI like a film crew.

On set, the cinematographer doesn’t hold every light — but every frame answers to them. I build software the same way: large language models write a lot of the code, and I set the direction, review every take, and require tests before anything is called done. The result is ambitious work, delivered quickly, that someone else can pick up and maintain.

  1. Frame the idea

    We define the outcome first: who it’s for, what it has to do, and what it should feel like. Sketches and interface designs before code.

  2. Build fast, verify everything

    AI-assisted development with automated tests at every step, so speed never comes at the cost of something that quietly breaks.

  3. Hand off something real

    A working product or demo, documented source in your own accounts, and clear notes for whoever takes it next.

Ways to work together

From a first conversation to a working demonstration.

Fractional creative technologist

A few focused hours a week inside your team — prototyping apps, AI tools, interfaces and marketing concepts.

Prototype and MVP sprints

For founders: take one idea to a polished, working prototype you can test with users or show to investors.

AI video and commercial production

Product films and short-form ads that pair AI generation with three decades of cinematography judgment.

Workshops and mentoring

Practical sessions on building with AI, app development and visual storytelling, for teams or programs.

Projects are scoped individually, with a defined outcome and handoff. Your team owns its accounts and infrastructure; ongoing support is available by separate agreement.

Selected work

Apps, films and the space between.

All work
Cybercab Tycoon on a foldable iPhone: a glowing night map of Austin with fare heat zones, fleet routes, neighborhood demand dials and revenue for the day

iOS game · Live on the App Store

Cybercab Tycoon: Robotaxi

A robotaxi fleet-management simulation, designed and built end to end — live demand maps, fleet routing and city economics.
Lex key art: an iPad showing today’s Fourth Amendment lesson and topic cards, set against the Capitol at dusk with the Lex logo and course categories beside it

iOS education app · Live on the App Store

Lex — Think Like a Lawyer

An app for learning legal reasoning, one case at a time.
Morgan Freeman lit against a deep-space nebula, with a soft rim light on his hair and shoulders, in a frame shot for Discovery Channel

Film · Commercials · Television

Selected cinematography work

Commercial, film and television work, including Morgan Freeman for Discovery Channel.
Lumen: a brushed-silver canister beside a sparkling glass of infused water, with citrus slices and blueberries floating against a warm pink-to-green gradient

AI-generated concept films · 2026

Hansen Design commercial examples

Self-directed product films showing what AI production looks like with a cinematographer behind it.
Warren Hansen on set, standing on a rain-wet train platform at golden hour with a cinema camera on a dolly in the foreground and a lighting crew behind him

About

A visual background. A builder’s curiosity.

I spent about thirty years behind the camera — commercials, film and television, with a lot of VFX along the way. That work taught me how to lead a complex production and finish it. Over the past several years I’ve put the same discipline into software: iOS apps, games, 3D lighting and trading tools.

I recently moved from California to Northwest Arkansas, and I’m looking for interesting people and hard problems in the community here.

Have something worth building?

Tell me about the project, the help you need and your timing. Coffee in Bentonville or Fayetteville works too.

design@warrenhansen.com
Write in Gmail