Cliff Leonard is a retired Marine with a passion for sculpting. Cliff uses his skills to honor Marines and Navy Corpsman who have been killed in the line of duty. Cliff searches online for Fallen soldiers to honor. He reaches out to family members in hopes to create lifelike busts to honor their sacrifice. His desire is to “help their memory live on as long as possible.”

In 2017, one online search led Cliff to discover Lance Corporal Antoine Smith. The 22-year-old lost his life in 2004 during the battles of Fallujah in Iraq. Antoine was the only child of Deborah Smith and attended First Baptist Church Orlando with his mother. A connection made through the church allowed Cliff to get in touch with Deborah.

Cliff spent two months creating the bust of Marine Lance Corporal Antoine Smith, which was unveiled on Memorial Day Weekend at First Baptist Church Orlando.

Behind The Scenes

“Remembering the Fallen,” was produced by Emmy® Award Winner Shawn Vela of Vela Visuals and First Baptist Church Orlando. First Baptist Orlando is a 14,000 member congregation. The church’s 130 acre campus is located at 3000 South John Young Parkway, Orlando, FL 32805. The church meets for worship services Saturday at 5:30pm and Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:30am.

Others who contributed to the project include: Emmy® Award Winner Jeff Ottum, Jonathan Hickey, Cliff Leonard, and Deborah Smith.

As the production of the film came to a close, Shawn Vela said, “Cliff’s story makes it easy to feel a deep sense of American Pride and gratitude for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Being a filmmaker enriches my soul. It gives me the privilege to meet amazing people with a story of impact.”

About Shawn 

Shawn Vela is a 5-Time Emmy® Award Winning Director, Cinematographer, and Editor. He is the Founder of Vela Visuals, a video production agency based in Orlando Florida that specializes in creating lifestyle, commercial, and documentary films.

Vela has been recognized for filming on four Super Bowl Commercial sets, IMBD credits on Documentaries, and director of photography on the Business Travel Show Ambitious Adventures. His work has been showcased on “Entrepreneur Network, Facebook Watch, Amazon Prime Video,  ABC, FOX, My65, CBS, NBC, and THE CW Television Network.

Shawn holds a BSBA in Marketing from the Lebow College of Business at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, an AS in International Business, and an AA in Communications from Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA.

Interested in working together?

At Vela Visuals we work with story-driven companies, cutting-edge agencies, and inspired faith-based non-profits. Whether you’re just starting with video or you’re a seasoned marketing manager, Vela Visuals offers authentic storytelling that inspires your audience.

We will work with you to discover and craft the right stories within your organization to that motivate your audience. From conception to completion and beyond!

Whatever your goals are – to inform or inspire on the web, on television, or internally – our ability is to make the world’s most relevant form of communication work hard for you. If you have a story to tell we can help you bring it to life!