Chris Newman is a San Francisco–based commercial and documentary director on the roster at Avocados and Coconuts, with recent campaign work through Sprinkle Lab. Raised near Davis, California, he began behind the camera filming professional surfers worldwide before earning a Masters in documentary from UC Santa Cruz. His documentary films have played international festivals and aired nationally on PBS; he is publicly credited as a Peabody and Emmy winner and a Producers Guild member. After living and filming in Peru, he returned to the Bay Area to build a commercial directing practice. Roster framing emphasizes cinematic, heartfelt, and honest subject-to-viewer connections rooted in documentary craft and action-sports origins rather than sketch comedy or heavy VFX. The clearest dated commercial credit is Pacaso Homes’ 2025 broadcast campaign “There’s No Place Like Your Second Home,” directed for Sprinkle Lab and shot in wine country with an Emmy Award–winning crew to evoke effortless luxury and homecoming. Public materials also reference a commercial reel and major-brand agency work without listing further advertiser names in available sources.