Hi, I’m Ray Aley, a director, cinematographer, editor, and creative based in Nashville & NYC.
I grew up in Colchester, Vermont, and started using Adobe software when I was around ten years old. My dad had purchased the Adobe bundle for his store but couldn’t figure out how to make the graphics he needed. I told him I could figure it out. I had no idea at the time how much that decision would shape the rest of my life.
From there, I spent most of my childhood experimenting—shooting videos on whatever camera I could get my hands on, learning different NLEs, playing around in After Effects, teaching myself animation, and eventually falling in love with music production.
That interest in music brought me to Nashville to attend Belmont University, where I spent much of college producing music for myself and other artists.
But we kept running into the same problem: we could make the songs, but nobody knew they existed.
That realization pushed me into content creation. If the artists around me needed visuals, promotion, artwork, or social content, somebody had to learn how to make it. So I did.
By the end of college, I was interning at a creative agency in Nashville as a Video Editor/Content Creator & Graphic Designer.
Three days before graduation, I was offered an opportunity to join Tim McGraw’s tour as a content creator. There was only one problem—I had barely used a professional camera. I knew how to shoot on an iPhone, knew how to edit, and figured I could learn the rest.
Tour threw me directly into the fire.
For the next six months, I traveled the country shooting photos and video night after night, learning the ins and outs of professional camera systems, live production, lighting, and working quickly in environments where there usually wasn’t a second chance to capture the moment. Somewhere along the way, I stopped being just an editor who knew how to shoot and became a filmmaker.
When I returned to Nashville, the agency I had interned with began trusting me to manage clients independently. That led to a deeper understanding of social strategy, artist development, and why content works, including work alongside clients like The 615 House. When the agency eventually closed, I moved into freelancing, doubled down on production, began taking DP work, and developed a much deeper love for cinematography.
That path eventually led me to a music management company in Nashivlle, where I was brought on to help grow the company's production presence in Nashville. Over the last several years, that network has expanded into projects with major labels, independent artists, creators, and entertainment brands—including relationships across the major-label ecosystem.
Today, the work can look completely different from one day to the next: music videos, artist campaigns, social content, podcasts, visualizers, album trailers, branded content, cover artwork, motion graphics, commercial editing, and everything in between.
Several professors over the years have described my approach as “vertically integrated.” That description has stuck with me. Rather than specializing in one isolated part of production, I’ve built my career around understanding the entire process—from the first idea through the final export. Concepting, directing, shooting, editing, sound design, color, graphics, and delivery often live under the same roof.
That versatility has allowed projects created by a very small team—or sometimes essentially a one-person team—to reach millions of viewers, appear on platforms like CMT, and support artists and companies at every stage of their careers.
As much as I love cinematography and holding a camera, I’ve always believed that the real magic happens in the edit. A camera can capture an image, but storytelling is what turns those images into something people actually feel.
It’s been an unconventional road, but one that has given me the opportunity to work with incredible people, make a lot of things I’m proud of, and somehow keep finding new ways to turn ideas into something real.