About The Orange Empire Collective

Orange Empire Collective is a Southern California creative media and communications studio built for organizations, artists, and communities with stories worth telling.

We produce video, animation, digital content, outreach materials, branded campaigns, and original productions that help people understand ideas, connect with missions, and move toward action.

Our work blends creative production, strategic communications, community-centered storytelling, and AI-assisted workflows to make high-quality media more accessible, flexible, and public-ready.

Built as a collective, we bring together creative collaborators, consultants, and production partners to shape the right team for each project.

Whether we’re supporting a public agency, nonprofit, campaign, small business, artist, or original production, our goal is simple: tell the story clearly, make it visually compelling, and build media that reaches real people.

Design featuring a black illustration of an orange with a leaf on top, accompanied by the text 'The Orange Empire' above and 'Collective' below, all on a peach background.

Creative Collaborators

Orange Empire Collective brings together a trusted network of independent creative collaborators, consultants, and production partners to build the right team for each project.

A smiling man with a beard and short hair wearing a black jacket, sitting in a professional workspace with a video camera and monitor in the background.

Senator Zavala

Director of Creative Strategy & Communications

Senator Zavala serves Orange Empire Collective as Director of Creative Strategy & Communications, shaping creative strategy, client communications, and project development. He holds a BA in Political Economy from the University of Southern California and a Master of Urban Planning from USC Price School of Public Policy, bringing a background in government and community relations, public agency work, community organizing, and civic communications.

His work sits at the intersection of policy, storytelling, and public engagement. From public notices and policy memos to campaign media and community outreach, Senator has focused on translating complex information into clear, human, and visually compelling messages built for real audiences.

He brings experience in digital campaigns, social media, AI-assisted production, audio and music-based media, GIS, Python, and original digital storytelling. Across civic storytelling, outreach content, video production, audio production, and original creative work, Senator helps turn complicated ideas into media people can understand, care about, and act on.

Close-up portrait of a smiling man with brown hair, blue eyes, and a beard, wearing a denim shirt over a gray T-shirt.

Bobby Lang

Performance & Visual Communications Collaborator

Bobby Lang is a performance specialist, visual storyteller, and creative consultant working at the intersection of human creativity and emerging AI‑driven media. He holds an MFA in Theatre: Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a BA in Theatre: Acting from Temple University, and an AA in Communications: Performance from Bucks County Community College.
Bobby has extensive experience teaching performance in private studios, youth programs, and university settings. His work focuses on embodied storytelling, actor communication, and collaborative creative process. These strengths support teams that want to build emotionally grounded, human‑centered work inside advanced digital and AI‑assisted production environments.

He also brings a strong visual foundation to his consulting practice. His background in graphic design and his fluency with photo‑editing software allow him to refine digital assets, communicate visual direction with clarity, and support workflows that blend performance, design, and technology. This combination of skills positions him to bridge artistic intent with technical execution in a way that feels both intuitive and precise.

As a consultant, Bobby helps clients integrate traditional performance principles into next‑generation media pipelines. He specializes in performance direction, talent communication, workflow refinement, and translating creative goals into actionable production strategies. His work is guided by curiosity, adaptability, and a belief that the future of media grows from the synergy between human artistry and intelligent systems.

Dominic Ranada

Photography, Music & Creative Education Collaborator

Dominic Ranada is a musician, singer-songwriter, photographer, and teacher-educator with a Bachelor of Arts in History from California State University, Long Beach. His work brings together creativity, storytelling, education, and human connection.

Dominic brings a multidisciplinary perspective rooted in music, visual art, teaching, and lived experience. Whether through songwriting, photography, education, or creative production, he approaches his work with curiosity, presence, and heart.

Outside of his creative practice, Dominic enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, playing golf, practicing yoga and meditation, hiking, and simply being himself, taking in the cool breeze, the sunshine, and the rain.

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Matthew Buxbaum is a freelance animator, graphic designer, illustrator, and videographer. Originally from Alpharetta, Georgia, Matthew has been living in Los Angeles for 8 years. He graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2022 with a BA in Animation and Digital Design and currently works for USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, providing technical support and training to students, faculty, and staff. Matthew continues to produce animations, drawings, logos, and more as a freelancer and will be beginning his Master of Science in Integrated Design, Business, and Technology at Iovine and Young Academy in Fall 2026. 

Portfolio Site: http://matthewbuxbaum.myportfolio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewbuxbaum/#

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@matthewbuxbaum8166

Personal Email: mbuxbaum00@gmail.com

Animation, Design & Technical Production Collaborator

Matthew Buxbaum

Let’s Tell Your Story

Whether you need a video, campaign, training piece, animation, or original production, tell us what you’re building, who you’re trying to reach, and what you want people to understand, feel, or do. We’ll help turn the idea into clear, polished, public-ready media built for your audience.