Canteen | About

Canteen is a WBENC creative production company creating striking IP and evocative imagery for the world’s most iconic brands, with a focus on Food & Beverage, Cosmetics, Tech and Appliances.

We are digital natives; a diverse team of award winning artists, engineers, adventurers, and next generation creatives.

Creative Direction and Strategy
We craft holistic, creative campaigns across all formats and platforms from the POV of Food/Beverage, and Product production specialists.

Production
Our in-house tool chest includes Phantom and ARRI cameras, motion control, and an array of SFX, lighting & grip, and a far reaching network of niche specialists.

Post Production and VFX
We embrace animation, CGI, motion graphics, and VFX as points of origin or tools that can enhance a live action production. Our post/animation specialists are key collaborators, brought in at the ground level.

Learn about our commitment to social responsibility.

Elyse Sara
Executive Producer / Founder

Elyse began her career managing productions for ABC, History & Food Network. While she spent her days in the production office, her nights were spent in restaurant kitchens, which she leveraged for her baking business. Her customers included Fairway Market and top-rated NYC restaurants owned by the Director, Bob Giraldi. It was during her time working with Bob that Elyse discovered tabletop and decided to merge her interests in food + production. From there, she founded Canteen and has produced spots for a range of brands and top ad agencies. In her off-time, you can find her exploring the mountains and teaching herself how to grill.

Erik Dettle
Partner / Director

Erik is a multi-disciplinary filmmaker and Director of Photography. He began his career lensing and directing international documentaries which aired on TV networks and screens at NYC's Carnegie Hall. By 2014 his detail oriented cinematography lead him to the world of advertising. Since then he has earned awards for cinematography on projects with Stella Artois and Mountain Dew. He has designed proprietary camera equipment for specialty use and strategized studio tech and talent for advertising agencies and production companies. He became partner at Canteen in 2021 where he continues to enjoy the intersection of creativity and entrepreneurship.

Tess Martin
Creative Director

Tess is a Creative Director specializing in campaign concept work, photo art direction, design direction and branding, within the beauty space. Tess began her career in the New York agency world, evolving into art direction of beauty-specific editorial work such as Sephora Catalog and Avon, and later, leading creative teams for various beauty brands. She collaborates with clients to grow a product’s identity from early development stages (packaging and concepting) to its launch, in-store (displays) and online (social media and beyond), most recently working for Revlon brands and ELF Cosmetics. Tess' passion for beauty expands beyond her profession - she is a lover and consumer of all things skin, color and nail.
tessmartin.site

We love what we do! Shooting gorgeously stacked burgers and flowing chocolate gets us excited to jump outta bed every morning. But we also acknowledge that some practices in the tabletop industry can exacerbate current food and health related concerns affecting our communities.

So, we’re committed to being part of the solution.

In 2023, we have chosen to support World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals in response to crises, and we make these promises:

Canteen team members will sign up for WCK’s Volunteer Corps
We will support WCK’s mission through awareness, fundraisers and other initiatives
We will donate 1% of our profits to WCK each year

We invite our colleagues, clients and partners to take part in these efforts with us. The more support we have, the better off our communities will be!