Thanks for all the helpful comments. As a pro retoucher I know how to expose for HL's then open the shadows in stills. Obviously, video adds another dimension. This location has a cliff with a golden hour sunrise behind in the distance. To expose for the sunrise, the cliff would appear solid black -probably too dark to correct in post. I did a long horizontal pan of the area, which would've benefitted from a ND grad as the horizon line remained constant. And of course that would not work if there were other jagged peaks at the horizon. I know there's no free lunch getting proper exposure. But as a still image professional, I still look to the video experts for workarounds & magic tricks!
If I were to slowly fly upwards revealing the distant sunrise, I still think that a slow exposure adjustment could work in a scenario like this. Will try that soon & report back. Thanks again.