From teaching in Italy, to releasing The Guardians, to filming in West Africa, here’s some highlights of what we’ve been up to the last few months.
Blog
How to Evaluate the Success of Your Video
You’ve produced a video for your organization, and you’ve released it to the world. Now what? This may not be your first time at the rodeo, and it certainly won’t be your last. Each video project adds to your portfolio of communication tools and informs the production of the next. So take a moment to evaluate what was successful and what missed the mark. We explain how in part 3 of our 3-part series on working with a video production company.
A Production Process that Supports Strong Storytelling
The idea of assigning a “process” to creative work might seem limiting. But over the years we’ve honed a production process that liberates strong storytelling to the benefit of our clients. Below, we’ll share a little bit about our production process in part 2 of our 3-part series on working with a production company.
Tips for Creating an Effective Video Production RFP
As time intensive as it can be, we love responding to inquiries for video production bids. We’re truly inspired by the work you do and want to help you advance your mission with our storytelling. But sometimes we receive bids that don’t include all the right information, making it difficult to gauge what the potential client wants to achieve. So we thought it might be helpful to outline what to include in a video production RFP or Inquiry.
On Teaching Documentary Film
This June, we had the unique opportunity to collaborate on the creation and instruction of an intensive documentary film course at Georgetown University’s Villa Le Balze in Florence, Italy. The Villa holds a special place for us as we were both students there almost 14 years ago. Now professional filmmakers, we teamed up with Georgetown Film & Media Studies Director and College Dean Bernie Cook to develop a program that would unite film theory and hands-on storytelling practice.
Three Things to Remember When Producing Documentary Film
It has been a while since our last update, but we are happy to share that we’ve finally reached the finish line with The Guardians. Picture lock in hand, composers Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico are currently working on the original score. And we will soon begin submitting to film festivals. We’re also waiting to hear where the film will land on PBS through our co-production agreement with public television funder ITVS. So stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, we thought we’d share a few takeaways from the production experience:
What We’re Shooting With: Sony FS7
As a small production company specializing in authentic storytelling with real people, the equipment we purchase needs to work in a very specific way. Namely, it cannot get in they way of gaining access and intimacy with the people we film. This presents some unique challenges when selecting a camera package. It can’t be too large or cumbersome to set up, lest we miss an important moment or the subjects of our films get intimidated by a huge camera. Many filmmakers have successfully shot intimate stories with larger cameras, but we’ve found that we work much quicker, quieter and closer when our camera system is as unobtrusive as possible. Enter the Sony FS7.
Y se acabò! / And that’s a wrap!
Christmas Eve in Donaciano Ojeda was an affair I couldn’t quite picture when Aristeo and Leucadia first insisted we come to film it. I knew there would be fireworks, food and music. But in a small community with little resources, I couldn’t imagine how grand it would turn out to be. As I watched the spectacle of fireworks spin at the top of the castillo, a 40-foot tower of hand-rigged explosives, I felt this overwhelming resolution: Life goes on, and it’s all going to be okay.
Learn Documentary Filmmaking in Italy this Summer!
We’re excited to be partnering with our alma mater Georgetown University and the Dean of the Film and Media Studies program Bernie Cook, to offer an intensive 3-week course on documentary filmmaking in Florence next summer.
Small Actions Make a Big Impact
A nondescript northern Virginia rest stop seems like an unlikely place to help bring back the monarch butterfly. But that’s exactly what’s been happening at mile marker 155 on I-95. For the past two years, VDOT has planted upwards of 9,000 native plants and milkweed to help the monarch on its migratory route through the area.
Branded Content Storytelling for Architectural Digest
We were approached by Architectural Digest to produce a video as part of an integrated marketing campaign for Control4, a provider of home automation systems. They wanted to tell a real story of how technology and smart design could help a family with special needs. AJ and Devin’s story fit the bill perfectly.
Fate of A Salesman at the 36th Annual News & Documentary Emmys
We were so excited to hear the news this July that our independent documentary film Fate of a Salesman was nominated for a national News & Documentary Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting – Long Form.”