Frame.io problem solving for an international client.
One of the agencies we work with out of Chicago came to us with an international client who had been going through a major acquisition period and needed a messaging campaign that helped welcome and unite the core values with all of their offices around the world.
We were tasked with producing a series of testimonial videos that highlighted various employees speaking on a specific core value of the company. Each month, they would release several of them speaking to that month’s specific value.
After producing the first batch for the Chicago headquarters, we then built a best practices document that could be shared with the various video teams gathering materials from every major international office.
Meanwhile, our production team was flown out to LA and Tijuana to capture additional sets of videos, as well as some supplemental material for videos to be produced later this year.
While every production presents a set of challenges and problems to overcome, our LA jaunt provided a particularly interesting problem for post production to tackle.
We sat down with our post production manager, Daniel Skubal, for a quick interview about some of the details of this project…
RVP: Dan, what challenges arose while working on this edit?
Dan: The greatest challenge we faced was the turnaround time for the next set of videos. The client needed final master files in-hand at least a day before the end of the month, and with the Real production team being gone an entire week on this shoot, we would only have a few days with the footage before final files were due.
Depending on the scope of the job, we typically allocate one to two rounds of revisions before final delivery into our schedule, which meant an edit would have to be turned around within 24 hours of the hard drive hitting our desk to keep the projects on track.
The team went back and forth on ways to tackle the project and deliver everything on time. We discussed everything from overnighting a hard drive, to renting some additional hardware and working with Camera to Cloud (C2C) dailies, to pre-building the project on-site with all the assistant editor work virtually completed by the time it was backed up to our server.
The solution we landed on involved a remote proxy workflow utilizing Frame.io. While we hadn’t ever worked this way before, but after some internal testing, we felt confident that we could pull this off.
Frame.io really integrates perfectly with our workflow, and our clients love it.
RVP: What is Frame.io?
Dan: Frame.io is a media review platform with an intuitive timecode-based commenting system. Frame.io really integrates perfectly with our workflow, and our clients love it. We have been using the platform since it was in beta testing, and is our preferred way of sharing edits with clients to get comments and criticism as we are shaping the final product.
RVP: How were you able to use Frame.io to help solve the challenges you faced during this edit?
Dan: There were three things we aimed to accomplished:
1. We knew we wanted to generate proxies (compressed, easy-to-play files that can be re-synced with the full raw footage later on).
2. Because time was precious, and the production team needed to stay focused on the shoot, we wanted the actual process of creating those proxies to be automated and easy as possible without having to babysit each file conversion.
3. We needed a way to automatically upload those proxy files to a designated project on Frame.io the same day the interviews were conducted so the edit team could pull the files immediately and begin building the spine of the story for each of these video pieces.
We had hit a bit of a dead end, and while we began looking at other options, I dug a little deeper with Frame.io
Dan: We knew any one of these 3 objectives could be accomplished with an on-set DIT, offloading and managing the media, but given the parameters of the project, we needed a solution that could be done by our immediate team in as few clicks as possible in-between interview setups.
After doing some research, it didn’t appear that the standalone Frame.io app, nor the integration plugin for Premiere would let us export individual clips directly to the platform— only a single timeline file at a time. We had hit a bit of a dead end, and while we began looking at other options, I dug a little deeper with Frame.io.
6-7 years ago, when I was beta testing Frame.io, we were constantly in communication with the support team, putting in feature requests— and nearly every suggestion would quickly be rolled into the next release of the platform, so I knew reaching out to them about this specific need would be examined by their team and taken seriously.
I quickly heard back from their team, and received confirmation that our proposed workflow wasn’t possible yet with their platform but would be shared with their development team for a future release— and a possible solution would be setting up a dynamic “Watch Folder” in the standalone Frame.io desktop app, and running the batch process through Adobe Media Encoder, pointing all files to the designated watch folder.
With only a few hours before the team had to pack up and leave, we ran a quick test of this workflow and it worked flawlessly. Within a few seconds of a clip transcoding in Media Encoder, the media would appear in the Frame.io portal, and be able to easily scrub and play the clip instantly.
While this wasn’t quite a one-click solution, it removed several steps to the process and could be performed relatively quickly and painlessly to get us the interviews quickly without much interruption of the actual production.
Real Video just delivered the final edits on-time and without any issues.
RVP: So did you make the deadline?
Dan: I’m happy to say, we pulled it off. This all went on behind the scenes, and the client had no idea we went to these lengths to ensure delivery of the videos. For them to receive the first cut so quickly was a big feat for us, but for the client, it just happened with no worries on their end— Real Video just delivered the final edits on-time and without any issues. That was our goal from the start.
RVP: How will Frame.io help REAL in the future?
Dan: Man, I think Frame.io is only headed upward. They’re rockstars at what they do, and now that Adobe has acquired the platform, they are already rolling out some amazing integrations into the Adobe suite.
I’m particularly excited about C2C aka “Camera to Cloud”— their new turnkey solution for remote video production, which allows you to privately stream a production to team members anywhere in the world using only a couple pieces of hardware, or to instantly generate proxies directly from the camera to pull down and begin editing while the production is taking place.
Everyone wins with a solution like that. There is more global collaboration with team members who can help solve problems while they are happening on set, and post production can begin immediately, which could definitely help in instances like ours with tight turnaround times.
For Real Video to be able to offer a painless workflow like that to our national or international clients, particularly in the agency space, is an exciting prospect and could be a really valuable tool to our clients.
We are definitely ready to use C2C as a regular practice within our productions.
RVP: Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us about this project.
Dan: Of course, it’s always exciting when we can find solutions like this that make everyones’ life easier.
Room Tone Recap
On August 25, 2022 Real Video hosted a networking event for videographers and photographers. This event had a little bit of a twist to it because we decided to include a guided discussion throughout the evening. The overarching topic for this event was VALUE.
The first thing we want to say about the first Room Tone event was that we were blown away by the talent in the room. People whose work we admire kept flooding through the door. I was also impressed with how many brave, new people came out ready to network and engage in the conversation with complete strangers. It was our hope that this event would be applicable for videographers and photographers, no matter how far along they are in their professional journey. There is just some sort of magic that happens when passionate, talented, creative people get in a room together.
We felt it.
We also felt overwhelmed with gratitude. All the guests jumped right into it with positive energy. We feared it would be “clicky” and introverts would hide in the shadows. But when the discussions started, it was like a rocket went off. Everyone seemed really engaged and excited to be there. Even our sponsors, Kessler and Rusthead, were genuinely glad to be asked to participate and walked away excited by the connections they made throughout the evening.
We know people’s time is valuable and we are thankful for everyone who came out to this event and spent their time sharing their experiences, being open and building into this community.
Thank you.
If you were unable to attend the event, or need a reminder, here is a little recap of what was talked about:
How do you value yourself?
We thought of this in terms of creating an hourly rate for your services. To do so, we took four factors into consideration.
- Experience. How long have you been doing what you do professionally?
- Education. Have you invested in further education that applies to your field?
- Location. Where do you do a majority of your work?
- Specialty skills. What can you offer that makes you unique in the industry?
After we pondered these four questions we broke off into small groups. Each person told the others where they were at with these four areas. With that information, the others in the group said what they thought that person’s hourly rate should be.
We asked the room if they felt suggested rates were high, low or on point. A majority of the room responded that they were on point.
It was also stated that a quick, generic Google search was done on what the average yearly salary for a videographer in the USA. ZipRecruiter said $44k, Payscale was $47k and Glassdoor was $48k. There are many sites where you can dial in your details to get a more accurate estimate but thought this was a good baseline to compare where individuals may fall on the scale.
We also discussed the importance of doing a post mortem project review to see how you actually did on a job. Remembering that minimum wage in Indiana is $7.25. If you’re walking away from a project close to that, you may have an issue.
The next segment that was up for discussion was how to value a project. Here are six things that you should consider when working up an estimate for a project:
- Your hourly rate
- Translate this into a day rate. (8-10hr day)
- Estimated time to do the project
- The more projects you have under your belt, the easier it gets to do this
- The gear it takes to pull the project off
- Take into account ALL the gear needed (camera, lights, grip…)
- Any additional outgoing costs
- Meetings, Pre-production, Location, Crew, Wardrobe, Food, Travel Expenses, Talent, Music licenses, Stock footage / graphics, Props, Vehicle rentals, Lodging…
- Your overhead
- Rent, Vehicle, Internet, Software, Hardware, Licenses (drone), Loans, Marketing Efforts, Website, Phone, Staff (payroll), Taxes, Insurance…
We asked where a majority of people felt like they were losing money. Travel and pre-production meeting time rose to the top.
Once our brains were spinning with everything it actually takes to make an amazing video, we broke out into new small groups and talked about where we thought we lost out on the most money when pricing a job and what steps we should take to make up for it.
Once we came back together as a large group, we asked where a majority of people felt like they were losing money. Travel and pre-production meeting time rose to the top.
After that, as a large group, we started talking about the third section on the topic of value. How can you educate your client on the value of what you are offering? Here were six points to consider:
- Don’t be afraid to talk about the budget in the first meeting.
- If the client doesn’t have a budget for the project, ask if $X amount scares them. (Make sure $X is a little higher than what you think you need for the project because it’s easier to go down then up.) Your client’s reaction to this question will give you a lot of information on where you need to be.
- Think about the clients R.O.I.
- We used an example of a hotel that charges $500 dollars a night having an issue with paying $1,500 for a video. Putting that into perspective by saying the video pays for itself if 3 people make a decision to stay at the hotel because of the video.
- Be honest with your estimates and be able to defend every line item.
- Clients may not know the cost of things that are out of your control like music licensing, actors, hair & makeup…seeing it as a line item and the cost that goes with those services can be enlightening.
- Have the client put skin in the game.
- If they cut something out of the proposal to save money. Make that their responsibility to cover. Your job should not be harder because they want to save them money.
- Hold them accountable.
- Again, if your client is taking on responsibility to cut costs, they need to meet expected deadlines. Their lack of organization should not be your problem.
- Don’t be soft.
- Remember, they asked you into the room because you have something they want.
When we got back together as a large group we asked what are the dream clients? The room responded with: Clients that are trustworthy, that show up on time and that pay.
After this large group discussion we broke off into new small groups one last time. In those we described our dream client and what steps could be taken to work with them.
When we got back together as a large group we asked what are the dream clients? The room responded with: Clients that are trustworthy, that show up on time and that pay.
In closing, it is our hope that this community continues to grow and the idea that everyone in this tribe makes a point to make the people around them successful.
“A rising tide lifts all boats” – John F. Kennedy
Ben Wiersema joins the Real Video family.
Back in 2016 we were working on a little comedy short. (I’ll never forget this shoot because one of our Arri 1K lights exploded during production!) We invited a few kids on set who had expressed some interest in video production. One of those kids was 15 year old Ben Wiersema.
Ben had been acting in school plays and was curious about the video production process. As sparks flew from our lighting rig, I guess a spark ignited in Ben as well. Ben continued acting and went on to Columbia College to study screenwriting and video production.
Fast forward to 2021. Real Video was putting together a commercial and was looking for some actors. Ben came to mind and we cast him for one of the roles. While sipping LaCroix and snacking on Welch’s fruit snacks in between takes, Ben mentioned he was looking for an internship as he entered his senior year at Columbia.
We brought Ben on as an intern and he crushed it! The whole team at Real was blown away by his creativity, organization and his hunger to continually learn and grow. We decided to offer Ben a part-time position as our Associate Producer before his internship was over.
We couldn’t be more excited to have Ben on staff at Real while he finishes his degree and we look forward to what the future holds.
As with all new employees, we sat down with Ben for an interview…
RVP: First off, welcome aboard, and thanks for taking the time to tell people about yourself. So starting off— what are 3 things I should know about you in order to understand you better?
BW:
- It’s hard for me to put into words how much I love movies. Making movies. Watching movies. All of it. At 10 years old, I would bike around my neighborhood with an iPod 5 and a broken tripod to make random short “films.” Most, if not all, of those masterpieces will never see the light of the day. I’ll make sure of that.
- I’m always looking to improve myself.
- I have a sticker of the Queen of England on the back window of my Toyota RAV-4. If you ever spot one of us, feel free to ask how she got there.
RVP: So what’s inspiring you right now?
BW: This has been a pretty dope movie year in my opinion.
Films like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and Mad God have all blown me away.
It’s hard for me to turn off my critic brain sometimes, but never have I ever seen so many movies in a year that I can’t help but just ogle at.
I’m extremely grateful. It’s all new and exciting to me, and I hope that feeling sticks with me for a long time.
RVP: What excites you most about being an associate producer?
BW: I’m only 21 years old, so being able to help write scripts, prep shoots, work on sets, and give feedback on edits for a production company is something I’m still wrapping my head around.
I’m extremely grateful. It’s all new and exciting to me, and I hope that feeling sticks with me for a long time.
RVP: What excites you most about joining the Real Video team?
BW: The endless supply of LaCroix in the fridge…
Oh, and working with some amazingly creative peeps; a few that I’ve known for a long time and others that I met only a few months ago.
There’s plenty of opportunity for me to grow creatively and professionally here at Real, and the community here makes it a blast. I dig it.
RVP: What is some free advice you have to give?
BW: We create because there is Someone who created us. The gifts and talents you have are completely intentional.
Look Ma, No Stands: A Simple Solution to Hang Light Modifiers on Your Next Shoot
The entire front of our studio is glass. For some projects, the natural light that pours into our space is a blessing. However, for other projects we find it’s best to control our own light. As requests for product videography grew alongside the increase of clients using the studio for interviews we started to look into a better way to black out our glass storefront.
“We’re a group of problem solvers”
After measuring the space, we started submitting quotes for a track and curtain system. Prices started to come back between $12,000 and $14,000. Well, it’s a good thing we’re a group of problem solvers, because spending that kind of money on curtains just isn’t in our blood.
“The last thing we want to do is burn our studio to the ground”
We called around to some fabric stores and started explaining our needs. First, we needed to blackout out as much light as possible. Second, the fabric pieces needed to be large. The largest piece had to be 9×30’ preferably without any seams. Third, we wanted our fabric to have a bit of a knap. This means it has a fuzzy or velvety feel to it. This is helpful for absorbing sound. Last of all, it needed to be flame retardant. This fabric was going to be around a lot of hot lights, and the last thing we want to do is burn our studio to the ground.
After doing some research and calling around, we found a fabric warehouse in the heart of Chicago who had exactly what we were looking for. They offered reams of Commando Cloth/Duvetyne that could be cut to our desired length. So we hopped in the van and took a trip into the city to pick it up.
When we got it, the fabric was exactly what we were looking for, however, it looked like they cut it with a potato. The edges were crooked and fraying like crazy. Lucky for us, one of our wives owns a little sewing studio around the block from our studio. She graciously walked over, sewing machine in-hand and hemmed roughly 140’ of fabric for us. She even made color-coded tags on each curtain with size on it.
Next, we had to figure out how to hang this much fabric from our drop ceiling. The solution we came up with was relatively simple. We created something we call “Mag Clips”— we found tarp clips, and coupled them with small carabiners, and powerful neodymium magnets with a metal eyelet to allow some articulation and flex to each clip. The tarp clips use either a notched collar, or a tightening lever to clamp down on the fabric and can be hung to any metal surface.
When clipped onto the fabric (roughly every two feet), the clips are strong enough to hold the weight to the grid of the drop ceiling. Now, we are able to create a 20×30’ black box to shoot in, and it only cost us around $800.
Additionally, we are able to hang other materials such as muslin, or diffusion material like Grid Cloth or silk to bounce or shoot lights through, all without using any additional c-stands or rigging. No matter the material, it can all easily be taken down and transported and we have this flexibility no matter where we are shooting.
“Mag Clips… have quickly become one of those must-have items in our kit”
Mag Clips were built out of necessity to solve a small problem, but they have quickly become one of those must-have items in our kit that travel with us on location for every shoot. Heading blindly into a corporate shoot, having these clips and some rags on hand provide a quick way to throw up some negative fill or bounce light in confined spaces, maintaining a small footprint when you can’t necessarily afford wheeling in combo stands, t-bars, or speedrail to rig your light modifiers.
If you’re interested in creating your own ceiling clips, the material list can be found here:
Evan Frystak joins the Real Family
We met Evan back in 2016 on a local job. He was working as a jib operator on a gig we were directing. Although Evan had mad jib skills, as we got to know him, we fell in love with his passion for editing.
We quickly realized that this guy could sculpt a massive pile of footage into a compelling and emotional story. Evan began moonlighting for us on a regular basis. Finally, we decided enough was enough and thought of the famous words of Beyoncé,”If you liked it then you should’ve put a ring on it.” So that’s what we did. We asked Evan to join the Real Video Production family as a full time, in-house editor.
Now that Evan has been here a few weeks and gotten settled, we sat down with him to get to know him a little better.
Interview with Evan:
RVP: First off, welcome aboard, and thanks for taking the time to tell people about yourself. So starting off— what are 3 things I should know about you in order to understand you better?
EF:
1: I’m a total nerd. I love all things Star Wars, Lego, and Video games. I’m also a total film nut.
2: I enjoy collaborating with other creative people and learning and creating cool things.
3: I love to travel with my significant other and experience a lot of new things.
RVP: We’re a bunch of nerds ourselves, so you’re in good company. So what’s inspiring you right now?
EF: The world around me, the people I get the privilege to create with, and the hope for awesome success with those people.
RVP: Great answer! And what excites you most about being an editor?
EF: Being able to work on great content, and then seeing that content have a huge impact on the person or business we made it for.
RVP: There is definitely something satisfying about seeing your work out in the wild, isn’t there? What are you most excited about joining the Real Video team?
EF: The people and work environment are out of this world. It’s a privilege to be able to collaborate with such a friendly, creative, and dedicated team on a daily basis. Not to mention the content stands out as the best in Indiana, if not the best in the Chicagoland area.
RVP: Well we’re very happy to finally have you on board. Now, last question— what is some free advice you have to give?
“When you create something, you’re putting part of yourself out into the world”
EF: Just keep going. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
When you create something, no matter what it is, you’re putting part of yourself out into the world for others to critique. This can be either positive or negative. For the longest time I was afraid that work I released to the public would be badly criticized. Oftentimes this fear would put me in a state where I didn’t want to create anything at all. Eventually I did get over this fear. It was solved by just taking a deep breath, and casting the line out to sea.
RVP: There’s something to be said about making work that is a little controversial— work that does provoke criticism. If you’re pleasing everyone, you’re pleasing no one, you know?
EF: Exactly.
RVP: Well thank you again Evan, for taking the time to sit down with us and introduce yourself to the world. This has been a real treat, and we are very excited to have you part of the team.
“I’m excited and ready to get to work.”
EF: No, thank you guys. I’m excited and ready to get to work.
A fresh perspective on video production
The format for this particular blog is a little different and because of that I feel it lends itself to an introduction.
Real Video Production Co. will sporadically open up the studio for “happy hour.” It’s usually a late Friday afternoon and is a time where anyone can stop by and mingle.
I noticed a young guy come in by himself and looked as if he was waiting for someone. I walked over and introduced myself. His name was Louie and he had a passion for photography. He told me he was interested in learning more about video production and his buddy suggested he meet him at our event. His buddy never showed up, but Louie and I swapped social media and contact info.
Later that night I jumped on his Instagram and was pretty impressed. We stayed in touch and even grabbed coffee a couple of times. Right before the last time we sat down at Café Fresco, Real Video was blessed with a new job that required producing a couple broadcast commercials for a past client.
When Louie and I were discussing the project, he had a lot of questions and was really interested in the process. He asked if he could join us on production day and shoot some behind-the-scenes photos & video. I thought back on how my passion grew for this line of work and really it was just getting my hands dirty and jumping into it, so we added him to the call sheet as a production assistant.
It was a busy, fast-paced day, but Louie came along for the ride and rolled with the punches. He ended up being very helpful, as well as created some great BTS content for us.
After the shoot, we all hung out around our table in the studio and we asked Louie what his thoughts were about being on set— I felt like his fresh perspective was interesting and I asked him if we could do an interview for the blog and showcase the video and photos he took that day.
That’s the backstory behind this post. Enjoy.
Interview with Louie Pastore:
What are 3 things I need to know about you to understand who you are better?
- I am an 18 year old Eagle Scout, currently in my senior year of high school and am homeschooled.
2. I’ve been doing photography for the last 5 to 6 years, shooting everything from product photography in my home studio (my garage) to Photojournalism in the mountains of New Mexico.
3. Along with photography and filmmaking, I also spend time playing jazz drums, learning new skills and running my own small landscaping business.
"I wanted to be a part of a team that created professional level cinematic results"
What was your reason for wanting to join Real Video on a production?
I needed a place where I could work alongside industry professionals and like-minded creatives, in the hope of further developing my skill set, but at the same time contribute to a team.
After coming across their website and browsing through their work, the level of cinematic quality and attention to detail were my main reasons for wanting to be a part of Real Video’s creative process. I wanted to be a part of a team that created professional level cinematic results, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was it.
"Watching the high level of efficiency was incredible"
What were 3 things you learned about video production while observing a broadcast commercial being shot?
- Lighting & Setups
I had a basic understanding of how a production would operate, although one of the first things that caught me off guard was the amount of time spent setting up the scene and each individual shot.
The lighting and setup for this commercial was especially intricate, and was a huge contrast to the kind of run-and-gun photography/filmmaking that I’m used to. I’ll definitely never look at a commercial the same way again, knowing how long each shot most likely took to set up and how many takes were needed to get it right.
2. Organization
Next, was the amount of organization that goes into a production. As an Eagle Scout and someone who has managed small landscaping projects, it’s safe to say that I had a pretty good idea of how organization and proper planning works.
However, seeing it put into action in this setting gets wildly more complex. Coordinating talent, scene setups, lens changes, and making every asset play into the finished product was a solid learning point for me to hopefully be running my own creative projects in the future.
3. Operation
Finally, I was able to learn how a professional production crew operates. When everyone knows their role and what they need to do to contribute to the finished project, watching the high-level of efficiency was incredible. Nailing shot after shot, perfectly on schedule and seeing how little time is wasted shows how just with anything, a solid, like-minded team with the proper tools can achieve just about anything.
"I was amazed at how similar the rendered product was to the original vision"
After watching a production in process, is there a specific area that peaked your interest that you would like to learn more about?
There are 2 areas that really peaked my interest.
First, is the post production. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an interest in post production. After becoming obsessed with VFX breakdown videos on YouTube at a young age, I began to dive deeper into editing, sound design, and color grading.
Throughout the entire shoot, I couldn’t help but imagine how the piece would be edited together, and will be excited to learn more about the decision making process when editing at the professional level.
Second, was the creative side of the planning process. Looking over the script/shot list and hearing descriptions of how the piece was planned to turn out, I was amazed at how similar the rendered product was to the original vision.
This is something that I hope to pick up on, and gain more insight towards the creative planning side of things.
Where can people learn more about you and your work?
- Website
- Instagram (where I post my work most frequently)
- Philmont article (written by me along with all of the photos)
All photos below were taken & edited by Louie Pastore.
Interview on Daily Ad Brief
Creative Director, Kevin Bruinsma was invited to be a guest speaker on the Daily Ad Brief online show called Marketing Champions. Each week Marketing Champions host, Howard Wolpoff, speaks with marketing professionals around the country to discuss the newest marketing trends.
Howard:
So why don’t you share with us how you get started in marketing in general?
Kevin:
Yeah, sure. I got started in the nonprofit world and did full campaigns for a good 15 years. Then branched out and started working at an advertising agency in Chicago. Then in 2020, me and a couple of other guys decided to start Real Video Production Co. and that’s what I’m currently doing.
Howard:
Well, timing is everything. I’m sure that your start was not as smooth as you wanted if you started in 2020. How much of a challenge did you have with COVID to start a video production company?
“Being a COVID startup was probably the dumbest/best thing that we ever did.”
Kevin:
Yeah, being a COVID startup was probably the dumbest/best thing that we ever did. Thankfully, we have a product, video, that has been used quite a bit since COVID. So that was a saving grace. But yeah, things have been great actually. Surprisingly, very, very busy.
Howard:
We always love hearing great success stories from any of our guests. So when you’re onboarding someone, what is the conversation? What is it that they’re looking to get out of video and what is it that you’re trying to share with them that you can really develop their story through video?
Kevin:
When we’re onboarding a client, a lot of times they’re coming to us with a problem that they need to solve. Whether it’s something very basic, like they just need people to know who they are. Sometimes they need to hire more people or to sell more of a product or something like that. So really getting down to what the problem is that they’re trying to solve, and first and foremost, is video the solution to that problem?
Howard:
Video gets used a lot of different ways, whether it’s on someone’s website, an ad, or it’s us on social media, where is it that you see video going as marketing moves over the next couple of years? And are there specific platforms you see really playing a strong role and getting a message out there?
“I think one of the things that we’re going to start seeing is an uptick in quality to cut through that noise a little bit.”
Kevin:
I think big business has known that video was a major player in marketing for a while and now you’re seeing it trickle down into medium and smaller businesses. Video is becoming a very noisy landscape, just due to the nature of it. I think moving forward we’re going to see a lot more videos especially with social media and everything else. I think one of the things that we’re going to start seeing is an uptick in quality to cut through that noise a little bit. I think too, with medium and small businesses, they’re starting to grasp the idea of putting ad dollars behind the videos that they’re producing and pushing them out on social media. So we’ll see a lot more of that.
Howard:
Well, it’s important that you have the right video messages getting out there and the right people who are directing you in the right way because you have a lot of companies that will just grab their phone and put anything up there. And it’s really not just about anything, it’s about the right thing. What tells your story? What really creates the right visual for you? So we really thank you for joining us today to share what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and all the great things you’re doing for your clients.
Kevin:
Thank you so much for having me.
The Manifest Names Real Video Production Co. as Chicago’s Most Recommended Video Production Company for 2022
For over 20 years, Real Video Production has been providing world-class filming and storytelling services to brands from all walks of life. Whether it’s web commercials, testimonial videos, brand identity videos, or even corporate photography, our team is ready to go the extra mile for you.
To start off this exciting new year, the entire Real Video Production Co. team is excited to announce wonderful news to you. Just recently, The Manifest named our team as one of the most recommended and reviewed video production companies this 2022!
Since our inception, we’ve always made it our mission to build long-lasting relationships with our clients. We want to empower them through our simple, transparent, and collaborative services. Led by our three passionate founders, Kevin Bruinsma, Josh Roeda, and Ryan Roeda, our team strives to deliver excellence and efficiency.
Throughout the years, we’ve had the massive honor of working with amazing clients like Fellowes, Homewood Disposal, Ozinga, The Village of South Holland, and more. Our generous clients helped us earn this recognition from The Manifest reviewing our notable projects.
Real Video Opens Second Studio in Chicago!
Life has an ebb and flow to it. Proverbial doors open and proverbial doors close. At Real Video when a door of opportunity opens, we like to take one step towards it to see if it remains open or if it slams in our face. It’s a simple concept but that is how this opportunity to open a second location in Chicago happened and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
Real Video Production Co. opened its doors in Crown Point, IN in June of 2020. We love Crown Point. It’s a great town with a lot going for it. Our 2,000 square foot studio is awesome for us and how we work. However, it does have a downside. Crown Point lives in the shadow of one of the greatest cities on earth, Chicago.
Half of our clientele is based in Chicago
After reviewing a few stats since we opened our doors, we have observed that about half of our clientele is based in Chicago. So we started to toy around with the idea of opening a second location in order to better serve our clients in Illinois.
So we reached out to a few friends in Chicago and started to share our idea of a second location. One of those friends is Sergio Gomez who has an art gallery in the Zhou B Art Center in the Bridgeport neighborhood. He had mentioned that a few spaces would be opening up in the Zhou B building. A few phone calls later and we were able to get a tour of the spaces that would be available. One in particular seemed to check all the boxes we were looking for.
The next thing we know we signed the lease and started making the space our own. We are excited for this new adventure and feel incredibly blessed to be in this position. Already we have felt welcomed by the creative community at Zhou B and have been inspired by all the talented artists that surround our new studio.
We DO care what people think.
I was recently going through an old box of photographs and stumbled upon the invitation to the first art show I was part of back in 2010. It was a group show with Justin Wolf and Joseph Gonzalez. At the time, we were working graphic designers who did fine art on the side.
This show was a highlight of the art we created after hours under our alias names. As I reflect back, this was actually a really important benchmark in my life as a creative professional. It was the first time I showed artwork that I created for myself and opened it up to the public for review. At the gallery we had a ledger that guests could leave feedback. Some positive, others ripped particular pieces to shreds.
As a young creative professional, I knew it was important to start building a thick skin around the work I was pouring myself into.
As I have matured in my career, one important skill I’ve picked up is to be able to separate yourself from your work. As the creator, it’s easy to fall in love with every painting, sculpture, design or video— but tossing it out into the world where people will freely judge can be a very humbling experience. But at the end of the day, that feedback (both positive and negative) is important for us to hear because it refines you and your creative process.
That’s why every year at Real Video Production Co. we submit some of our top work in various industry award platforms, where a board of industry professionals judge the work, rank it accordingly, and in some cases provide feedback.
“Winning a Telly Award is great, but seeing your work play during every Sox game on WGN might be the greater reward.”
We are pleased to announce that this past year we won a silver Telly Award for the video work we did in collaboration with Shawn Stuckey Creative for Steele and Loeber.
This was a two-part commercial campaign titled “Great Things Begin In The Garage”. One ad featured a budding fashion designer, and the other an up-and-coming baseball legend.
“It’s not necessarily for the quality of work we produced, but our reputation among our clients.”
This past year, we were also recognized by online creative service directory, Clutch.co with an award as one of their Top B2B Companies. This one is a little different because it’s not necessarily for the quality of work we produced, but our reputation among our clients.
As we’ve built relationships and grown, our clients have graciously been leaving reviews on our company; covering the gamut of how easy we were to work with, an evaluation of the video(s) we produced for them, and an overview of their experience.
Other businesses looking for a similar service use those reviews to see if you would be a good fit for their project. This has been a great way to track our growth, and use their unfiltered feedback as a way to better serve them and prospective clients in the future.
“Real Video Production Co. is ranked the #1 video production company in Indiana”
Winning a Top B2B Award from Clutch.co might be of more value to me than a Telly. Why? Because doing great work is an assumed “pay-to-play” in this arena of being a video production company. Having your clients take the time to do an extensive, honest review of your company is really where we can chart our growth and correct course when we need to.
"One of the top 10 Illinois Video Production Companies"
We are fortunate to say thus far, we’ve garnered sweeping 5-star reviews and Real Video Production Co. is now ranked the #1 video production company in Indiana.
In addition to that, Real Video has been recognized as one of the top 10 Illinois Video Production Companies by DesignRush (#2 to be precise.)
To hear our clients speaking highly of the quality of our work, how easy we are to work with, our meticulous care in planning and executing the creative, and praise for our overall work ethic feels pretty good.
While holding true to one of our top values at Real Video: Authenticity, I have to say that I’m proud of most of the work we have done this past year. Sure, not everything makes the highlight reel but I can honestly say that we created the best video projects we could within the limitations of every project that was given to us.
I’m even more proud of our small, but mighty team. They are ridiculously talented. But more so, they are genuinely good people— people who care for each other, create with excellence, and want to see the work we do make our clients more successful.
“WE’RE READY. BRING IT ON.”
As we step into this year, I already know we will be rewarded with some amazing opportunities as well as tossed some unpredictable zingers, but as we’ve taken stock of how much we’ve grown this past year, I can confidently say we’re ready. Bring it on.