Trust the process.
Discovery
My goal is to create a final product that resonates with its audience. That means truly understanding the audience and building a genuine connection. In doing so, I must first build a connection with my client. I want to understand their goals in business, the goals for their customer, and the goals for the production. I do my best to ask pointed questions in order to uncover my client’s aspirations, and to get them to think of new angles they’ve never considered before. Once I connect with my client and relate to their audience, I am better equipped to drive smart productions and develop meaningful creative.
Creative
In today’s metric driven world, it can be easy to fall into the “paint-by-numbers” trap. I’ve been a part of projects that have wielded uninspired content that fell flat with its audience because it was manufactured in a box intended to appease metric-trends. View counts, play and click-through rates, social sharing, conversion rates, and feedback percentages are all helpful measurements to determine a project’s success, but creative is still meant to have a heart. I’ve come to trust my ideas by brainstorming with others, discovering personal experiences of clients, and finding the genuine emotion in every story.
Pre-Production
For me, this is where the real work happens. Whether it’s scriptwriting, story boarding, casting, or putting together the right crew, pre-production is my opportunity to put the video on paper before we ever yell “action” on set. There will always be a need for adjustments throughout the entire production process, but by crafting a sound foundation during pre-production, I’m able to lead my team through minefields with confidence.
Production
It’s all about trust. By the time my team and I step on set, I make sure I’ve set them up for success so they can do their job to the best of their ability. I trust them to execute on the creative plan laid out through pre-production. If I’ve done my job right, they can do theirs. We chose this industry because it fuels our creative needs. Production is art, it is freeing, and it is FUN. I remind my teams of this by running loose and lively sets.
Post-Production
The foundation was laid, the shoot was executed, now the puzzle pieces must be assembled. I work hard to create a blueprint on the front end of production, but that doesn’t mean the creativity stops at the wrap party. I work closely with editors and animators to help their ideas flourish and find the gems that aren’t always obvious in the beginning. Post-production isn’t just an assembly line, it’s where the story comes to life.
Product
When all is said and done, we’re left with the product. Through building connections, keeping an open mind, collaboration, and preparation, I make sure this product is worth watching.
Post-Mortem
The production isn’t finished with the final export. Once the project is complete, it’s time to hash out our successes, our failures, and the knowledge we learned over the course of the project. This is a time where we can have those tough discussions to learn how the team and I can continue to get better at telling meaningful stories.