It hardly ever happens this way: I receive a phone call from a prospective client who Ib ve never met.
His organization had already checked out a number of production companies for an upcoming job. We were one of those companies. He heard good things about us, really liked our work (especially our demo reel), and was fairly certain that he and his CEO wanted to give us the job. Could I come in for a chat?
Are you kidding? No dancing around about the concept, timeframe, budget elements, treatment, style, content and the thousand other things that go into getting a job off the ground? Of course I wanted to come in for that chat.
Itb s a great feeling to know that youb ve been b pre-approved.b The style of our demo reel (all visuals b no narration b with floating titles) was just what the Wildlife Conservation Society had imagined for their video. Their previous video was excellent, but didnb t capture the essence of the organization on a visceral level.
Our introductory meeting went very well, and within a month we were into production, researching existing footage and planning our shoots at the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo and Brooklyn Zoo. My long-time friend and accomplice Reuben Aaronson was DP, and virtuosos Pippa Gould and Brennan McBride designed the graphics and edited.
My client and the rest of the staff at the Wildlife Conservation Society were great to work with. (The animals were extremely cooperative as well.) The production, a five-minute development video, turned out very well, and is being used as an integral part of the WCS multi-million dollar fundraising campaign.
The b fast-trackingb of this project had a lot to do with my client being able to see our work before contacting us. Of course, the importance of a face to face meeting is essential to determine if the chemistry is right between client and producer. But this experience got us thinking about how we could present more of our work on our website.
To this end, web ve incorporated an easy to navigate Screening Room into our updated website. Now, prospective clients who would like to get to know us b before committing to a meeting b can see clips and full versions of about 40 of our videos. And, that number will be increasing in the near future with every video we complete.
You can check out our Screening Room on this website.
