For this project we were lucky enough to partner with producer/director Kay Milam of Donna Lawrence Productions, to create a short video documenting the history and growth of the company. With so much history to cover, this project required an all-hands-on-deck approach. The team combined elegant interviews shot on location, by Brian Cunningham, with archival images and motion graphic treatments.

Sorting through hours of photos, footage and news clippings, to bring the story to life is quite a task. Steve Hurst and Chris Johnson worked together to piece it all together. “I loved working on this project. It was a perfect team effort that allowed each person to truly focus on what they are best at,” Johnson reflects.

Annie Ratterman’s guidance as producer and Hurst’s “unshakeable calmness” Johnson said, allowed for a successful completion of the video. The final product was shown to the entire Humana staff in the Yum! Center, to which David Jones, Jr. said was a difficult act to follow.

I’d say that’s a job well done. Click over to our portfolio to see for yourself!

In short, you might very well have to be crazy to try and accomplish this task.  So this past sunday, over 2,000 certifiably insane (and insanely in-shape) people dedicated anywhere from nine to seventeen hours of their life to achieving the glory of completing the Iron Man challenge.

I was there with a camera, documenting the event and gathering b-roll for future projects including a video for the Louisville Sports Commission.  After a few hours of walking with camera in tow, I was ready to call it quits.  I really don’t know how the athletes felt.

I was also at the finish line to watch the winner sprint back and forth, high-fiving the crowd as he came in to claim his substantial (but undefined to the audience) cash prize.  Then he ripped the finish line down, held it above his head, and proceeded to let out a silent scream of celebration…before sprinting BACK down the line of people for a high-speed victory lap and returning to the finish line for a barely out-of-breath interview.

And as I saw this specimen of human excellence treat one of the most difficult feats known to man as if it were a quick jog across the street, two very clear thoughts came into my mind.  1) I’m terribly out of shape.  And 2) I sure could go for a beer right about now.

Alan Manias, along with his faithful contingent made up of Dennis Goodman, Brian Cunningham, and Steve Hurst, produced a spot for Kentucky Proud and New West Agency.

New West Agency brought the idea to Videobred of a farmer getting up pre-dawn to give his crops all the special attention they need to be “Kentucky proud.”

Alan’s first task was to find a tomato farmer in Kentucky who had ripe tomatoes as early as the third week in June. After scouting three farms, he landed on Dwight Faulkner of DNS Farms in Somorset, Ky. According to Alan, DNS Farms was the most picturesque and had the most product to work with.  Alan said everything went really well from start to finish, and things couldn’t have gone any better.

Paul Gosselin from New West Agency said he always loves working with the Videobred team. “This was one of the easiest projects I’ve had to do in a while,” said Paul. “Sometimes as a writer/producer you feel like you have to tell everyone what to do, but I think everyone was excited about the project. It was kind of effortless after writing the script because Alan did a lot of leg work as a producer.”

Paul also said Steve Hurst did an awesome job as an editor because he always “brings something extra” to the project.

So congrats to everyone on a job well done! To see pictures of the Kentucky Proud shoot, visit our Facebook page!

Interns Rachel Shulhafer, Gina Durkan and Barrett Dennison produced, shot, and edited their short video in less than a week. With each having a different strongpoint, they were able to learn from one another and gain experience in their areas of interest.

Rachel came up with the idea based around Archie while dozing on and off during the NBA Finals. “I fell asleep, dreamt about bacon, and that’s how it came to be,“ she said. “It was an ‘ah hah!’ moment.”

Barrett was behind the AF100 camera and was also the voiceover as Archie. He feels like this first project was a large step in the right direction for him and his partners.

“Once upon a time, I was a lone wolf in search of an opportunity to learn,” Barrett said. “I came to videobred an infant with a mere glimpse of what production offered me. As my fellow interns and I conspired to create our first commissioned work, I found my pack, each person with their own set of skills, personality, and courage and we pursued what I think was a great learning experience.”

The last step in their adventure was the editing and final touches. Gina had experience in post production so she put her skills to work.

“It was cool that everyone at Videobred was constantly supporting us and willing to do whatever we said to help with the project,” she said. “’Twas like having infinite power.”

With the help of the VB team and the amazing Archie, our interns successfully passed their  first project.

“The three of us are very efficient and we are going to make even better projects because now we know what’s up,” Rachel believes.

Looks like we will be putting them to the test. Stay tuned for more great work from the wolf pack!

The main Derby project was for our client Mott’s, who launched their new 100% vegetable juice at the Red Carpet Green Room. Raph Cecil, Brian Cunningham, and Matt Niehoff were there, shooting footage of celebrities that came by to taste test the Garden Blend Bloody Mary and other fresh drinks.

Cecil and Cunningham shot B-roll   with the HDX900 and Cannon 7D, as Niehoff was editing in a small 3’x5’ room. “I had to edit behind a wall, on the floor while everyone else got to hang out with celebrities,” Niehoff said with a laugh. Celebrity encounters included “Private Practice” star Kate Walsh, who teamed up with Mott’s to promote the drink, along with Martha Stewart, Jennifer Tilly, and Kate Gosselin.

“Kate Walsh was a real pro,” said Cecil.  “It’s always great to interview someone that needs very little prompting.  She hit all the points and gave us just the right sound bites.  I’ve been fortunate enough to see the Derby from the infield, Grandstand, even next to the Spires, and now the red carpet. This was another great Derby memory.”

Although the day was a success, Cunningham’s star stuck moment never came. “We did not get to see Bill Paxton,” he said, “which was a source of great regret for Matt and me. He is the only actor to be killed by a predator, alien, and terminator.”

Work aside, a few members of our group were able to escape and join the festivities at the AdFed Spring Day at the Downs. Videobred has been  attending the event at Churchill Downs for over 20 years and with tons of food, drinks, and mingling, it is definitely something we look forward to.

“We were able to hang out outside of work, which is always a good time,” said Tori Thompson, our new Operations Manager. “You run into people you have worked with or want to work with so it’s a great way to network, but it’s also really fun. There is excitement in the air because it’s Derby week.”

Seth created the film while in the Sports Link program at Ball State University, where he just completed his junior year. Sports Link is the first undergraduate program in the nation catered specifically to sports production, and students typically work closely with the athletic department. Last year when Seth approached his instructor looking for an in-depth project to work on, his instructor told him about a former Ball State basketball player who was the subject of a recent book, titled Black Men Can’t Shoot.

Seth eagerly devoured the book, loved Malik’s story, and immediately contacted author, player and coach. All were happy to participate, so Seth gathered a couple fellow students and set about the arduous task of scripting and planning the film.

Nick Yeoman and Ben Wagner, also Ball State students, assisted with scripting, interviewing and editing. Although Seth created all the storyboards, he credits Nick as “phenomenal” at taking his “ideas and putting them into words and a cohesive story.”

An entire semester’s worth of work resulted in the final six-minute piece. Seth, however, still wasn’t confident in the finished project. “I shot it on a PD150 and I was concerned the camera quality wasn’t good enough,” he explains. But an encouraging professor gave the students the money for the entry fee and a few months later Seth was “blown away” to find out their film had been nominated for the Emmy.

Some three months later, Seth was, like most college students, paging through Facebook in the wee hours of the morning when he was tagged in a post congratulating him on the big win. The award comes with a $3,000 prize, though Seth professes, “I don’t even care about the money, I’m just so excited that I get to put it on my resume. I never even thought I’d come close to winning a student Emmy as an undergraduate.”

So what was the most rewarding part of the filmmaking process for Seth? “When we finally got to do the sit-down interview with Malik. We had written out about 40 different questions and we still weren’t really sure where the story was going. And then I was looking through the monitors and the lighting was really cool and I could see it all finally coming together, that this story wasn’t actually about basketball. That’s always the best part of any project you do – when you realize that you actually have something.”

Seth insists that right now his “focus is really just working at videobred and absorbing as much knowledge as possible.” But as with any aspiring filmmaker, for Seth there’s always another project just around the corner. “I’m working on a new script now,” he says. “What’s it about? Oh, just the cliche indie script that all college students write.”

Congratulations on this much-deserved award, Seth! We expect to see many more great things from you in the months and years to come!

But we’ve still gonna make you take out the trash.

View Seth’s award-winning “Malik Perry Story” here.

But to make things a little more interesting, Papa John’s contacted videobred to film to judging and announcement of finalists to stream live on their Facebook site. The day before the big event our crew, headed by producer Raphael Cecil and social media guru Brian Cunningham, set up a command center and did test runs at Papa John’s headquarters. The next day thousands of hungry fans were watching the Papa John’s Facebook page as a nervous Brian hit the big red button to “Go Live.” Fans across the world were able to share in the excitement and post comments in real time on Facebook as they watched the live stream. After the event concluded, videobred edited the footage into a highlight reel and Brian was finally able to relax and enjoy a slice of pizza.

More photos from the event on our Facebook page!

Producer Susan Crook led a killer videobred team with Raphael Cecil as Director, Brian Cunningham as Director of Photography and Matt Niehoff as Editor and Graphics Genius. Shot entirely in HD, the show had Chef Varanese and our crew exploring biodynamic farming, visiting a bee farm and chasing wild turkeys, and picking up a few recipes along the way. Beef Tips Tortellini, anyone?

Meet your local farmers and learn how to prepare amazing dishes that are both savory and sustainable. All 13 episodes, plus recipes, are available at bigworldoffood.com.