Our Favorite Videos - Pt. 1
2015 was a year in which we grew as people and as an organization. It wasn't without growing pains, but we believe that we came out of it determined to make as much creative, meaningful work as humanly possible. We feel blessed that we are able to to spend each year doing what we love. So, without further ado (because who has the attention span for more text!), here are a few of our favorites, in the words of our team members.
Stephen - American Modern - Kurt’s Story
My favorite video is the "Brand Film" that we produced for American Modern. Through this project, I feel like the Drive team really bonded not only with the client but also with the policyholders that we were telling stories about. The VO from this video was not scripted but came directly from a long conversation with the policyholder, resulting in a real, authentic story. It is a dream to tell someone’s real story and help accomplish a client’s goals at the same time.
Chris - A High Five Salon Story
Joining Drive was a unique opportunity for me to work on projects that had a direct connection to my heart. High Five is one of those projects that I immediately knew would make an impact, both on our team and me personally. Throughout the creative process, we worked closely with Sam Hills and the rest of his team at the salon, we saw how collaboration can lead to the creation of something that everyone believes in. Those factors led to a great set that fostered friendships that have remained throughout the past year. The final cut of the video still manages to tug at my heart even a year later, and I've even been told it makes people tear up often when watching. Goal accomplished.
Carley - The Carabello Story
I was the new kid on the block in the Spring of 2014. At that time, the Drive Media House team was busy adventuring to Nicaragua to shoot this short doc while I was still in Newport, KY trying to figure out how the heck you unfold a C-stand. So for me, the Carabello Coffee Documentary was my initiation into the world of narrative-driven video and it was the turning point in my education when I realized I really did want to do this kind of work for the rest of my life.
I was able to see the project through from start to finish...Micah shot for days on end in the US and in Nicaragua, while Brandon spent endless nights composing music for a 13-minute film and I messed around in After Effects for the first time ever, trying to create something that resembled animations. Even though I wasn’t on set at the orphanage or in the coffee fields, I was still able to establish incredible relationships with people who were once strangers (shoutout to Justin and Emily and everyone!!)...simply by putting them in front of a camera and listening to their stories.
The coolest part about the project was getting to see the web usage of video evolve into the invaluable tool that it is now. I remember the day it was released, we sat in front of my computer and watched the number of views, likes, comments, and shares blow away expectations. I’m so thankful that through this project, I felt accepted and useful. As a rookie on the Drive team back then, I was a small part of something bigger… the documentary. The documentary was a small part of something bigger… Carabello Coffee. Carabello is a small part of something bigger… giving back to the community their coffee comes from… and giving back is part of something so much bigger and better than we can comprehend.
Read Pt. 2 here!