ALDO Kicks Off It's Shoes with Cahan and Hotbed

Hotbed completes a fresh set of videos for Aldo's new website. Cahan & Associates brought in Hotbed for the video work. I love when clients ask for videos with jacked up aspect ratios like 760 X 310 or 600 X 30. In the old days it was just 720 X 486. Now we are all over the map. There are no more boundaries. Its crazy and fun. It makes me want to party.

Visit ALDO's website < -

Bang-for-the-buck, Riverbed style

The many aspects required to produce film and video can add up fast: research, creative development, writing, scouting, casting, production crew, etc. However, once those pieces are in place, creating additional content is actually a pretty nominal cost. That's how you can really maximize the budget for your shoot. Here's how we helped our client Riverbed create a huge bang-for-the-buck.

Riverbed approached us to produce a short film documenting an all-company march from their old office to their new high-rise digs. It was a coming of age film of sorts. But, as this was a live march, it required a full crew. That's tough to justify for a non revenue generating event. So we asked what they really needed?

"We are growing like crazy and need to attract top quality employees."
"Our partner channel is small, but successful. We need to grow it effectively."
"We need to convey very technical information in a clear, concise fashion."

No problemo Riverbed amigos. Here's what we produced from one day of filming:

-The Riverbed March Documentary
-Technical product "Chalk Talks" that describe their solution in real world detail
-Nine true to life, unscripted employee testimonials (the vibe of the company)
-Two reseller testimonials (how and why they succeed selling Riverbed)
-Two customer testimonials (why they love Riverbed so darn much)

These videos are seen on Riverbed's website, used in tradeshows, shown at partner recruitment meetings, and sent to prospective employees. Let me tell you, Riverbed knows how to maximize their almighty dollar! We were happy to help them create additional content that helped accomplish multiple business goals. Oh yeah, our videos also gets them dates. We heard through the grapevine that one of their employees has gotten several dates based on her online testimonial video. We're happy to help :)

Hoosier's for Science Geeks

Rainy Saturday mornings are just made for formulatic, small town, against-all-odds, heart-string-pulling, father/son movies. October Sky was exactly what I was looking for on this drizzly day. Thanks USA network. As a former science geek (Radio Shack 150-in-1 kit, Chemistry Set, Rocket Building Kit, etc.) and current tech geek, I'm putting a stake in the ground that October Sky is the best of the "Hoosiers for Science Geeks" genre. It should be noted that as a new Dad (the little guy is 9 months old now) I am particulary susceptible to formulatic feel good movies. This movie followed all the rules for the genre.

1) Strained father/son relationship. Check.
2) Father that just doesn't understand son's dream (come on kid, we're coal miners, here). Check.
3) Hometown featured in Bruce Springsteen song (Youngstown aka Coalwood, WV). Check.
4) Inspirational teacher that gets deathly ill. Check.
5) Million-to-one shot to escape small town (National Science Fair). Check.
6) Huge Adversity that delays and nearly derails dream (mine explosion/cave-in). Check.
7) Against all odds victory with the help of his small town (even Dad). Check.
8) Closing sequence showing that the real rocketboys all graduated from college. Check.
9) Extra heartstring tug showing how main character ends up working for NASA, inspirational teach dies too yound, and father dies of black lung disease. Double check. Come on, Hollywood. That wasn't even fair.

It really doesn't get more formulatic that this, folks. But, sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered. The links to the movie above discuss the movie as well as the story it's based on. It's interesting to see where the movie veered from reality and where it towed the line. It's a nice little family flick.

Useability Testing Works

I was part of a useability study last night at Frogdesign studios. It reminded me of the importance of putting down the corporate Kool-Aid, setting aside ego, and asking, "How does this work outside of our four walls?" If last nights study was any indication, the folks over at Frogdesign do a fine job of orchestrating this process for their clients. Hotbed conducted useability testing and a website re-design last Summer with our good friends over at The Milk Farm that yielded our new website (we hope you like it). We wanted to make our films the star of the show, rather than us, our client list, or how super awesome we'd like to think we are. Let the work speak for itself, we hailed. The results have been staggaring! The number of videos viewed on our website has increased by 281% in just six months. That's the power of stepping back. Another powerful tool of discovery is the use of film itself. We work directly with agencies to film focus groups, useability testing, and product release evaluations. While interviews and testing are powerful tools, nothing conveys emotion like film. Hotbed has filmed and edited two research projects for Witness that have been invaluable in conveying real thoughts and emotions directly to company leaders in a clear, concise fashion. Take a look at our films for Freebord and Zwack to see how the medium can be incorporated into your research project.

Celebration at City Hall

Director of Business Development Ed Reese, Writer/Director Patrick Wilkinson, and his wife Kathy Wallerstein celebrate at San Francisco's City Hall after the Full Circle Fund Forum event. Hotbed was proud to produce the film that kicked off the event and help their cause. Patrick was finally able to relax after a lot of hard work and have a much deserved glass of wine. The film rocked City Hall. In fact, it was so powerful that Full Circle Fund decided to use it on their home page as well. Nice work, Patrick! Take a look for yourself.

Forget Being Great

In the creative field, as in all fields, we all seek to do great work, have it seen, have some influence, be recognized and get a pat on the back. It's a part of what drives us, possibly more than money. But, sometimes the desire to do great work can stand in our way. We can get so caught up in trying to do great work that we can lose touch with what actually allows us to do great work, our soul. We stop listening to what moves us to be truthful in our expression and faithful to our personal perspectives that make our work unique. The pursuit of greatness can stall us out, give us writers block and paralyze us in fear of failure. I was reminded of this by an article in the Wall Street Journal called Importantitis, Enemy of Art. Download the article < -

Web Video

So many of our clients are calling us into their office and saying, "It's time. We want to create some videos for the web." We're excited to hear that. Here's a good write-up we found on the subject. READ IT - >

The Blacks Play Great American

On February 29, our friends The Blacks play Noise Pop at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. They are fun to watch. Check their music video.