The Berry Company

I worked with The Berry Company to produce an directory listing video for Wilderness Journeys & Pagosa Rafting Outfitters in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Berry commisioned me to shoot and edit a basic video and turn it around within 48 hours to included in their marketing packages for small businesses. Kevin Metzler recently purchased the business and although he was a little nervous to speak in front of camera, with a little coaching and the magic of editing his presentation turned out quite well.

Fort Lewis College | Keep Calm Campaign

The curriculum at Fort Lewis College is going through major changes in Fall of 2016. The college is changing academic policies in order to be consistent with other public colleges and universities across the state of Colorado. These sweeping large-scale changes to academic policy can result in an amount of confusion and stress among students who will be required to conform to the new standards. As a result the college has undertaken a proactive campaign to address student anxiety with the a healthy sense of humor by employing the popular internet meme “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

The college contracted with me shortly before Spring Break of the 2016 Winter Semester to produce a series of videos to inform students, with the goal of releasing the videos the Monday that students return to classes. As a result, I worked with the college to turn-around the video project in a week’s time.The goal here was to proactively address “a sky is falling” attitude among students, with smart and effective communication. The idea was to keep it simple, short and effective. We were fortunate to work with the very talented Lindley Gallegos, who is not only ASFLC President, but is also an anchor for the college video news program Fort Fuel. She was able to communicate the changes in a relatable manner, as a peer, as opposed to a member of the administration. A teleprompter rolled the scripts in front of the camera lens, allowing Lindley to look directly into camera, without any need to memorize a total of eight minutes of dialogue for each of the videos.

Durango Motor Company – Winter Adventure

For the next winter adventure in this year’s advertising campaign for Durango Motor Company, we headed to the snow white slopes of Purgatory. Durango Motor Company really wanted to focus on a skiing adventure because it is such a classic past-time for people in the area.

We began shooting the car heading to Purgatory resort on one of the coldest mornings I can remember this winter. My thermometer read -7 degrees prior to sunrise. We actually shot the “morning” shots of the family getting ready at sunset the same day, in order to avoid shooting on multiple days. It was certainly a challenge shooting a black Ford Explorer against a bright winter backdrop; it was a true test of the dynamic range on my camera.

A big Thank You to Purgatory for giving us permission to film on the Columbine lift for this fun commercial. We couldn’t have done it without their help. Also a big thanks to the energetic and adorable Frazier family who were the perfect fit for this commercial.

Look for six more installments in the “Your Adventure Starts Here” campaign from Durango Motor Company throughout the year! Production will pick up again this Spring.

KSUT Capital Campaign

KSUT is celebrating 40 years of radio service to the region. Initially established in Ignacio to serve the Southern Ute Tribe the station has grown to serve the broader Four Corners area as “One station, with two signals,” serving tribal communities over Southern Ute Tribe Radio as well as the broader general audience over Four Corners Public Radio. Over those 4 decades, however, the station has been confined to small deteriorating century-old brick building that originally served as a tribal medical clinic. KSUT has long since outgrown this building, and the station is in dire need to replace aging equipment, and as a result the station has initiated the Eddie Box Jr. Media Center Capital Campaign.

KSUT has become a cornerstone of the Four Corners community, as a hub for community information and events, unique music programming, as well as our source for public radio programming including NPR news. When KSUT approached me about producing this video, I was excited at the opportunity to help promote this wonderful non-profit organization and help move the station into the modern age.

KSUT wanted to include a lot of information in a short amount of time. They wanted to speak to the history of the station starting with its roots as a Southern Ute Tribe station, they also wanted to touch on the legacy of community radio with interviews from listeners and supporters, and finally they needed to lay out a comprehensive three-phases fundraising campaign that would span the next decade.

We decided to drive the video with a mix of narration and interviews, while sprinkling in the recognizable voices of KSUT radio. The narration lays out the specifics of the campaign in a time efficient manner, while the interviews provide sincere testimonials to the importance of investing in the future of community radio. We also wanted to emphasize how the KSUT service area spans the entire Four Corners area, truly serving as a community hub for this unique area in the Southwest. In order to visually demonstrate this, we wanted to incorporate voices of many of the hosts and shows on KSUT along with iconic b-roll of landmarks and locations throughout the region where KSUT could be heard over the air.

Durango Motor Company

Durango Motor Company wanted to take a new approach to their TV marketing in the new year. They wanted to distance themselves as far away as possible from the cliche of the local car dealership ad template. We’re all familiar with these ads: the obnoxious voiceovers that sound like they are echoing down a metal hallway, the charismatic car dealer telling you that you can “sign and drive today, no credit necessary.” Well, Durango Motor Company didn’t want to touch any of that with a twenty-nine and half inch poll.

Specifically Durango Motor Company wanted to “get off the lot” altogether, so I sat down and worked with the local car dealer to help them come up with the 2016 “Your Adventure Starts Here” ad campaign. For the first winter spot we decided to focus on the popular and highly competitive adult recreational hockey scene in Durango. I decided to write the ad with no dialogue, limit voiceover to a simple tagline, and focus on capturing fast-paced action accompanied by natural sound and a non-traditional sound track.

The shoot was scheduled just days prior to the winter solstice, and it was probably one of coldest mornings in December, especially when as videographer you end up laying on the ice for multiple takes. Thanks to Cameron Kautzman and his hockey buddies for being at the rink early in the morning for the shoot. Let me just say Cam didn’t miss a single shot on goal and kept each shot tight in the upper left of the goal.

Below you can watch the 15 second version of the ad. This is the first of 8 commercials that will be produced over the year. The next ad will feature a Durango favorite winter past-time, hitting the fresh powder with family.