Cottage Creative

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Video Producer of a hospitality & leisure company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Conventions, sports, entertainment and cultural events in Washington DC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cottage Creative to accomplish?

• Produce engaging video content
• Work as Director of Photography on fast-paced shoots
• Enhance in-person events through video storytelling

SOLUTION

How did you find Cottage Creative?

RFP

Why did you select Cottage Creative over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Dependable, flexible, creative

What was the size of Cottage Creative’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Produced four videos, approximately four minutes in length each, featuring a combination of direct-to-camera interviews and animated graphics. Each video featuring a different individual highlighting a personal story and their connection to the unique foods of their home country. Deliverables included the four videos with graphics, music, and sound design, as well as versions without music for use in cut-downs for social media and other promotional needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• The video series provided the desired additional engagement with both attendees of the event and with the general population, boosting knowledge of programming and putting a human face to the goals of the event.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Asked to deliver a complicated project on a short timeline, Cottage Creative worked within those demands to produce a series of videos that met expectations in every way.

What was your primary form of communication with Cottage Creative?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Cottage Creative is flexible and accommodating to project needs, finding a way to produce an excellent final product even when faced with ever-changing variables out of the team's control.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Cottage Creative could have done differently?

Nothing in particular.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communications Manager of University of Maryland College of Information Studies

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland produces students who will transform the way people of all abilities and demographics access and work with information and technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cottage Creative to accomplish?

Create videos marketing our undergraduate programs

SOLUTION

How did you find Cottage Creative?

Referral

Why did you select Cottage Creative over others?

Close to my geographic location, Great culture fit, Referred to me

What was the size of Cottage Creative’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Create 4 videos, one for our Information Studies major in English, and another for the same program in Spanish, as well as a video for our Technology & Information Design major and Social Data Science major. There were several days of filming interviews as well as several days of filming b-roll. Key deliverables were finished videos ready to upload to YouTube. The Spanish video also included a translation of the transcript which was very helpful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Finished products

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Cottage Creative delivered all videos on time, and they were very responsive to any questions, edits, and/or revisions. Alex is very professional yet easy going, making the experience easy and pleasant.

What was your primary form of communication with Cottage Creative?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Alex's video work is top-notch. He is also very good at making subjects feel comfortable in front of a camera and large studio lights. The video & audio quality is perfect. Alex also worked very well with our team on finding the right footage/sound bites to convey exactly what we wanted to on our videos. We were very impressed with his ability to get the Spanish video done without being fluent in the langauge.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Cottage Creative could have done differently?

Nope!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communications Manager of University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Journalism higher education — we are the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cottage Creative to accomplish?

• Tell our story/communications marketing
• Assist with recruiting
• Assist with fundraising

SOLUTION

How did you find Cottage Creative?

Referral, Other

Why did you select Cottage Creative over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of Cottage Creative’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We created a new 60-second "About Us" top-line promotional video, starting with creative planning and storyboarding, progressing to arranging a shoot schedule over multiple days in different locations attached to the college and working together on a script before Cottage Creative took over all post-production, finding the best footage, music and pacing to tell our story in a short commercial spot.

The video was exceptional, with deliverables being two versions of the promo — one with captions and one without.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Thousands of views across our social media platforms
• Delivered to hundreds of thousands of households on UMTV

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Alexander, the owner of the company and videographer, is the easiest to work with. He is an excellent collaborator and project partner. I have worked with him on multiple video projects, with this being the largest and most recent top-line promo, and he works with your schedule, is highly communicative, very responsive and incredibly talented.

He gets to know the companies he represents and does a remarkable job at tailoring his work to fit the needs of his clients. For all of those reasons, I would hire him for every commercial we ever made. The quality of his work is exceptional, and it always arrives on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Cottage Creative?

• Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The talent and quality of work. How easy they are to collaborate with. They're the whole package at a reasonable price.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Cottage Creative could have done differently?

No -- would hire repeatedly.