Storyboard Films

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Senior Portfolio Manager and Principal at Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group, a value-based money management firm located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We manage over a billion dollars for high-net-worth individuals, families, institutions, municipalities, and universities around the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Storyboard Films?

We wanted to have some very well-done and tasteful videos made to explain our business—what we do, who we are, why we're different and successful, and how we could benefit potential clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Storyboard Films has produced eight to ten videos for us. These include videos on our portfolio performance for an annual event that 500 clients and investment professionals attend and others to educate our clients on our portfolio choices.

We sit down and talk with them for every video. We outline our goal and what end product expect. They come up with the storyline to achieve that goal.

The videos include live action as well as animation with charts and graphics. They provide the scripts and storylines. They shoot and edit the videos as well as upload and maintain them on our website.

We finished our most recent project about 10 months ago and are just starting a new one.

What is the team composition?

We usually work with three of their team members.

How did you come to work with Storyboard Films?

We found them through searches looking for video production and marketing assistance. We researched and found wonderful reviews of them from previous clients. We brought them in and, after bringing in two or three other firms, decided to go forward with them. Their personalities just seemed to jive with ours. It was just such a pleasurable experience to create the first video that we continued to use them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2012 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve been extremely impressed with the quality of their products and appreciative of their hard work. The best gauge of the videos’ effectiveness is that every year at our event, everyone raves about the videos. Clients love them and other financial advisors in the audience want to emulate them.

The videos have been incredibly creative and unique. For example, they've even incorporated children of our firm’s associates into the videos. The videos they’ve done over the years are really phenomenal.

How did Storyboard Films perform from a project management standpoint?

In six years, they’ve never missed a deadline or a meeting. We’ve never had any issues with timeline management. They’ve always known exactly when our project needs to be complete and they’ve never failed to deliver.

What’s been helpful is that, over the past six years, we've always worked with the same people who know our firm, understand our personalities, and work with us effectively. They intimately understand who we are and what we're trying to accomplish. We don't have to recreate the wheel every year with new people.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We most appreciate the intimate understanding and knowledge they have of not just what we do but who we are. They understand who we are as a business, what makes us different, our individual personalities. They understand those things and are able to harness that every year. What makes Storyboard so important to us, and why they work so well with our firm, is that they’ve put in the time to really get to know us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and transparent. The more you help them understand the essence of your organization, the more dramatic the product will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the Positive Behavior and Intervention and Support (PBIS) district coordinator for a public school district. I help schools in our districts establish behavior systems and a multi-tiered system of support for their students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Storyboard Films?

We were creating a series of learning modules for our schools to use on-demand and we wanted to be able to develop a short video to complement each module.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Storyboard visited six or seven of our schools and shot various footage of what happens during a typical school day, artifacts around the buildings, and other B-roll. They also captured interviews of 20–30 staff in each building and were integral in creating the interview questions, helping us put the meaning of our choice of words into perspective.

In total, we'll be creating 12 educational videos. We've been working closely with their team, including a photographer, and they're providing post-production editing as well.

What is the team composition?

I mostly work with three people on their team.

How did you come to work with Storyboard Films?

I believe they were recommended to one of my colleagues. What stood out about them is that they're fun and easy to work with. Our personalities work well together.

How much have you invested with them?

I'd guess we've invested in the range of $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2017 and they just finished up the latest video in January 2018. We have a few more projects to finish, so the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

One of the videos Storyboard created was submitted to an international film festival and received awards for its PBIS content. It's also received a lot of positive feedback after showing it at conferences and to other board members. Overall, Storyboard did a great job of telling the story we wanted to tell.

How did Storyboard Films perform from a project management standpoint?

As a grant project, we acted as the project managers, but their team was very collaborative, organized, and prepared for each shoot. I genuinely enjoy working with their team—it feels like going to work with a group of friends.

Whenever we provide feedback, they're receptive and good about providing input where they feel it would help improve outcomes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to delivering great videos that we're very proud of, working with them is a lot of fun. It's made the whole project a good experience from start to finish. Their work is also top-quality and has already been earning us a lot of recognition.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Their approach has been working very well for me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to have a strong idea of what you want as a final outcome before filming. Looking back, we shot a lot of interviews in the same spot and it would've looked better to move our subjects around a bit. Just try to think about the backdrop you want for each shot, since it's something you can't change after the fact.