ELEMENT

Please describe your company and your position there.

At the time of this production, I was a Creative Director for a financial company. Maidenhouse was about 60 people in size, creating all marketing communications for John Hancock, a Fortune 500 Finance/Life Insurance company.

For what projects/services did your company hire ELEMENT?

We wanted to create a :30 and :15 second TV/online video spot that felt like a "real" spot, shot by "real" directors with "real" talent in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, where gatherings of more than 6 people were illegal. We needed casting, wardrobe, lighting, sound design, etc, and we wanted to play our normal agency role of having input at every stage, but were unable to travel anywhere.

What were your goals for this project?

Create a spot in the middle of the pandemic that did not resemble a spot created in the middle of a pandemic. We wanted the same performance and picture quality that we would have at any other time.

How did you select ELEMENT?

Our executive producer triple bid the job and ELEMENT was one of the three. Their bid was so ridiculously over-the-top in all that it offered, I almost felt like my producer had misquoted the budget. They ended up offering up 5-6 of their directors on roster, each of whom prepared a selection of possible scenes to shoot for our vignette-based campaign, each featuring the director's family members or Covid "pod" members as talent, some of whom were professional actors. The caliber of the directors, their creative approaches to shooting during the pandemic, and the impressive diversity of their thinking really sealed the deal for us.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

We produced two commercials with four vignettes in each. We shot with five different directors, using four different casts. ELEMENT set it up so that we could watch the whole production via Zoom, with one "central" director overseeing the whole production. For each set up, we were given the opportunity to weigh in on lighting and wardrobe before each scene, and give feedback frequently during performances, just like in a "real" shoot, only from the comfort of our homes. The editor was also able to watch via Zoom, so he could hear our real-time feedback about which takes we particularly liked or weigh in on any concerns about timing for edits, which was invaluable.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

The line producer as well as the central director, let us know when to give feedback during the process. We could also text the line producer if there was any pressing needs to communicate with the director during filming. So, for each scene we shot, we had the director of that scene, our overall director for the whole production, the line producer, and the editor on Zoom. Everyone was exceedingly flexible when it came to trying different things, and we felt less pressed for time because there was no "company move."

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The resulting videos were a creative showpiece for our company, and the only brand advertising we were able to produce in 2020. They achieved their objective of raising brand awareness and consideration among our target groups.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were beyond thrilled with the flexibility, collaboration, and creativity the ELEMENT team brought to this production. What we thought would be a logistical nightmare - shooting a vignette commercial remotely - ended up being fun, productive (no pun intended) and very successful.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to bend over backward to get us the spots we wanted, whether that involved using their own children and pets, finding creative areas to shoot (a home reconstruction project, antique car, and garage were all offered up), or pulling out the all-star team from their roster. They were so collaborative and their joy of producing film was evident throughout.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They over delivered in every sense.