Leeway Films LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is called Common Fibers. We are a manufacturer of carbon fiber. I am the Chief Marketing Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leeway Films?

We had been talking for six months about potentially doing some commercials. We were approached about producing a short video as a business pitch for a potential investment opportunity. It was a collaboration that would allow us to use some of the content for other marketing efforts, but the focus was really on a business pitch video.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought Leeway Films in to help with the brainstorming, so they became part of the process for establishing how we could work within the guidelines of the pitch but also do something unique and fun on the video. From there, we wrote the actual script. They helped us with the video itself, everything from set-up to filming and final editing.

How did you come to work with Leeway Films?

The owner of the company had a connection with us since we both had done work with the same website development company. We’d been talking about potentially working together for a while, but when this opportunity came up, we finally had a chance to work with each other.

How much have you invested with Leeway Films?

We’ve spent something under $10,000 working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project has been completed. As our marketing budget increases and we have a need for other video projects, we definitely plan to work with Leeway Films again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work or the impact of the engagement?

It is kind of hard to say because the video was literally sent to just one entity, and it’s still under review. However, we showed it to our employees, and everybody really enjoyed the quality of the video.

How did Leeway Films perform from a project management standpoint?

They were awesome. They were really on top of everything as far as communication was concerned. Whenever we would reach out to them, their response was very prompt. It was the same thing for the editing process—very quick.

We’ve had problems with other vendors before. In this case, Leeway Films was very prompt and just great. They were professional, arrived early, and handled the setup and take down very well. They also communicated very professionally.

What did you find most impressive about Leeway Films?

On the project management side, they were extremely proactive in terms of communication and providing information. Everything was very smooth and clear about how the process would roll out.

Are there any areas Leeway Films could improve?

Nothing I can really think of. As I said, we would be happy to work with them again as soon as we have an opportunity to shoot video. The quality of service that we got was definitely worth the money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Krave Jerky is an all-natural, gluten-free jerky; a healthier snack. I am the Field Marketing Lead. I run all of the Pacific Northwest and some of Canada. I do all the event marketing and sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leeway Films?

Our biggest event of the year is National Jerky Day. We spend about two weeks promoting it, and that helps us build our brand. It puts us higher in the jerky market, which is a big deal. I thought that going bigger and doing a film would be better for us to capture what we’re doing. I wanted to show all the activities my marketing team does in the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to frame the video as a commercial, showing how fun it is to live here but also promoting the brand at the same time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Leeway Films pretty much did everything. I came in with the idea of filming us at a couple of events and then putting all that into a video, but I know almost nothing about video production. Leeway Films took my idea and decided to make the video seem like one large commercial promoting National Jerky Day. They used a couple of events from the whole week, but the video looks like it was all in the same day.

They went beyond that and created graphics for us as well, taking our actual Krave Jerky graphics and animating them. They did the script, grabbed some of my brand ambassadors, and had them film outside our events. They did the whole creative process.

How did you come to work with Leeway Films?

Actually, we’re neighbors. I didn’t even know they were in film until I saw them doing these crazy projects outside our apartment complex. After I looked into what they did and realized our need, it made sense.

How much have you invested with Leeway Films?

The project cost something in the range of $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We just did that one project, but I am keeping them in mind for another brand we may have coming out. The type of video is the exact kind of promotion we want to do.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work or the impact of the engagement?

I forwarded the video to our regional office and wrote an account of what we did here. Every market competes with every other market for National Jerky Day. We became number one in sales through all of this.

In addition, we sent the video to all our people that represent Krave, including the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President for creative, and the Head of Marketing. They had very positive responses to the video, mostly complimenting the graphic designs and the way Leeway Films had taken what we already had and animated everything. The video got nothing but great responses.

How did Leeway Films perform from a project management standpoint?

Leeway Films’ project management was great. I work from home pretty much seven days a week. If I bothered them at 10 p.m., there was always a text back. I wasn’t expecting the video to be done as quickly as it was.

What did you find most impressive about Leeway Films?

I liked the way they worked with me. I felt like I was not working with a big company that really doesn’t care about the brand. That helped a lot because I was very comfortable working with them. They were able to find a happy balance of friendship and professional etiquette. I wasn’t expecting the project to be as good as it was.

Are there any areas Leeway Films could improve?

No, not that I can think of. I had no issues whatsoever. I really like talking them up.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Hairball Audio sells audio recording kits. We sell audio recording equipment to recording studios mostly in DIY [do it yourself] kit form. I’m the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leeway Films?

We had a major product release that we wanted to do a video for, and some web content too. We like to do that whenever we release a product. We were looking to use somebody new this time and we found Leeway Films.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I pretty much had in mind what I wanted to do. I had the concept for it, had written a script, and it was basically me speaking about a product. I gave them a loose idea of what we wanted to do and they had seen some release videos of our earlier product. They just took it from there, had some suggestions, and we followed those. Their main purpose was to shoot, edit, and deliver it. It was just over two minutes.

How did you come to work with Leeway Films?

They had shot a video for a web design company that had done our website, and we were featured as a part of that. They had borrowed some of our products for the commercial shoot for the web design company. I just briefly dealt with them and exchanged that equipment. I just found them pretty nice and easy to talk to. We were looking for a new film company, so I just contacted them first and liked their vibe.

How much have you invested with Leeway Films?

It was $2,200.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s been completed. We want to do a more general video about us, just explaining the company. When we do get around doing that, they’ll be on the top of our list.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have received a lot of feedback from customers about how much they liked the video. It’s certainly gotten a lot more views than our videos usually get. I think it got a couple of thousand views in the first week, which is super high for one of our videos. I’ve literally had at least 10 or 15 customers say: “Wow, the video was really good”. The product is doing good which is a reflection of the video. The launch went great, which I am very happy about.

How did Leeway Films perform from a project management standpoint?

They were awesome, the best we’ve had. We’ve dealt with a couple of other video places where that was a problem, and they were perfect. As soon as we hired them, the scheduling happened very quickly. They met all deadlines throughout the project. They were even a little ahead of schedule in delivery. They were super organized, super on time, and super responsive. We went through a long round of editing and they always were super quick and patient about that.

What did you find most impressive about Leeway Films?

Leeway Films was just super easy to deal with and super clear. They saw our vision and did a good job delivering it. We were asking them something that was a lot more technical than the stuff they had done in the past, but they worked really hard to understand that, so that was great.

Are there any areas Leeway Films could improve?

No, not really. It was all pretty smooth.