Pyramid Productions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

JA Southern Alberta is a nonprofit organization that’s part of the junior achievement network worldwide, and we’re based here in southern Alberta. We offer financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programming to students from grades 3–12. I’m the director of development and I’m responsible for all our fundraising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pyramid Productions?

We needed someone to help us with video production.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Every year we work with Pyramid Productions to produce four tribute videos for each of the four inductees into the Alberta Business Hall of Fame. Each of those videos would have interviews with the inductees, photos of them growing up, and then stories from other people who are connected to the inductees — whether it’s their family, business colleagues, or friends.

What is the team composition?

We work with their VP of production, and they would usually have a team of 3–4 people helping with the video side of things.

How did you come to work with Pyramid Productions?

Pyramid Productions has been supporting this kind of event for us since the beginning, so probably around 15 years ago. The reason they were chosen is that they’re really the best in the business here in Calgary.

How much have you invested with them?

Every year, we spend about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since March 2001, we continue to work with them every year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve always produced the videos on time before every gala, but their work is more qualitative in nature. What’s the response to the videos? Does it evoke emotion from our audience? Do they accurately capture the inductees’ career journey? The answer is yes. We always get positive feedback on the quality of the video and the storytelling.

How did Pyramid Productions perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. They’re very responsive, easy to work with, and easy to get a hold of. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The videos they produce are such a lovely memento and keepsake for our organization, and also for the inductees into the Business Hall of Fame themselves.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would say that they’re not as agile as smaller production companies, but I think it has something to do with the nature of their work and how they approach it. They do a lot of their production work in the studio, so there’s a lot of equipment and setting up they need to do. The process also takes longer when the shoots happen on location. 

However, even though they’re not as agile as other smaller companies, that still doesn’t impact the quality of the finished product.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say to just be really open to the suggestions of the Pyramid team, because they’re involved with so many different organizations, and they do a lot of video production for TV, movies, and live productions. They’re very accomplished and their experience translates into some really great ideas.