Video as an Enterprise Asset
Investments in video don’t need to be “one and done.” Footage can be reused, finding new applications. For instance, a live stream can be cut up into soundbites, which can be distributed as separate emails to new audiences.
The keys to getting the most mileage out of legacy footage are:
preserving it in the first place
remembering that it exists
making sure that the reuse has fresh intention
The projects I did for Willow Domestic Violence Center in collaboration with DeBergerac Productions are examples of creative reuse.
Honoring the Founder
We began when we created a profile of founder Phyllis Korn, honoring her for her transformative work in changing the conversation about domestic violence.
Doing the research for this project, I discovered that Phyllis had preserved extensive archives of the first 20 years of the organization. The archives contained decades-old news footage in obsolete and rare formats, which DeBergerac was able to digitize and restore.
This distinctive – and to modern eyes, shocking – footage formed the heart of the piece. You could hear the audience gasp when the reporter shrugged and said “Boys will be boys.”
Making the News
A year later, Willow wanted to hold a press conference to announce the opening of their first off-site shelter. The overall need as described was “Make people feel like they are visiting a place we can’t take them. And, make them feel.”
We had shot footage of the old shelter the year before, and we used this both to highlight the magnitude of the improvement and to build emotion. We layered voices of survivors over the footage of the old shelter, demonstrating how even this simple facility had saved lives.
Preserving Organizational History
Ongoing efforts in the subsequent years maintained the momentum of capturing the history, at minimal cost.
Collaborating with the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation at the University of Rochester, I helped obtain a New York State grant for transferring the founder’s 20-year archive collection to the university, and coordinated volunteers to do a preliminary sort of the materials.
In a parallel effort over months, I interviewed a diversity of stakeholders to capture their most important memories. Conducting these interviews in a semi-permanent set-up in a little-used space kept costs low and made logistics easy.
Celebrating Growth and an Anniversary
As the organization approached its 40th Anniversary, we were able to draw on all the previous work to create an Telly-Award-winning overview of decades of progress and growth. Only an hour of additional videography was needed, which we were able to do in the already-set-up booth.
A Lasting Resource
As needed, the organization can draw on the prior work. For example, using the oral history archives, we are able to quickly assemble and release a profile of a community leader in honor of Black History Month.
Want to explore ideas for getting the most out of video investments? Let’s have an informal chat!