Hey, Danielle here and it’s my time to take over and bring my perspective to this week's BTB.
Even though we try and do everything we can, every so often, a location can disappear on us. Something could close, a new restriction we were unaware of, or a door that suddenly gets shut.
When it comes to tactical law enforcement work, it's not like you can just pick up and go find any spot to make it work. If firearms are in the scenes, that can change what's allowed and where. When this does happen, I start making calls, and the calls I make are to people who aren't strangers from some talent list. These are the people that I've known for years and do these jobs for a living. We don't need someone who just looks the part, we need someone who knows what they are doing and makes the scenes feel alive and real.
This is especially true when it comes to tight timelines. When the client needs something yesterday and we’re pulling together things in a hurry, I need to find talent that fits exactly what we need. There are a ton of moving pieces and I love this energy because it’s a reflection of the relationships I’ve spent years building.
I spent years of my early career working with tactical, first responder and workwear brands, and I sat on the client side of the table. I was responsible for the success of the project and everything from managing budget, answering to my bosses and ensuring the final content was delivered. I dealt with the pressure no one else really sees, so I get what goes on behind the curtain. My job now is to take some of that pressure off the client so they can enjoy the creative process.
This world isn’t just where my work lives, but also where my personal life lives. My husband is a first responder and so many of our friends and family work in this field as well. So I understand these audiences from the consumer side as much as I know them from the marketing and production side. I know how these products are used, what matters to the people using them and what actually feels real. This is crucial in this field.
So when we get on set I come with a pretty keen eye and see things just a bit differently than most. A shot can be visually perfect, but also be wrong to the point that we can’t use it. Holding a piece of equipment the wrong way or using it incorrectly will be noticed right away by the people who live in these worlds. And trust me, they are pretty quick to let you know when this happens!
Some of the best compliments come long after a production is wrapped and finals delivered. I love it when a client brings an idea back up in a conversation, or a location they hadn't thought of, or a different way to show their product or a new scenario their audience would relate to.
At the end of the day, the client knows their brand the best. What I am doing however is looking at their product and brand through different lens and sometimes I see something they hadn’t considered. When this happens and those ideas stick, I know they got more than great footage, but they got the help they needed to connect with their audience in a way that feels real.
When we get hired for a production, our clients aren’t just hiring someone to show up with a camera. They are hiring a team that understands their brand, their goals, and what they are trying to accomplish. The best relationships are partnerships and they should be comfortable asking hard questions, sharing ideas and trusting that we are as invested in every project as much as they are.
So the next time your production hits a roadblock, ask yourself what the team you hired would answer you with. This will tell you if they have the relationships in place or just a fancy list of gear.
Make sure you hire the people who are already working on the solution before the problem derails the entire project.