Posted by Natasha Deganello Giraudie, CEO

When clients ask me for tips to increase viewership of their short films, I often say, “Don’t forget about print.” With so much excitement around online channels these days, it’s easy to focus squarely on distributing your film through your website, blog, on YouTube, Facebook, etc. 

However, good old-fashion print materials can be leveraged very nicely to showcase your short films. Just think about all the different printed pieces that you create: newsletters, brochures, business cards, signage, posters, acknowledgement letters to donors and annual reports that capture the impact you are creating.

All of these materials are a great place to make reference to your short films. And your short films, in turn, can enhance the impact of your print materials.

Recently I was reminded of this when I picked up last month’s issue of Stanford’s Alumni Magazine. The Stanford Travel/Study program had smartly embedded QR codes on the printed page, so that readers could scan the codes on their mobile phones and watch related short films, which we produced with them.

Stanford is usually at the vanguard of innovation, but if you look around, you’ll start to spot QR codes all over the place—on newsstands and in store windows, on posters at conferences and in promotional materials that show up in your mailbox. I especially like QR codes because they’re easy to get and getting easier to use and they do a great job connecting the print world to the digital.

When inserting a QR Code, it’s best to include the URL spelled out on the page. That way non-smartphone owners (the number is shrinking each day!) can still access the video on their computers. In terms of other best practices, be sure to provide readers with simple instructions on how to use the QR code, as the Stanford Travel/Study did in the magazine, thus increasing the chance that readers will actually end up watching your short film.

With these tips in mind, QR codes can enhance your next batch of print materials and ensure that your film finds the audience it deserves. Don’t forget about print!

Posted by Natasha Deganello Giraudie, CEO

Sometimes people have a hard time appreciating the great differences between commercial and documentary approaches to video production.

Part of the difference stems from the historical need of the documentary filmmaker to adapt to the realities of working within limited budgets – budgets that simply wouldn’t work within a traditional commercial approach. Since much of the work done in the documentary domain has been labor of love, it has been a situation of  “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” For example, it’s typical for documentary filmmakers to rise before dawn so they can film in beautiful early morning light, rather than set up huge lighting. They tend to focus on a well-crafted interview and capture people in their natural element in conversation rather than spend weeks developing scenes with scripts and storyboards.

You may recall Mark Plotkin’s book, Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice, where the Harvard ethnobotanist is surprised to learn how the Amazonian shaman, with no access to modern medicine, is able to diagnose diabetes. Simple. He tastes the urine of the patient for sweetness!

Luckily, we don’t have to go to these lengths, but we are often as perplexed as the shaman was by the complexity and cost of the approach that our commercial production cousins take to filmmaking.

Watch the “Making Of” video of this 30-second commercial Mango spot featuring Kate Moss to see what I mean.