When we decided to make a commemorative video for our 75^th Anniversary, we thought “piece of cake!” but really, we had no clue… Thankfully, we had a wonderful team that helped us pull it off! Here is what it took:

Like for any big project, we sent out our request for quotes, itemizing all our dreams of what the video would include everything from interviews, background, history and more. We sent our request to several companies that specialize in this type of production. Once we got all of our quotes back, we agonized and debated over who would be the best fit.

Who would understand us the most?

Who would get the best footage?

Which company has the best quality cameras?

Do they do drone footage?

Can we even get drone footage with the base and airport so close by?

Why is their price so high?

 Why is their price so low?

Round and round we went. We finally got it narrowed down to two options, so we decided to do an interview with both. To say this was a difficult decision… is an understatement.  After the interviews, more debates, and more discussions, we FINALLY decided to use Gravity Films out of Tyler, TX.

We made our decision, paid our deposit and we thought, “Ok, hard works done!”

HA, not even close!

We had a very long meeting with our marketing team and Gravity Films so they could get an idea of what we wanted and have a deeper understanding of who we are as a company. We took them on a tour of our facilities, showed them endless pictures of projects, talked about where the company started, the future of the new ownership team, goals of the company and more.

Videographer picked, outline and interview questions made; surely, we are in the home stretch!? Right?! WRONG, the fun was just getting started.

We had to get the office and interviewees ready.

• Special Office Deep Clean
• HGTV ready the whole office
• Strategize outfits and backup outfits
• Interview & B-Roll Schedule
• Tidying up Offices
• Hanging New Signs
• Touching up paint (Yes, we get the irony)
• Cleaning up the shop
• Fixing exterior items: siding, plants, trees, etc.

Interview day!! Everyone had their interview time, dressed nice, make up done, the office looked perfect, and we were ready!!

Interviews were going great, everyone was having a good time and telling lots of stories, so like many of our schedules we got behind, but in this one situation we didn’t mind. The more content we could capture the better! The partners love the company they built and hearing their pride as they told their stories about their grandfather, dad, uncle, brothers, and children was heartwarming. Interview day ended late, but well. We were all thankful for a job well done and ready for b-roll day!

For those who don’t know, because we didn’t until we did this video, b-roll stands for background footage. We wanted everything to be included. We work for so many wonderful customers, it was hard to narrow it down to what could be captured in a day! But we did it! We made our list for standard footage, and drone footage. We had our ‘Absolutely must get’ list and our ‘Dream List’. Like many things in construction, we got rained out…. Not once… but twice… finally the day was here, not a cloud in sight!! Gravity Films made their way over and once again blew us away! We got all of our Absolutely must have list as well as some of our dream list!

After all the footage was captured, now our work was done, and Gravity’s hard work began. Thankfully we were busy planning other big 75^th anniversary events so time flew bye! Before we knew it, we had the draft of the video!!! Our marketing committee has never been more excited about anything, until a couple weeks later when Martin Cares Community Event and the 75^th Party were a success.

We waited and opened the video together and it was EVERYTHING!!! They captured the very spirit of Martin Specialty Coatings. We wanted people to feel our presence and the passion of those who work here when they watched the video and somehow Gravity Films did it. We could not be happier with the way the video turned out and if you dream of doing something similar for your company, know that all the hard work you have to put into it in the beginning that seems silly pays off big time in the end!

If you took the time to read this whole article, go ahead and take a couple more minutes and watch our video. We promise you will LOVE it!