Posted on January 13, 2019

Paul Newman’s idea – to create camps where kids with serious illnesses could go have some serious fun – comes alive in this documentary.

Posted on January 15, 2019

This company didn’t have a big budget but wanted to have a little fun with video.

Posted on September 11, 2015

We're really excited to share a series of videos we worked hard this summer producing for The City University of New York's Macaulay Honors College. Part of a course called Science Forward, the videos help encourage critical thinking skills in various subject areas. Our videos for Season 2 include: Astronomy, Geology, Animal Communication, Water, Drug Discovery and Development, Tools of Seeing and Scientific Uncertainty.

We got to meet scientists who are studying deadly marine snails to develop new drugs. We learned about how birds practicing new songs can help us understand how babies begin to speak. And we traveled all around New York City, shooting in Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Plumb Beach, the New York Botancial Garden and more.

A huge thanks to the CUNY executive producers Lisa Brundage, Kelly O'Donnell and Joseph Ugoretz and Season 2 host, Astrophysicist Summer Ash.

To see all the videos, go to: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/scienceforward/videos/

Posted on April 16, 2015

We're excited to be working with the educational community again, this time with a new video for Achieve Hartford! showcasing the concept of blended learning.

The video, which premiered at the GradNation Community Summit today in Hartford, shows how a hybrid of traditional face-to-face instruction combined with web-based online learning can help students learn at their own pace and personalize their learning experience.

A special thanks to the staff at Path Academy in Willimantic for helping us tell the story of blended learning at their school.

Posted on October 30, 2014

We've done lots of educational videos over the years, but getting an inquiry about promoting a public high school late this summer was new to us.

In Southeastern Connecticut, The Day newspaper explained this week what we learned.

"Choosing a high school," Mike DiMauro writes, "...has become a walk through the buffet line, children and their parents studying the options with a chess champion's concentration. Magnet school? Private school? Agri-Science? Marine sciences? Regular old high school?"

Everyone has to compete, and so everyone has to invest in marketing -- even the public schools that have never had to sell their educational product before.

Ledyard High School's inquiry turned into a simple editing job of footage they had shot themselves. But our experience working with educational experts, teasing out great parent and student testimonials, and showcasing new learning technologies makes us uniquely positioned to help high schools across the state.

Whether public, charter, private or magnet, we can show prospective students all you have to offer, affordably and effectively.

Posted on October 28, 2014

By Rosemary O'Neill, Kinetic Media president

“Countless aid groups have made promotional films and videos, usually watched by no one other than aid workers and their mothers.”

So say Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn in their compelling new book, “A Path Appears.” The book makes the point that, to raise funds successfully, nonprofits need to invest in effective marketing and communications that yield results, the authors write. They say too many videos are made that are so earnest and boring, they have zero impact.

For years, nonprofits have spent most of their marketing dollars on direct mail pieces that head straight for the trash. Today’s email blasts face the same fate. And while everyone knows the value of social media today, messages can run into space limitations or get lost in news feeds.

Unfortunately, type on a page can’t really convey the joy of an African child reading her first book or the gratitude of a mother who finally has clean water for her children. Those images touch people. Their stories make people write checks.

Videos are versatile and have lasting power. They can be shown at fundraising meetings, and can be posted on web sites and in blogs and emailed to donors. Footage can be sliced and diced in a variety of ways to make different videos that will achieve specific results.

Most importantly, videos don’t have to cost a lot. When you hire the right professionals, they can work with you to focus on what’s most important so you don’t waste time and money.

Here are some guidelines for nonprofits who want to use video to tell their stories:

• Keep it short and simple. Try to focus on one story of one person or one family your organization is helping. Make it your best story.
• Don’t try to do it yourself. Yes, we all have phones with cameras, but that doesn’t mean we all know how to make a good video. Use a professional production company that will help you find your best story, write the script, shoot the video and edit the footage.
• Make sure your video is part of an overall plan. Will you be using it as a meeting opener? Will you email it to potential donors and/or volunteers? How will you gauge its success? Consider all these issues in advance.
• Think about casting. Choose the best person to convey your story. If the story feels staged or rehearsed, you’ll lose authenticity. Resist the urge to have the head of your organization recite your success stories. We all want to see the people we’re helping and the impact our money has on the lives of those people.

To paraphrase Kristof and WuDunn, nonprofits have great stories to tell, but they’re not always telling them well. Your organization may well be changing the world – but your efforts will be that much more powerful when you spread the word.