I hate missed opportunities. There are a lot of businesses out there producing marketing videos, but in many cases they fall short.

Maybe the production value stinks. Just because everyone has a video camera in their phone doesn’t mean they know how to shoot and edit good video.

HOW SOME VIDEOS GO WRONG

Maybe there’s no story. Storytelling is an art. Professionals like myself dedicate our lives to honing our craft. Storytelling is a skill just like anything else.

Unavailable resources are another cause. Sometimes the video you need to tell the story just isn’t available.

Throw in laziness and you can build quite a laundry list for why some marketing videos miss their mark.… Read More

The Boston Marathon bombing has rightly captured the American people’s attention. It was a horrific attack and many of the images will be etched in our minds forever, and believe it or not there’s a lesson there for business leaders and marketing professionals.

VIDEO RULES

I was talking with a friend yesterday who mentioned all the stories he had read, and all the photos he had seen covering the terrorist attack. His comment, “You know what, none of it compares to the video.”

He’s right. The explosion, the chaos, the heroes who stepped forward to help… the Boston video was awe-inspiring.… Read More

No post today… simply sending a virtual hug to Boston. I’ve only visited once. It was a wet and cold weekend, but I loved the city.

We’re with you Boston!

–Tony Gnau… Read More

The Masters wrapped up yesterday. I can’t help watching a major golf tournament without thinking about one of our biggest projects ever. In 2006, we produced a DVD for Medinah Country Club that was the mother or all event videos T60 has ever produced.

For those of you not into golf, Medinah Country Club is Chicago’s championship golf club. It has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and last year… the Ryder Cup. You can be anywhere in the world and say, “Medinah,” and golf fans know what you’re talking about. As a golf fan, you can imagine how honored I was to work on this project.… Read More

One of the many things I’m considering for T60 this year is whether or not to switch from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut Pro X. For those of you not into video editing, I won’t bore you with why it’s a tough decision. Suffice to say Apple made some software changes and professional editors revolted. Now, Apple is trying to win them back with a marketing campaign, but here’s the crazy part… the campaign’s webpage doesn’t contain any video.

Huh? You read that right. Apple… trying to win back professional video editors… no marketing videos.

TELLING VIDEO PRO’S STORIES

The campaign is called, Final Cut In Action.… Read More

NAB is the premiere trade show for broadcasting and video professionals, and it’s the subject of tons of tweets, shares and blog posts. One post that caught my eye yesterday came from my favorite royalty-free music site (premiumbeat.com). Its blog mentioned how important it is for NAB exhibitors to have a product launch marketing plan that includes video.

I especially like this subhead… Invest In Great Videos. I wish more business professionals would look at it that way. I’ve met a lot of corporate types who lump video into one of two categories.

VIDEO IS SUPER FUN

First, they think… wouldn’t it be fun to do a video!… Read More

Okay, you no longer need convincing. You understand the power of video and want to put it to work for your business. The problem is you’ve never been involved with video production so you have no idea how much your project is going to cost.

Here’s some things a lot of newbies fail to consider…

1. think about the reputation of your company

There are companies that spend tens of thousands of dollars on stationary and business cards, and at the same time they skimp on video production. Think about it. Those business cards and stationary are destined for the recycle bin, but they fork over good money because they want to make a good impression through those things.… Read More

I wrote last Thursday about putting joy into marketing videos. It was in response to a good friend passing away. Later that day there was another passing, and I was thrilled to see one of my journalistic heroes apparently shared my sentiment.

Roger Ebert left us that day. He was my favorite movie critic. I often shared the same opinion as him on movies, but more than anything I just loved his writing. I remembered sitting in my high school’s library and reading his reviews every week.

A lot has been written about him since he passed, and I came across a quote of his in a few places…

“We must try to contribute joy to the world.… Read More

I mentioned yesterday I was going to a memorial service for a good friend, Marty Napoli, Jr. It was a sad but inspiring occasion. He was one of those people who simple shine, and it actually hit me during the ceremony that Marty had what we all need in our marketing videos… JOY!

Marty exuded joy. He was the type of person who made everyone feel better just having been around him. I don’t know about you, but that’s a response I’d like people to have after having watched one of our clients’ videos.

SEE MARTY’S JOY FOR YOURSELF

Marty made cameos in a couple of T60 videos.… Read More

Well, this is a post I’d actually prefer not to write. We lost a good friend last week to cancer, and today we mourn him at a memorial.

Marty Napoli, Jr. is someone who helped me launch T60 Productions. He provided invaluable business advice and ultimately ended up hiring T60 to produce its first-ever video. When you hear entrepreneurs talking about that first customer who gave them a shot… Marty was that guy for us.

The video was for a trade organization called the Metals Service Center Institute. Marty helped run his family’s metals business and was heavily involved in MSCI.… Read More