I know if you want to make a good impression at a party, you show up with Goose Island’s Matilda Belgian Style Ale. It makes sense then to start T60’s Beer Week with the Matilda video.

Each day this week we’ll be debuting a video we recently produced for Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company.

We produced the original Matilda video last year, but the packaging has since been changed so an update was needed. That also provided us with an opportunity to add some new elements, mainly, a food pairing.

Matilda might be my favorite beer to photograph because its color really pops when the light shines through it. I know, you’re thinking, “This guy has a great beer poured in front of him and all he’s thinking about is how the light makes it look?”

Well, take a look and you’ll see what I mean… and get prepared to be thirsty.

–Tony Gnau

WATCH THE VIDEO: Matilda Belgian Style Ale

T60 Beer Week is almost here and preparations are underway. Now, let’s be clear, no beer is being served, but we will be showing new videos that will likely have you craving a beer. Actually, we hope the videos inspire you to head to the store for some Goose Island.

Over the last couple years, T60 has been producing videos for Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company. We started with nine videos last year, and we just finished five more. Two are new videos for Green Line Pale Ale and Sofie Belgian Style Ale. The other three are updates we shot and edited for Matilda, Pere Jacques, and Bourbon County Stout because the packaging changed over the past year.

Next week, we’ll debut one video each day and I’ll be blogging about each video as well. So get your taste buds ready… T60 Beer Week starts Monday!

–Tony Gnau

Let’s face it, people are much more likely to watch a video than read a lot of text, which is why we’re seeing video incorporated into more and more newsletters.

Take a look at the example from outdoors retailer REI (REI Newsletter). I’m signed up for their e-mail newsletter and I love the little video tips they include. They’re not complicated, but they provide a nice supplement to the text at a minimal expense to the company.

–Tony Gnau

Editing is an amazing thing. It’s common to watch the first cut of a video and decide on taking out material, but it is a little unusual to add something.

I recently put together a video for a client, and after showing them the first cut I was asked if I could add more content. I took a nearly 3-minute video, added 1-minute and 30-seconds of new material, and guess what? It’s better.

The original version is really good, but the longer cut adds a whole other dimension. This is a little bit of a tease because the video isn’t ready to go public, but hopefully I’ll be showing it in the next couple weeks.

Anyway, in a time when everyone is talking cutbacks, it felt good to add something for a change. Maybe there’s something you can add in your job?

–Tony Gnau

Marketing guru Seth Godin was blogging about first impressions the other day. He basically confirmed the old adage that you only get one chance to make a good one. How true.

It’s a nice reminder for anyone producing a video. What if this is the first time someone has “contact” with you? Will they walk away from the video confident in your abilities or product? Will they want to learn more about you or your company?

A good video will do exactly that.

–Tony Gnau

I just read about McDonald’s naming its first social-media chief. His job priorities…

1. use social-media to build the business
2. manage customer problems
3. outreach to target groups

Let’s hope he reverses that order.  Actually, let’s add one… connect with people.

We all want to grow our businesses, but social-media should first and foremost be about developing a relationship with people. If the business grows because of that effort, great, but that shouldn’t be the motivation.

Now… if I could only convince them to make the McRib a full-time menu item.

–Tony Gnau

Jeremy Nichols (left) and Tony Gnau (right) at Medinah Country Club for a shoot at the 2006 PGA Championship. Their work on that video later won a Telly Award.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned T60 contributor Jeremy Nichols in our Blog. He’s a part-time T60 photographer and full-time photographer/reporter at WISC-TV in Madison, WI.  We’re happy to announce he’s now an Edward R. Murrow award winner, and in broadcast journalism… that’s a big deal.

Jeremy won the regional sports reporting award for a story he shot, wrote and edited.  We’re proud of his achievement and hope you’ll watch.

Murrow Award Winner: Long Distance Softball Fan

Green Planet Bottling features 100% recyclable bottles.

T60 has taken on a couple of “green” clients lately.  First, Goose Island Beer Company is doing more and more to produce their beers in an environmentally friendly way.  They’ve even started brewing a new beer called, Green Line.  It’s locally sourced and all draft. We’ll be sharing a new video for that beer soon.

Another “green” client is Green Planet Bottling Company. This company is pretty cool. It’s a bottled water company, but its bottles are made from plants and are 100% recyclable. Seriously. You can put them in a compost and they’ll simply disappear over time. I told you, pretty cool.

T60 took a Zipcar to today's Green Planet Bottling shoot.

Anyway, T60 is a good match for “green” companies like these because our carbon footprint fits their efforts. We do not have a company car, instead, we frequently use the car sharing service, Zipcar, and occasionally take public transportation to meetings and shoots.

Yup… we support our clients in all sorts of ways.

–Tony Gnau

I have a fun video to share today and it raises a good question… what is art? Certainly, video production is art, but there’s also art in landing a new client, balancing a spreadsheet, you name it.

Then there’s what you’ll find at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, WI.  The linked story was shot and edited by my good friend Jeremy Nichols.

VIDEO: What Is Art, WISC-TV

While he’s a full-time news photographer, he’s also done work for T60 and will hopefully do more in the future.

Check out his artistry through his ability to shoot and edit art.

–Tony Gnau

Sofie beer being bottled at Goose Island Beer Company Wednesday morning.

How many different ways can you shoot video of beer bottles? How about hops? These are the dilemmas I find myself having these days.

This morning I worked hard at doing both those things during another shoot at Goose Island Beer Company. It can be a challenge, but I always remind myself that I really do have a pretty cool job.

After all, how many people start their day at a brewery?

–Tony Gnau