Don’t Sweat The Interview Location
I was talking with a prospect the other day about how we would shoot interviews with his people when he asked if we have studio space. I said, “No.” He was confused and wanted to know where we would shoot the interviews, and I told him at his offices.
Not what he wanted to hear. In his mind, his offices wouldn’t look good, but I assured him we were capable of making almost any space suitable for an interview.
This is a common concern for a lot of business people… the interview location. Which is funny to me because when you’re a production pro and know how to light and shoot an interview, you can do it pretty much anywhere.
You have to be kidding
Here’s my favorite example. One of our first clients is California-based Sovereign Healthcare (watch their video). During our first shoot with them, we had a tough time scheduling the CEO for his interview… CEO’s tend to be pretty busy… so we agreed to meet him at his home one night.
It was a beautiful house, plenty of options for the interview location, only there was one problem. High ceilings and hard tile floors meant lots of echos. We did some audio testing and it was a mess, so we moved to the backyard. It was backed up to a road, so we heard cars going by.
Finally, we walked around to the driveway out front and it was silent. I picked a spot and started setting up. The CEO came out for the interview and was shocked. He said, “You have to be kidding.” I told him to trust us, and to his credit he did.
Take a look at the photo above. That wall behind him is a privacy wall for his garbage cans. Not only did he love the end result, he had a great story to tell people about the making of the video. Sovereign remains with us to this day.
I’m telling you… production pros can make just about anything work.
–Tony Gnau