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There are the big productions with big price tags that have creative briefs, a board of higher ups you have to please with countless rounds of Frame I/O notes. There are protocols, branding and all those other marketing words you have to use and rules you have to follow with those larger productions.

Then there are guys like Marty McDaniel who I absolutely love working with. He says, “I don’t care how you get there as long as the commercial’s theme says THIS.” That’s easy enough. That’s the only note you get.

I come up with concepts. He comes up with the money and we go to work. He opens his doors and allows me to shoot what I want. The last round of his Gold store commercials were very reality based and did well on social outlets.

When he wanted to do some commercials for the gaming store, we wanted to capitalize on the success of the previous spots but make them a little more “cinematic.”

We had our female spokesperson dressed like Chun Li from Street Fighter.

We had a customer who comes in dressed in full Batman Costume looking for the next Batman game.

We EVEN got to do Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob.

Most of the commercials are product, product, but we have these great bookends of scenes at the front and back shot in 4:3 on a Cinema camera. I can’t wait to get started putting these together.

They are kooky for local television spots and I hope they resonate with the market we are trying to pull in.

Here are some out of camera stills of some of the scenes:

It’s always a pleasure working with other creatives that let you do your thing. Derek does a stage production twice a year and most of the productions are in partnership with the Deaf Community in Morganton so most of the time, there are several videos interviewing the cast and director.

This Halloween Season, it was a little different. There are only 3 people in the play and Derek is not only in his production for the first time in a long time, but he is also playing 6 characters.

Where interviewing, interview lighting and the normal rig-a-marow would be the normal set up, this year we got to trash the blueprint. We were limited to 3 camera shots and some stock to tell the story.

It had to be high contrast, black and white and the Murder on The Orient Express. This is what we came up with. Thanks Derek for letting us be creative in 4:3 fashion.

The Sigmon family was nice enough to let us smoke up an old building on the side lot for me to do parody of Sweeney Todd to introduce the new Branding and announce the acquisition of the RED Cinema Cameras. This one was real fun to do especially since it didn’t call me to really sing in it.

That would have ruined everything.

We were not there long but we couldn’t have found a better place in Canada to spend 48 hours. The Chateau Frontenac is just a beautiful hotel and event space in downtown Quebec. Garrick was there covering some Culinary Class videos and had the pleasure of staying on site for the time he was there.

Garrick and crew have been working on a collaboration with other local filmmakers to get together maybe once every other week and discuss the options of making films in Catawba County. With this process going south in the past with people lobbying money from business owners only to have those people turn out to be illegitimate the climate for risk taking among the community has become very scarce. The plan is to create some small inexpensive films to start and then begin to raise money after proving their legitimacy to make more ambitious projects.

There will be a Facebook group and more information soon on this new endeavor.

TRC was apart of a record breaking fund raising campaign! We created the Video and Animation behind the Ignite + Transform campaign. The production of the video took about four months from start to finish but turned out phenomenal. Here is a press release from the school itself. We are proud to be a part of the state record.

A Landmark Achievement for Public Education in North Carolina 🎉

We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of the Ignite + Transform campaign for NCSSM. With a final total of $86 million raised, this initiative stands as the largest fundraising campaign for a public high school in the U.S‼️

We’re incredibly grateful to state leaders and more than 8,400 DONORS who made this achievement possible.

This achievement is more than just a number; it represents a profound investment in teaching, student wellness, and transformational leadership. From state-of-the-art facilities in Durham and Morganton to expanded statewide outreach, these funds ensure that NCSSM remains at the forefront of STEM education.

🎬 We invite you to watch our commemorative short film, featuring narration by Faculty Emeritus Elizabeth Moose and appearances by the students whose lives are being changed by this campaign.