Content Marketing & Film Resource (6)

Production Firm Knows Who's Boss - MetroWest Daily News

Erin Hayes August 31, 2015 Production, Press Leave a Comment

Original Article Published in MetroWest Daily News, Aug. 31, 2015 edition

By Bob Tremblay/Daily News Staff

Credit for the name MediaBoss goes to Ian Barrett, the creative director of the Framingham-based production company.
“The name derived from two sources,” explain Erin Hayes, the firm’s CEO and co-owner. “First, it's a very powerful engine - the Boss 302 engine. The other part of this is the Boss Level of a video game - the hardest level to beat.”
Located at 92 Blandin Ave., the company was launched in 2008 with Hayes and Paul Bouley as owners. The four partners – Hayes, Bouley, Barrett and Nick Clarke - all reside in Framingham.

Hayes recently discussed the company with Daily News staff writer Bob Tremblay.
QUESTION: Why was the business started?
ANSWER: Our collective background is in storytelling. We came together as independent television producers and writers who wanted to bring our particular passion and creative to a broader audience.
We were producing several television shows in and around Boston when we started MediaBoss. At the time video marketing wasn't on everyone's radar. We saw a lot of businesses struggle to self-produce their videos and create storylines - or strategy - for their visual content. And likewise, we saw a need to include online content marketing for television programming.
We combined an agency with a production house to create a one-stop shop for all content creation.
Q: Why did you choose your current locale?

A: Framingham represents a thriving and diverse home for businesses. This is why so many large corporations such as TJX, Genzyme and Bose like to headquarter here. We represent the innovation and startup concept, which the town will hopefully see more of because it gives balance and creates new business opportunities.

Q: Has your business moved?
A: Our business has moved twice since we began. We doubled in size from 2008 to 2010 and we expanded again in 2013. We started off in a 1,500-square-foot space. We are now in an 8,000-square-foot space.
Q: What did you do before you started this business?
A: I was a writer at the Boston Herald. Our creative director was an independent television and video producer. Our production manager, Paul Bouley, was an editor and production assistant. Our animator/graphic designer, Nick Clarke, was an intern at Framingham State University.
Q: What does your company do?
A: We are content producers. This expands from television, filmmaking and video for the Web to visual and written content for the variety of social media platforms that are out there today.
Q: What makes you different from the competition?

A: We are a production company and agency combined. Many production companies need the creative direction to produce work for the client and many agencies need a production company to make their creative reality.

Our clients know that whether they need branding, marketing and sales content, Web video, television commercials, television programming or even a film produced, we can deliver the product along with the creative side and the strategy to make their content stand out and reach the most amount of people possible.

Q: What is the cost of your service?

A: It varies from project to project.

Q: Any future plans?

A: We plan to continue to grow and serve our client base and add some new television projects. We're working a few television pilots, Web series and some creative projects.

One of our media and marketing clients is New England Studios in Devens.

Q: How many employees do you have?

A: Our team is six people. We expand our crew on a project basis. The six of us consider each other family. Ian and I are married and our employees are “aunts and uncles” to our daughter.

Q: Any news to report?

A: We just won two Telly Awards for our productions this year.

The website for MediaBoss is MediaBossTV.com.

Curious about their production process? Click below!

Production Press

3 Rules for Workprov: How to Incorporate Improv In the Workplace

EricaLeBlanc August 27, 2015 Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

[Spoiler Alert: Workprov is Never Defined]

Q: What is a location that will fit on this post?
A: My office!

Great we’ll take the suggestion of office to start this blog.

I am an employee of Boston's Improv Asylum and during my (nontenured) time there, I have seen my fair share of businesses holding company outings to enjoy the funny people of the stage.

From the company’s standpoint, it is a great way to bond with coworkers and have something to talk about by the water cooler on Monday. As an employee, one just sees a large group of adults lost in the freedom of an open bar.

A company outing to a local improv theatre should be used as an opportunity to observe skills that can be translated into any and every situation one could encounter in the workplace…and to watch the funny people be funny.

[tweet_box design="default"]Here are three staples of improv that you should attach your company to at work.[/tweet_box]

1. The "Most Basic of Basics Rule": Yes, And

It’s a book title and Improv master, Tina Fey, swears by it.

It is the rule of Yes, and. This is the concept of not only accepting what someone is saying, but also adding to it.

It’s safe to say that progress comes to a halt when forward steps in a process are negated. It becomes difficult to work past an absolute “no.”

In Improv, if an actor establishes that the scene is in a dog park and another actor says, “No, this isn’t a dog park, we’re sky diving,” it essentially plows the scene into the ground (I’m on a roll folks).

Let’s apply it to the business world:

When brainstorming ideas for a new campaign, how much does it suck when someone shuts down your contribution, “No, that will never work,", "Please leave, you were never asked to join this meeting,", "You're not an employee here.”

A terrible experience, right?

It is much more proactive to accept the idea and build upon it, “Yes, a dog theme is a viable option and this is how we can apply it.” This allows minds to flow freely in a creative way without the fear of being shut down.

2. The “Two of the 5 Senses” Rule: Listen

Yes, the other senses, like taste, are important in Improv and work. But whether it’s performing, brainstorming, or interacting with a 3 year old, it is important to hear an offer in order to build on it.

“Hey, that’s only one sense, I feel cheated!” I’m honored you feel that way, but calm yourself.

In this case, hearing links to seeing. Much like you learned in Communication 101, nonverbal interaction can provide greater meaning to verbal interaction. If an actor says, “Your dog is definitely alive,” while violently shaking their head and another actor, who was not fully listening, jumps into the scene playing with that dog, then the magic of make-believe is kind of destroyed.

Not listening properly at work can lead to lost ideas, tension, and awkwardly still showing up at 9AM every day even though you were fired a week ago.

3. The “Intention of Belts (ATTN: Millennials)” Rule: Provide Support

One of the comforts of improv comedy - in comparison to stand up comedy - is your team. When you get stuck in a scene (unable to think of another line, the audience isn’t laughing, or the peak of the scene has been hit) your team will literally sweep you out of it.

They’re also there to support your choices.

If you walk on stage and say, “Dr. Steve, I’m sorry you lost that patient today, ” you can count on your scene partner to “yes, and” you with a response such as: “I’m just sorry I got the same sketch artist as Tom Brady to do the rendering” (Get it, cause the patient was lost…like a dog. It took me a significant amount of time to write that, to the point I’m not sure it’s relevant anymore).

The ability to depend on a supportive team is invaluable in the workplace. You can trust they will build on your ideas, back decisions you’ve made or, help you make them. They will also support you trash-talking that one guy who always happens to be leaving the kitchen with a look of both shame and pleasure when someone’s lunch goes missing.

Ta Da!
Now you are partially equipped to become a stronger employee and coworker! If this doesn’t work, have a fellow coworker read it as well and perform some two person scenes at the next company-wide meeting. Oh, and Periscope it so we can watch!

Workprov - A word I think I made up: The concept of combining aspects of improv into the workplace.
I'm fully aware this addition makes the headline a lie. #NoRagrets

DISCLAIMER: No dogs were harmed in the making of this post.

Tips & Tricks

The Four Biggest Video Marketing Trends

Erin Hayes August 04, 2015 Marketing, Video Marketing, Video, Content Marketing Leave a Comment

2015 has a been a great year for video.

Everywhere we turn, the internet gives us another study reporting the adoption and effectiveness of video.

Hardly anyone questions the strength of video marketing. But what type of video should you use and how should you use it?

We have about a million great ideas to help answer that. So, to help inspire you, we'll start with sharing the four of the biggest video marketing trends we've seen this year.

Mobile Video

The number 1 spot on the Biggest Video Marketing Trends list has to go to mobile video.

Have you checked your analytics lately? How many views are you getting from mobile? I’d bet if you did a comparison from last year, you'd see an increase.

Well guess what? The mobile trend has hit video too.

Google’s algorithm change this spring gave mobile-friendly websites a leg up in mobile search. And according to a recent report by eMarketer, Mobile video viewing jumped 10% this year (this is while laptop and desktop viewing stalls for the first time).

56% of viewers watch video on their smartphones, compared to 46% last year.

If that jump isn't enough to convince you your customers are embracing mobile viewing, check out this stat:

69% of smartphone users say videos are a perfect solution for smartphone viewing because it gives them a quick way to understand a product overview.

It’s more important than ever to make sure your videos are mobile-ready. If you self-host, check in with your webmaster to see if they’ve optimized for mobile. If you need help, I’d recommend trying any of the following hosting services:

Video in Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation is another big video marketing trend.

Marketing Automation on it's own is just plain smart.

58% of top-perfoming companies (defined as those where marketing contributes more than half of the sales pipeline), have adopted marketing automation. (Forrester Research).

And...

B2C marketers who take advantage of automation have seen conversion rates as high as 50%! (eMarketer)

This year, we’ve seen a marked increase in the use of video with marketing automation. And the increase has been for good reason.

[tweet_dis]Just using the word ‘video’ in an email subject line increases open rates by 19%![/tweet_dis] It also increases click through rates by 65% and reduces unsubscribes by 26%. (Syndacast)

And while we're on the subject, did you know that 45% of the companies that use marketing automation, regularly repurpose content?

We particularly love this statistic. We are big proponents of repurposing content.

If you’d like a video, but want to get more than a single use out of it, contact us. We can help!

Less Gimmick, More Story

Remember the Old Spice Guy? How about A Dollar Shave Club? Both were great video campaigns that seem out of place in 2015, right?

We’ve noticed that, this year, video has come back to storytelling. And we’re relieved. Not that we didn't like the gimmicky video. We did. We just didn’t love it. We love storytelling.

The rise of content marketing adoption has helped bring marketers back to the Engage, Educate and Entertain model. Consumers want quality content that helps inform their decision making process. Of course entertainment is still a priority, but the priority is back where it belongs: In third place.

Overall, the popular videos we’ve seen take off have stayed away from the gimmick and stayed true to the story.

Take Puppyhood by Purina Puppy Chow for example. It engages people by telling a familiar story in an entertaining way.

We’re not saying that gimmicks are no longer a part of video marketing. They are. But this year more often the story is there first.

Personally, we’re relieved.

Here are two more commercials we really thought hit the mark:

#RealStrength: Dove, Men+Care

#DodgeWisdom - Official 2015 Dodge Super Bowl Commercial

Live Streaming

Thanks to Meerkat and Periscope, everyone can live stream! Social video has been on the rise for the better part of this decade, but platforms like these make it accessible to anyone.

Of course, that doesn’t mean every one is doing it well (how many fridge tours can one person take??). But there are plenty of brands out there that are killing it in this medium.

For example, do you follow "Central Intelligence" star Kevin Hart? Well you should. That man is smart. And his interactivity with his fans is inspired.

How about Netlfix? This Spring, Netflix used Periscope to stream a guinea pig wandering between zones on a floor. One was marked, “Study” and the other “Netflix”. They put this out around college finals season.

And General Electric used Periscope to live stream a behind-the-scenes interview with astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson and scientist Bill Nye.

We expect to see more brands adopt Periscope and Meerkat into their marketing strategy in 2016. The use cases are close to endless.

---

We'd love to talk about you about how to integrate any of these trends into your video marketing strategy. Remember, 2016 is just around the corner.

Download our 7 Must Have Videos and get planning!

Marketing Video Marketing Video Content Marketing

I'll Write You A Symphony: Behind Jared Dylan's Music Video

Erin Hayes July 30, 2015 Creativity, Production, Video Leave a Comment

By MediaBoss Team

Jared Dylan, 20, is going into his senior year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, with more than a little bit of rock star credibility.

The aspiring singer/songwriter's music video for the single "Symphony" dropped last week and he's been getting 10,000 hits a day since it premiered on YouTube.

Not too shabby for an independent artist, but there is a lot more to the story than that. The first interesting bit is that he actually wrote "Symphony" when he was 16, and this overnight success has been four years in the making.

When asked about the song’s origin, Jared candidly admits that he wrote it for girl he met only once. [tweet_dis]"She asked me to write her a song and I wrote her “Symphony"[/tweet_dis]. I knew her for a total of 5 hours and she still doesn't know that I wrote the song about her." Dylan admits, laughing.

Inspirations aside, writing a song is one thing, and making a music video is an entirely different animal. When Jared and his manager Jimmy Walorz of Vizion Entertainment, decided it was time, they reached out to video producer Bill Millman (now at Atlantic Records) who tapped Godsmack director Ian Barrett at MediaBoss Television for the job.

The shoot was a whirl-wind two days on location in Miami. Barrett captured the video’s performance shots on site at the University of Miami, including the iconic stage sequence overlooking the fountain at the center of campus. Additional material, specifically the sunset finale and white room sequences were shot at Miami's famous, Trendy Studios.

While the shoot was fast-paced and hectic, Dylan was impressed by how smoothly the process went. "I don’t think there was a difficult part because they worked so well together,” he said of the crew. "MediaBoss is a group of professional veterans who have done it so many times that they knew exactly what to expect. They had it ready to go. We were moving from location to location seamlessly."

That’s not to say that the young artist didn’t have his nervous moments. The white room shots at Trendy Studios were a little out of his comfort zone.

“The entire time, I’m saying (to Barrett), 'You think it’s too weird that I’m doing this? Do you think people are going to respond to this or just think I’m a lunatic?! He just kept yelling over the playback and the next thing I knew I was jumping on chairs and doing karate kicks, it was fun."

In the end, the white room shots are Dylan’s favorite memory from the shoot. He had to put a lot of trust into the direction of Barrett, and according to him, it paid off.

“Ian (Barrett) is a visionary. He is a true artist,” he said. “He was doing things for the video that I just wouldn’t have even thought to imagine. That white room, again all those different costumes and everything, that’s where I think the chemistry between me and Ian really came out. Every one of those shots that we did was a single take."

“I’m so happy with how it came out,” he said of the final edited video. "I cannot express how much I love it, it’s awesome.”

Dylan found inspiration and support from every member of the team throughout the shoot.

“Bill (producer) is probably one of the most fun people to be around. It’s like you never know what he’s going to say next, but it’s going to be hilarious and you just want to be a part of it,” Dylan said, laughing. “He also played a huge part in pushing me throughout the whole process. I was just playing through the song and he was like ‘You gotta give it more than that!’"

“I don’t think the energy of the video would have been nearly as high and as fun without him there."

As for his co-star, actress Rachel Seeker, Dylan says " She's hot." He says reflecting on the beach shot they did together, “And...She’s a sweetheart and so down to earth and easy to talk to, She was there, every second of the shoot,” he added. “She did not leave set, She was alway there to give support...I mean we couldn’t have done the video without her."

Walorz served as the “all-seeing-eye” throughout the entirety of the shoot, according to Dylan. “Having such a seasoned opinion and such a well-versed influence on the video - we owe a lot of credit to Jimmy.”

Every shoot has an unsung hero, somebody who goes 'above and beyond' and this production was no exception. Jared's good friend, Andrea Lopez, became an impromptu 1st AD and started by wrangling shots, talent and locations. She even filled in as actress to play Jared's love interest when a conflict displaced the original girl.

“I don’t know if I want to let her know how grateful I am because she’ll just hold it over me,” he joked. “She is easily one of the most supportive and just selfless and downright, just inspiring people that I could possibly imagine to be on our team.”

The video provides more than a visual asset to a song, it’s also a captured moment of Dylan’s time at Frost Music School at the University of Miami, a place that has been fully supportive of the whole process. Including his fellow students who appeared in the video.

The school assisted by not only giving approval to film, but by agreeing to share "Symphony" with their social media community, “I think the coolest part is the University of Miami is going to share it cause that really shows how much they support the project.”

"The University of Miami is a huge part of who I am right now,” Dylan added. “But specifically, it will be a huge part of who I am forever."

Dylan has great expectations for the “Symphony” video.

“We’re shooting for 50 million views,” he says with his signature smile, “Gotta set the bar high. We’ve got a lot in store."

"Symphony" is available on iTunes and you can view the video here on YouTube.

Creativity Production Video

The Ultimate Guide to Producing an Animated Video

Erin Hayes July 23, 2015 Marketing, Video Marketing, Production, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Animated video is a powerful communication tool. Humans have communicated by using pictures since the beginning of time.

Our ancient relatives drew Pictograms and Ideograms to convey their messages. And our love of visuals has not waned over the course of millennia.

Visual content is the key ingredient to make the marketers' coveted unicorn - online engagement. Posts with videos attract 3 times more inbound links than plain text posts. And videos increase people’s understanding of your product or service by 74%.

This is because people process visuals 60,000 times faster than they can read.

We're contacted about animated videos for two reasons:

1. Clients are looking for a highly shareable video. Most of us grew up watching animation and learning from animation. The threshold to inspire a potential viewer to click on an animated video is low.

2. They have a complicated product or service they'd like to explain. Animation lends itself well to explainer videos because it can make the complicated sound simple. And that is appealing.

'All right', you say. 'Sign me up. But how do I go about producing such an incredible communication tool?', you ask.

This is where our Ultimate Guide to Producing an Animated Video will help.

1. Know Your Goal

We love animation. Most people do. But chances are, you aren’t producing an animated video just for entertainment. Defining the goal for your video before you write the script is essential.

How do you define a goal? Easy. What action are you trying to inspire your viewers to take?

Sign up for a webinar?

Join an email mailing list?

Dive deeper into your website?

Sign up for a demo/free trial?

Share the video with their networks?

Choose just one goal. Define that one goal and list the ancillary goals under it.

2. Know Your Tone

Do you have a style guide? If you do, then it will outline the tone your animated video should take.

If you don’t have a style guide, then now is a great time to think about tone. How should your company handle communicating your message?

Should the tone be straightforward without nuance?

Should the tone be playfully smart?

Should the tone be academic?

Should the tone be colloquial and contemporary?

Trust us. Taking time to decide on tone before you start writing the script is a good idea. Knowing the tone will make writing the script easier. It will keep feedback cycles manageable. And it will help you communicate your vision to the production company you hire.

3. Know the Feedback Hierarchy.

Speaking of feedback, knowing who's involved in the approval process is a must.

Before you get into production, find out who needs to sign off on each stage. This may seem like a mundane task and one that can be pushed until the process begins. But trust us, it isn't.

We've seen it happen before. A client gets the approved script to us and they sign off on the storyboard. We deliver the final animation and suddenly there are changes to the voice over and/or the graphics. Not only does this delay the final product, it costs more money.

Clarifying exactly who needs to approve assets before you begin will limit surprises down the line.

4. Create A Through-line

Now that you know the video’s goal, its tone and the approval process, it's time to think about the storytelling.

A through-line is the structure on which your script's story hangs. Typically, this is a character’s journey. But you don't need to personify your character.

Your character may be your product's buying cycle or your service’s benefits. And that brings us to number 5.

5. Use Metaphor

Does your product create a speedway from A-Z for your customers? Then think about a driving metaphor to help tell your story. Does it give your clients a detailed view into their billing? Then maybe a scientist with a microscope could work. There are no wrong ideas.

The bottom line is this: If you have fun writing the story, your audience will have fun watching the story.

6. Keep It Short and Simple

Did you know that 20% of viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer? That percentage only increases with time. According to Visible Measures, 45% of viewers will stop watching after 1 minute of video and 60% drop off by the 2 minute mark.

Animated video should be between :30 and 2:00. This means your script should be no longer than a single page, or about 300 words. Worried you can't hit all your key points in 300 words? Don't be. You got this.

And you know what? If you don't, then the production company you hire can help. We're happy to work with our clients during the scripting process.

7. Understand the Process

Animated video is a little more involved than live-action video. There are many moving parts (har, har).

Understanding the process will help you manage expectations across the board. Your team will feel more at ease and your production company will too.

The timeline to delivery depends on the complexity of the animation but the process is generally the same. Here's a breakdown of what to expect.

Step 1: Creative meeting with the production company

This is a good time to discuss goals, tone and any creative concepts you have for a through-line. It's also the time to talk about look and feel.

Step 2: Provide approved script:

Nothing can move forward without a script. If the production company is writing the script, build in at least two weeks to your production schedule. This time allows for iterations and your feedback cycles.

Step 3: Storyboard

Once you approve the script the production company will create a storyboard. The storyboard will show you how the visuals will tell the story. These are either simple sketched drawings or clip art, depending on the company’s preference. We prefer to sketch our storyboards.

Step 3: Voice Over

Once the storyboard is approved, the script will get sent to a Voice Over artist. This step generally happens after the storyboard’s approval. The visuals will help the production company give acting cues to the actor.

Step 4: Animation

Once the approved, final voice over is in-house the animators will begin animating. Animations are created to the specific timing of the VO. Any changes to the VO will change the animation. Changes to the VO and the animation will add to both production time and to production cost.

Step 5: Music and Sound FX.

Once the animation is finished the animator edits in sound effects for texture. This could be footsteps, wind, office background noise, etc. Then the video is scored with a music track.

Step 6: Delivery

The video is then encoded and exported. Depending on the complexity of the animation this could take 10 minutes or an entire day. Once it's exported, the animated video is delivered to you! Barring any mistakes on the production company's end, this version is the final version. Any extra changes after the final is delivered will need a new invoice. This is why it was so important for you to know your feedback hierarchy!

We hope you found this guide helpful! If you'd like to talk to us about an animation project we'd be happy to connect. Contact us here.

Marketing Video Marketing Production Tips & Tricks

4 Invaluable Tools Every Video Marketer Should Use

Erin Hayes July 09, 2015 Video Marketing, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Creation is 20% of the video marketer's strategy. The final 80% involves publishing and optimizing. Here are four tools we find invaluable in our video marketing approach.

Creation is 20% of the video marketer's strategy. Publishing & optimizing are the final 80%.

Analytics

Every platform out there has some form of free analytics. Make checking them regularly part of your marketing strategy.

Evaluating analytics will help you understand whether your message resonates with your target audience.

Google Analytics is an easy place to start. Take a look at the page where your video lives. How long do your visitors spend on this page? What's the bounce rate? Where are they coming from? Keep track of this data and tweak your content according to your findings.

Host on YouTube? Take a look at your analytics there. The first three charts it shows are Performance (total views), Estimated Minutes Watched and Average View Duration. If you have a two minute video but the average view duration is 10 seconds, then you know you've missed your mark.

Vimeo shows you similar statistics. It includes whether the play was an embedded one or a direct one.

For more in-depth analytics, check out Brainshark or Wistia. These platforms give you the flexibility to see how viewers interact with your video. You'll be able to see the common drop-off points in your video and the places your viewers click back to re-watch.

Buffer

If a tree falls in a forest but no one is there to hear it, it still falls. If a video publishes in a vacuum and no one is there to watch it, well. It doesn't do anyone any good.

Promoting your content is part of that 80% we mentioned at the beginning of this post.

There are many great scheduling tools out there. But at MediaBoss we prefer Buffer. We manage many different accounts for ourselves and for our clients. Buffer is the best bang for our buck.

Create custom schedules for each social account and fill them up with awesome content. Keep track of the content that resonated with their easy-to-understand analytics. Adding content is simple with their free browser bookmarklet and smartphone app.

Evernote

MediaBoss's work flow would be tedious without Evernote.
Our team uses Evernote to keep track of everything. We have notebooks for on-going marketing efforts, production processes, inspiration, active projects and more.

This helps us organize creative and practical process without bogging our teammates down with emails.

Our Active Projects notebook is our universal notebook. This is where you'll find our many To-Do lists. We love Evernote's 'check' function. You can see it in the photo below. Everyone can look at the list and check off tasks as they complete them.

The work chat function is pretty neat too. This lets us send short messages to team members or share links to notes.
Here's a recent To-Do note we created to guarantee our process for our latest video blog on Live Stream Production:

Notebook

Yes, as in a notebook with a paper pages. Anyone in the creative field should have one by their side at all times.

It's tough to stay focused when you have the whole world at your finger-tips. The pull to check your email or re-read your latest traffic report can be too great.

There are plenty of apps and plugins to help you stay off the internet when working from a computer. But nothing beats not having the option. When you sit down to brainstorm, alone or in a team, you should be distraction-free. Paper notebooks help this process.

We give each new employee and intern a moleskine notebook when they join our team. It's our expectation that they will fill that notebook and need a new one in a month or so.

You need to catch and jot down your amazing ideas as they come!

Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like help planning your video marketing strategy. And if you're looking for inspiration for a starting point, download our Guide to 7 Must-Have Videos.

Video Marketing Tips & Tricks

5 Things You Need to Know About Live Stream Production

Paul Bouley July 07, 2015 Video Marketing, Creativity, Social Television Blog, Tips & Tricks, Content Marketing, live stream Leave a Comment

Live stream production is a powerful tool to get your message to the world. And it's something we love to do at MediaBoss.

Whether it's a presentation for your national offices or a product demo across the world, a well produced live stream can be an excellent communication tool.

That's why today, I'm going to share 5 things you need to know about Live Stream Production.

[Check out the video above or jump down to read the transcription]

1. Connection is Everything.

Beautifully shot, HD video means nothing if you don't have the bandwidth to properly send it out or keep a consistent stream. The last thing you want is for your feed to drop in the middle of your broadcast. Make sure you have a good connection to keep your stream up and uninterrupted!

Beautifully shot, HD video means nothing w/o proper bandwidth or a consistent stream.

2. Preparation is Key.

Yes, we can integrate your old commercial. Sure, we can manipulate your slide deck. Of course we can create and run custom graphics. But everything takes time and last minute changes can compromise a broadcast.

3. Remember, this is Live TV.

Think about your live webcast like the news. There is a show clock. Things need to happen at a certain time. If your production team doesn't have all the information something is bound to go wrong. Share the details with your production team and your broadcast will go off without a hitch.

4. Your event is more than just the Live Stream.

Think about your live stream as a series of stand alone segments. Everything we do is recorded to High Res files on solid state drives that can be edited down to individual videos however you'd like. Content creation is the name of the game and a live stream has legs well beyond the live event.

5. Why Have 1, When You Can Have 5?

Filming a single camera stream can be efficient, but it is likely to bore your viewers. Think about how many cameras a typical news program has. Now think about an NFL game. You want a one shot? Done. Back to a wide? Sure thing. Product close up? We've got that.

The additional costs for extra cameras won't break the bank. But a poor broadcast may cost you even more.

Those are the top 5 tips. If you have any questions about live streaming an event, we'd love to talk to you. Feel free to email me anytime: paul@mediabosstv.com

Video Marketing Creativity Social Television Blog Tips & Tricks Content Marketing live stream

5 Reasons to Run a 5K with your Coworkers

EricaLeBlanc June 30, 2015 Creativity, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Looking to strengthen employee relationships? Convince them to do something they don't want to do on their day off! These are the 5 Reasons to Run a 5K with your Coworkers.

5. A company that runs together…runs together.

Bonding outside the workplace can strengthen relationships inside the workplace, leading to better communication and efficiency.

4. A post-5K with coworkers typically includes beer.

Beer is a staple in a constructive business environment.

3. Winning means you can finally be better than your, admittedly, exceedingly impressive boss at something.

2. Letting your employees win can make them feel like they’re better than you at something.

This builds their motivation for better productivity in the workplace.

1. Some of you may end up falling in love with running and move on to 10Ks together!

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Creativity Tips & Tricks

MediaBoss Selected Winner in the 36th Telly Awards for Ready, Set, Snow!

Erin Hayes June 25, 2015 Marketing, Creativity, Press, Video, Content Marketing Leave a Comment

This winter we sat down with people behind Framingham's Public Works. They wondered if we could produce a video that showcased their snow clean up and removal operations. Of course!

Although the Public Works story may seem mundane, we were up for the challenge to prove otherwise. A strong DPW is the key to any successful community. And the key to great video is great storytelling. Great storytelling is what MediaBoss does best.

We were honored to tell their story as their dedicated team worked around the clock to keep Framingham's roads safe and clear in the midst of the worst recorded winter in the history of Massachusetts.

And the best part is, we kept our word and we did produce an award-winning video.

Ready, Set, Snow! won a Telly Award for online informational video.

Check out the video below. The full press release follows.

[az_lightbox_video_sh image_url="http://mediabosstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Daniel-S-Nau.png" thumb_width="" link_url="https://vimeo.com/124556314" title="" gallery_name="" class=""]

Framingham, MA June 24, 2015 - The Telly Awards has named MediaBoss Television as a Bronze winner in the 36th Annual Telly Awards for their piece titled Ready, Set, Snow!. With nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries, this is truly an honor.

Ready, Set, Snow! follows the intrepid team at the Framingham Public Works through the snow clean up and management during the worst winter in Massachusetts’ history, the winter of 2015.

"When we sat down with Framingham Public Works we said we were going to produce an award-winning video that showcased their hard work and dedication,” Ian Barrett, MediaBoss Creative Director said. “We’re so excited that this story of an epic winter was captured and shared and that people have responded so positively to it."

“We’re proud to have partnered with MediaBoss Television to produce this award-winning video for Framingham’s Public Works. Their gifted and talented approach to informing the residents on our technology, equipment, and personnel, and the combined services that they provide to the Community, has achieved a high standard of excellence that is apparent in the quality of this video production, ” said Peter Sellers, Executive Director of Framingham Public Works.

[tweet_box]We’re proud to have partnered with @MediaBossTV to produce this award-winning video for @DPWFramingham[/tweet_box]

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world.

“The Telly Awards has a mission to honor the very best in film and video,” said Linda Day, Executive Director of the Telly Awards. “MediaBoss Television’s accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill, and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production.”

About MediaBoss Television

MediaBoss Television is a full-service television and web video production company that produces compelling video content for broadcast, corporations and start-ups alike. MediaBoss Television is based out of an 8,000 square foot converted industrial studio in Framingham, MA.

-END-

Marketing Creativity Press Video Content Marketing

Let Your Hair Down - Adam Ezra Group's Music Video Release

Erin Hayes June 24, 2015 Creativity, Video, Design Leave a Comment

This winter, in the midst of record-breaking snow fall, our friend Adam Ezra, of the Adam Ezra Group, reached out to us about producing a music video for his single "Let Your Hair Down."

He had lined up an incredible crew of talent for the project: Director Ben Tishler, Director of Photography Jason Thompson, Camera Operator John Cole and Editor Neil Miller. We were honored to join the team as a producer and were thrilled to open up our studio for the location of the video.

We've had the pleasure of working with Ezra for the last 3 years, live broadcasting his Ramble benefit concert. He's smart and talented guy and we just knew the team he had put together would be A-List.

We were right. It was an honor to work with Ben Tishler, Jason Thompson, John Cole and Neil Miller.

"Ben is an incredible guy to work with," Adam Ezra told us of Ben Tishler. "I'm always amazed by his work ethic, his vision, his talent, and most of all, what he ultimately is able to create on screen."

The vision for the video was a visual celebration of living in the moment and the "power of community and human spirit." Ezra reached out to cancer survivors and volunteers from some of the cancer organizations they work with every year and asked them to participate in the video. He wanted to capture the life and energy of this crowd as his band performed "Let Your Hair Down."

In 24 hours, our studio was converted into the ultimate music venue. We built a stage, we strung lights and we dressed the rest of our space in line with Tishler's artistic vision. Our favorite static visual for the video was the 'World' section of Framingham's historic 'Shopper's World' sign. The Framingham History Center put the sign in our care this fall and we couldn't be more pleased to see it in "Let Your Hair Down"!

[tweet_box]The vision for the video was a visual celebration of the "power of community and human spirit." [/tweet_box]

The video was officially released Sunday, June 21st, during the after party for the Adam Ezra Group's annual Boston Harbor boat cruise.

"I feel so honored, just to have been able to be a part of what happened that day," Adam Ezra told us. "I couldn't be more proud of what we created together."

When fans download "Let Your Hair Down" track or watch the music video, the proceeds are donated to The SAMFund. The SAMFund helps cancer patients and families who are struggling to make ends meet while recovering from treatment. Learn more about this on AdamEzra.com

Watch the video below. And for a Behind-The-Scenes peek of the Making-Of "Let Your Hair Down" take a look through our photo gallery!

[az_video_embed class="" link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLs-np_v2pQ&feature=youtu.be&list=PL90E7FFEC606845C9"]

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Creativity Video Design

[Spoiler Alert: Workprov is Never Defined]

[Spoiler Alert: Workprov is Never Defined]

1. The "Most Basic of Basics Rule": Yes, And

2. The “Two of the 5 Senses” Rule: Listen

3. The “Intention of Belts (ATTN: Millennials)” Rule: Provide Support

Workprov - A word I think I made up: The concept of combining aspects of improv into the workplace. I'm fully aware this addition makes the headline a lie. #NoRagrets

DISCLAIMER: No dogs were harmed in the making of this post.

Mobile Video

Video in Marketing Automation

Less Gimmick, More Story

Live Streaming

1. Know Your Goal

2. Know Your Tone

3. Know the Feedback Hierarchy.

4. Create A Through-line

5. Use Metaphor

6. Keep It Short and Simple

7. Understand the Process

Step 1: Creative meeting with the production company

Step 2: Provide approved script:

Step 3: Storyboard

Step 3: Voice Over

Step 4: Animation

Step 5: Music and Sound FX.

Step 6: Delivery

Analytics

Buffer

Evernote

Notebook

1. Connection is Everything.

2. Preparation is Key.

3. Remember, this is Live TV.

4. Your event is more than just the Live Stream.

5. Why Have 1, When You Can Have 5?

5. A company that runs together…runs together.

4. A post-5K with coworkers typically includes beer.

3. Winning means you can finally be better than your, admittedly, exceedingly impressive boss at something.

2. Letting your employees win can make them feel like they’re better than you at something.

1. Some of you may end up falling in love with running and move on to 10Ks together!

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Workprov - A word I think I made up: The concept of combining aspects of improv into the workplace.
I'm fully aware this addition makes the headline a lie. #NoRagrets