In MediaStorm’s latest installment of notable videos, Brian Storm pointed out “My Freedom or Death” by photojournalist Patrick Chauvel. Soon after watching it I realized the true significance of this video and the underlying technology. Thus, I asked Danfung Dennis for more information on Condition ONE, the mobile company that he founded to provide the capability to convert watchers into users as they become immersed in the interactive video.

Regarding the need for this technology, Danfung wrote that “with 130 million tablet devices expected to be on the market by 2012, we are witnessing the emergence of the next form of mass communication. It is this market opportunity and the need to invent a new visual language that led to the formation of Condition ONE.”

Condition ONE is an application currently in development for the iPad that will combine photography and videography in an interactive fashion “to create a new language that is so immersive, that it will shake viewers out of their numbness to traditional media and provide them a powerful emotional experience.” They have plans to develop compatible apps for all Android-based tablets in the near future.

The app is targeted for stories that provide first-hand experiences, such as adventure travel, war activity and breaking news events.

The team consists of Danfung Dennis, Peter Sung, Karol Martesko-Fenster and Takaaki Okada. I am incredible impressed by the wealth of knowledge that this team brings to the company. According to their LinkedIn profiles, it appears that they have been working on this venture for the past eight months.

It is so refreshing to find people delivering solutions to enhance the multimedia experience despite the ongoing struggles with traditional media. I’ll leave you with this last quote, as it truly speaks to the forward thinking nature of this team:

“Condition ONE sees a quickly approaching future where a network of the best filmmakers and journalists around the world transmit what they are witnessing in front of their lenses directly to mobile devices, allowing viewers to be immersed in those same experiences, bypassing the traditional filters and gatekeepers.”

To learn more, check out their Facebook page.

Other posts that might interest you:

• Multimedia must-see: OK Go’s interactive HTML5 music video “All is not lost”
• Immersive video technology – all for only $50K
• Move over Dipity! AVE, a new interactive timeline editor to put on your radar

Duckrabbit

I first learned of the UK-based company Duckrabbit several years ago when I started tracking their widely-read (and highly opinionated) blog. Co-founders David White and Benjamin Chesterton do an excellent job exposing controversial subjects on their blog and engaging in heated debate with their readers. (If you are new to their blog, check out this post targeting photographer Andy Levin for an example of what I’m talking about.)

They are also well known for their commissioned work and training seminars. I have blogged about them and their work several times in the past, and today I am excited to let David give you some great first-hand insights into their company.

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Duckrabbit.

A) My name is David White, and I am the Photography Director and co-founder of duckrabbit (alongside Benjamin Chesterton). I have been an editorial photographer for 20 years, and I am moving those skills onto an online platform. I used to shoot foreign features for various magazines, eventually ending up as a contributing editor for UK Marie Claire. Benjamin is a hooligan who somehow ended up producing radio documentaries for the BBC and running media development projects in Ethiopia. duckrabbit produces photofilms, radio documentaries, blogs and trains lots of other people how to do what we do (only better). Our website and blog had 44000 visitors last month.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) What we do is as old as the hills. We tell stories. What’s new is the perfect marriage of strong still imagery and powerful audio, the combination being far more powerful than the sum of its parts. The people that we train say that we are unique because we are happy to share all our hard earned knowledge. We also care way more about the story and the subject than the creator.

Our blog is considered to be pretty unique for not only raving about some of the great work on the internet but also having the occasional cheeky crack at some of the absurd goings on in the photojournalism world. For many people that would be an idiot’s approach to business. They are probably right, but the blog has very little to do with duckrabbit as a business. It very much has a life of its own and you’re much more likely to find us promoting other people’s work then our own. The blog is also a collective effort. We’re lucky that Ciara Leeming, Carl Prendle, Adam Westbrook and IAMNOTASUPERSTARPHOTGRAPHER all contribute. Perhaps uniquely for a ‘company’ blog we don’t exert any real editorial control. That’s how it should be, and although a few senseless people have threatened to sue us I don’t see us turning it into a more corporate blog anytime soon.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) By continually looking at other work, analysing, dissecting, and drinking beer. And creating more work.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) Condition Critical, a major project duckrabbit worked on with MSF (doctors without borders)

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) We intend to buy Getty in 2015. We are possibly the only media company who are waiting to buy Getty, not be bought.

Failing that we would like to be the centre of a thriving community of photofilm producers in the UK and further afield. We’ve already started to see that happen with many of the people we’ve had the pleasure of training going on to produce outstanding work. To be honest I hope in five years time we won’t have changed that much, at least not in our values and people who have worked with us will still say that we give more than we take.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) We are at the vanguard of a fantastically exciting dynamic, and we work hard to stay riding that wave. Depending on your mood, that’s either terrifying or exhilirating. If that sounds ideal to you, then I suppose it is.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) I cannot tell you about the hilarity that encompasses our every business decision. You would laugh too hard, and maybe injure yourself. I cannot be held responsible for that, so no.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) Get on with it. Seriously. Just get out and get on. Don’t look too far into the future, just get going.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) I’m afraid not, although we are always looking to work with interesting, open minded people, whether they be poets, artists, producers, photographers, web people, whatever. If you think 7you have something to offer then please get in touch.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Our blog is very popular…www.duckrabbit.info/blog. Find us on twitter… @duckrabbitblog, our main site is www.duckrabbit.info.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, December 10th!

Aer Studio, photo courtesy of Aer’s company website

This week I’m excited to highlight Aer Studio, an interactive design studio in Barcelona, Spain. I first learned of their work after seeing “The Turn – Fredo Viola,” which was recognized by TheFWA as the “Site of the Month.” They focus on what they call “Human-Computer Symmetry,” in an attempt to achieve a seamless interaction for their user. I love learning how international companies are devoting themselves to interactive multimedia, and hearing that they agree that the demand for it is growing!

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Aer Studio.

A) My name is José Hernández and I am co-founder & creative director here at Aer. I come from a classic Graphic Design background with a bit of formal Art History studies as well. I co-founded Aer with Cristobal about a year after finishing post grad school here in Barcelona. It has been about 8 years since then.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) One of the characteristics I’m proudest of is how everyone here is so good at both thinking creatively and technically. A lot of places have people on their team that are either good at one thing or the other. When they work they meet somewhere in the middle. Anyone in our studio is capable of coming up with an amazing idea and leading it through production.

As for the elevator pitch, you’ve touched on a sensitive issue! We have been horrible at promoting ourselves. Our elevator pitch has been in the works for what seems like centuries. Right now it is something along the lines of; “Aer Studio specializes in UX centered interaction design for emerging technologies”.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) We are pretty tight knit. We constantly share new discoveries, whether it be in music, movies, art or technology and encourage personal initiatives to explore these areas. We also travel, go to festivals together and participate in conferences. I’m sure we bore people all the time, but there isn’t much of a separation between work and life for us. Our drive comes from our genuine interest in the matter.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) We are proud of all portfolio pieces for different reasons, but the project that stands out the most for both the experience and the project itself has got to be an experience based website we did in collaboration with Steph Thirion for the french musician, Domotic. By now it’s a bit old and the technology has fallen behind, but as an experience I think it holds up quite well. This project was our first project with complete creative freedom.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) I doubt if we will expand in size too much. However, we plan to keep focus on the new interaction possibilities that are emerging. The market for interaction design has a lot of growing to do, which is a very good thing for us.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) I think the notion of an ideal place to work can vary quite a bit depending on the person. Like I said before, we are a pretty tight knit group with very similar interests. In our studio we have 2 electric guitars, a drum kit, an electronic drum kit, several gaming consoles and perhaps most importantly, a ping pong table. It may not be the ideal work environment for a lot of people, but for us it is pretty awesome.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) We take ping pong (table tennis for the snobs) very seriously. We are all pretty competitive, so lets just say there has been broken paddles and plenty of Macenroe-esque screaming and yelling. All in good fun!

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) Don’t be a rockstar. The work we do is all about working in a team. Unless you are the exception, you will need other people (probably with more skill and experience than you) to help you make your genius idea. Which leads me to my next recommendation… Work with and surround yourself with people who are more talented than you. It will make you better.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) I think we currently are at a good size for what we do, but we are always interested in building on our network of talented and interesting people to collaborate with.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Blog: www.aerstudio.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aerstudio
Twitter: @aerstudio
Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/aerstudio

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, December 3rd!

Applied Works, photo courtesy of the company’s Facebook page

For this week’s company spotlight interview, we will jump across the Atlantic to interview Applied Works, an interactive agency in London.

I first learned of their work after seeing Kroo Bay, the extremely well designed and innovative site about the slum in Sierra Leone.

I’ve been tracking them ever since, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading how they perceive multimedia in the UK.

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Applied Works.

A) I’m Joe Sharpe, creative director and partner at Applied Works. I founded the business in 2004 with Paul Kettle and Peter Newman. Along with Pete and Paul I oversee all creative output but focus specifically on our identity, moving image and iPad work. I also steer the company’s creative vision and contribute to our new business initiatives.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) We’re very much inspired by the people we work with, be it the team in the studio, our clients, or our network of creative or technical partners with whom we frequently collaborate. We strive to maximise the creative potential of the work we do by nurturing a collaborative environment that allows it to flourish.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) Expanding on the previous point, we actively encourage creative collaboration and partnerships – the expansive network of people we know and admire makes it easier for us to stumble into new and interesting avenues of business. We’re a very open book, and love meeting new people. For example, Rob our lead designer, brought in an incredible artist he knew called Riita Ikonen, who installed a huge earthworm in the studio as part of YCN Live in 2008, that weaved its way out of the studio window, under the street and into Hoxton Square. We also promote our collaborators via guest posts on our blog, that offer an insight into the things that collectively inspire us in the studio. Finally, we all blog ourselves about things of interest. Both Rachel our project/studio manager and Rob arrived back from their respective honeymoons with fascinating posts, Rachel’s on the High Line elevated garden in NYC, Rob’s about Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) There are many pieces of work we’re proud of, but its rare you get a project that ticks all the boxes – namely a good client, a decent budget and interesting subject matter. For me personally, I thoroughly enjoyed creating our World Cup iPad graphic for The Times. That one had the added bonus of being on a new and exciting platform and something my 16-year-old football loving self would have loved to have been involved in – I truly was both designer and client. It was a project that we moulded through our relationship with The Times – they didn’t give us a brief, we convinced them to let us do it.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) We’re currently a full time team of 6, with around 10 in the studio day to day including freelancers and interns. We’d like to roughly double that number and continue to expand our business financially, while retaining the grip on creative direction that we currently have. However, we also acknowledge that we may not know exactly where we’ll be in 5 years – so being flexible and malleable in our approach is also important. For example, the iPad work we’ve been doing only surfaced in the past 6 months, so you never know whats round the corner.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) As a business, we obviously have financial objectives, but they’ve always been balanced with creative ones. Its crucial for us that the mix of work is both challenging and stimulating for the team. We also operate a very level structure within the studio – I’d like to think everyone who works with us feels that their opinion counts and that they’re growing creatively as a result of being in the Applied Works environment. I’ve a personal dislike of egos in the design industry, since they’re completely at odds with our ethos of collaboration.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) I’m not sure I can think of anything noteworthy enough to mention in particular, but the studio and people we work with are by and large the same people you’d enjoy sharing a beer with, which means that most funny stories are going to involve drunken events outside the studio. Probably best I stop there…

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) Work hard and make the most of the opportunities you’re dealt. People connections are everything in this industry – its not so much who you know as who you meet and continue to keep in contact with.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) Not officially, but we’d like to take on another designer early next year if the flow of work continues to warrant it. Plus, as I’ve already mentioned, we have a large network of freelancers who we often call upon, so there are always opportunities even when there are no full time positions on offer. We run an internship programme that has resulted in paid work for a number of people that have passed through the doors, contact Pete or Rachel via the website if you’d like to apply or show us your CV. No agencies please!

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Our website is kept pretty up-to-date and we’re on Facebook, Twitter @appliedworks, Vimeo and Flickr.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, November 26th!

Kicker Studio employees, courtesy of Facebook

This Q&A is especially for the interactive designers out there. Kicker Studio just celebrated its second birthday, and prides itself in “combining visual, industrial, and interaction design to make products that are holistic from the ground up.” Their studio is based in San Francisco, California, and their design portfolio consists of consumer electronics, appliances, touchscreens, kiosks, objects with screens, and robots. I love how they are expanding beyond the traditional computer screen to design for countless multimedia devices.

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Kicker Studio.

A) I’m Dan Saffer, one of the founders and principals at Kicker Studio. I’m an interaction designer and author of the books Designing for Interaction and Designing Gestural Interfaces.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) We do interaction-infused design, meaning that unlike many studios who start with visual or industrial design, we start with interaction design, with how users will interact with your product. Everything we do is in service to that interactivity; the interface and the industrial design grow out of that interactivity and an understanding of user behavior.

We also specialize in new technologies — touchscreens, gestural interfaces, sensor-based interfaces, embedded technology, robots — because how we design seems to work well with either making a product from new technology or integrating new technologies into existing products.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) We’re a boutique studio, so ideas flow freely between our employees and everyone is empowered to contribute. We’re very experimental in our methods, and ideas for how we should tackle projects or even individual design problems can come from anywhere in the company.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) We’re proud of all of our work, but recently we’ve been very proud of one of our first projects, a gestural home entertainment center, because we’re certain it was one of the pieces that helped the client, Canesta, attract the attention of Microsoft, who just acquired them.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) The type of work we do is a growing market. More different types of technology are being embedded into all different types of objects, from tea pots to automobiles. We imagine our team will grow from its current size of about 5 to about 20, should the economy improve.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) It probably isn’t, for some people. We play music, there are dogs in the office, it’s a little chaotic, and we’re always stretching ourselves. Some people might not enjoy that. We play like kids, but work like adults. We don’t count sick days, for instance, and we have 5 weeks of vacation.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) Every day there is usually something funny or wacky that happens. We seem to have long discussions about bathroom etiquette. We once had so many dogs in the office that our next-door neighbor started calling us the design kennel. The other day, since we have a bar in our studio, I invented a new drink, the Thai Icedtini. We have arch-enemies. One of the principals (Jennifer) went as another principal (Jody) for Halloween. We bought whiteboard paint a year ago and are still debating where to paint. We all sit in one big room, so there’s usually a lot of group discussions on everything from Lady Gaga to politics.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) Read, write well (spell check!), be able to explain your work, why you made the choices you did.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) We are currently looking for a business development manager, but right now, we’re unfortunately not hiring any more designers.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) We have a blog at http://kickerstudio.com/blog and a Twitter account, both of which are pretty active. We host a yearly event called Device Design Day and you can see that at http://devicedesignday.com.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, November 19th!

I am really excited to introduce Garapa, a multimedia company based in São Paulo, Brazil. The trio of photojournalists has a clear mission statement: “Our main goal is to make good multimedia storytelling, using photography, audio, video, interactivity and whatever else comes our way, for distribution across multiple media, specially the internet.” And, if you have watched their demo reel above, you can tell that they clearly have talent!

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Garapa.

A) I’m Paulo Fehlauer, one of the founders of Garapa. I’m a journalist, photographer and multimedia producer.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) We’re a multimedia collective and production studio focused on high quality independent visual content. Our portfolio includes a vast array of formats and platforms – photo assignments for editorial use, video documentaries for TV and the web, complex web-based multimedia platforms, art galleries and exhibitions. We also have an educational branch focused on multimedia storytelling and collaborative production workshops.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) We try to maintain a very horizontal and collaborative environment, in which everyone on the team can participate on all production steps.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) We have just launched a large project called “Produção Cultural no Brasil” (Cultural Production in Brazil), which brings nearly a hundred interviews with some of the most important actors on the field of culture in Brazil. The project is composed by an interactive web platform with over 100 videos, as well as 5 books with longer interviews, and was produced by an association of 4 different companies, each one bringing its own expertise to the project.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) Our goal is to find the right balance between profit and creative freedom. For that reason, we’ve been aiming more and more at qualified venues for distribution of our work, from renowned magazines, newspapers and websites to art galleries, curators, festivals and specific niches on the advertising world. With that said, we’re expecting a considerable growth on the next few years, without putting aside our desire to innovate and experiment.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) First of all, for the horizontal and creative environment I mentioned above. Also, we’re part of a creative cluster in São Paulo, called “Casa da Cultura Digital” (Digital Culture House), a very charming “villa” where several companies, collectives and individuals share not only infrastructure but ideas and projects. Collaboration for us is the key.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) We do a funny prank here that we call “stand up comment”, which consists of posting funny comments on Facebook profiles if someone leaves his computer unattended. We even created a set of rules for it – for example, one of the rules is that the “victim” has to wait at least one hour before accusing the joke.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) There are no formulas, and that’s the essential and greatest aspect of our times; try, create, experiment and, most important, spread your word, even regardless of immediate monetary gain. If your work is good, it will pay off sooner than you expect.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) Not at the moment, but work comes and go all the time, and we’re always up for new partnerships and possibilities.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) You can find us at:
Twitter: @garapa
Facebook: http://facebook.com/coletivogarapa
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/garapa
Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/garapa/
Website/blog: http://garapa.org/en/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/garapaimagem

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, November 4th!

Chance Multimedia

I absolutely love the entrepreneurial spirit in the multimedia sector. I have featured several start-ups in the past, and today I am happy to introduce another one, Chance Multimedia, founded by husband-and-wife team Jessica and James Chance. The Denver-based company targets four customer segments: nonprofit organizations, businesses, authors and associations.

Their reasoning for starting this venture? Simple – there is substantial, and increasing, demand for high-quality multimedia. As they write on their site, “The internet has evolved as bandwidth has increased, and Web sites are now expected to be interactive channels that allow your customers to explore and interact with your product or service.”

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Chance Multimedia.

A) Hello! 

My name is Jessica Chance and I am a co-owner of Chance Multimedia, a digital storytelling and photography company in Denver, Colorado.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) Need to “put a face,” on your issue? We offer high quality photos, video, and communications consulting for nonprofits, foundations and smart business folks who have a  story to tell.  We’ll produce a beautiful story for you, and help you apply it in a way that helps you achieve your mission.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) I believe creativity and innovation flow when you are doing what you love, and have the ability to grow, and rest, as you see fit. My partner James and I are a good match, in that he enjoys staying on top of the world of equipment and technology, and I concern myself with improving the production and application of our craft.

As a former nonprofit communications specialist, I am driven by finding new and better ways to fill the needs of nonprofit communicators, and the issues they represent. 

The following questions drive my thinking:

- What is the simplest, most human way we can use photos and video to communicate the importance of issue X to a target audience?

- How many different ways can we effectively utilize content online, in presentations, on television, radio, etc., so that the message is getting to the right people at the right time for the right response?

- How can we use photos and videos in social networking, to start a conversation?

- How can we measure the effectiveness of our strategy?

I also find that regular naps, trips to the mountains and dog walks help keep the creativity flowing.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) Good question!  Each project we do is completely different… here are some examples:

Living with the Dead, Manila’s North Cemetery is one of our early editorial pieces, won the international Every Human Has Rights Media award in 2008.  The photos from the piece have won multiple photo awards as well, which is exciting. This week, James will go back to the North Cemetery in Manila, where the project was produced, to expand the photo story with support from POYi Emerging Vision Incentive.  I’ll join him next year to expand the multimedia.

A memorable client experience was working with Saatchi & Saatchi to produce a video that the national law firm Alston + Bird is using to motivate increased personal and environmental sustainability within the firm.  That was a fun project, because we were working towards a defined mission. Plus, it’s always an honor to work with change agents.

Another fun project was producing a short video about how a grant from the Caring for Colorado Foundation is helping low income mothers improve their health and the health of their unborn babies.  This video got at the crux of why we do what we do: To illustrate how programs, policies, etc., actually impact people, in this case, a teenage mother, for better or worse.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) In addition to expanding our team, client base and consulting capacity, I’d like to focus on the growing need to provide training and support to amateur storytellers. This goes hand in hand with the incredible opportunities now for first-person, amateur producers to use low-cost photo and video equipment to tell their own compelling stories.  One example could be young people in foster care, advocating for foster care reform; or cancer survivors sharing their point of view to help raise money for cancer research. This can be an incredibly effective and empowering communications tool. In most cases, however, an organization funding a project like this will need to provide training and support to their amateur producers, so that everyone feels good about the end result.  We’ve had some opportunities to provide this kind of training in the past, and I would like to do more in the future.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) Interesting question. Outside of project-based contract work, we are our employees, and we work out of a home/studio loft space. I am grateful for that every single day. I’m the kind of person that does better work when I can dress comfortably, eat when I’m hungry, exercise when I need to, etc. We have very few meetings, and the route between conception of a project, and it’s completion, is very direct. Rarely do my best ideas come when I’m sitting at my desk.  

Anyone that works with us would have a similar freedom. As long as the work gets done right, the first time, every time, for our clients, I don’t care when or how you do it.  

Be free.

We also have a ping pong table.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) What could be funny about an English/American husband and wife multimedia team?

Honestly, I can’t think of any funny stories right off the bat… working here is fun, though!

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) Never stop learning.  Respect, learn from, and collaborate with your competition.  Be authentic. 

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) We are hiring on an “as needed” basis for project work. We are certainly open to people contacting us if they are interested in the possibility of future collaboration!

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Our website is www.chancemultimedia.com

Please… connect with us! We are happy to answer questions via Twitter, Facebook, etc.  

fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Denver-CO/Chance-Multimedia/56152051657?ref=ts
Twitter: @ChanceMedia
Blog: www.chancemultimedia.com/blog

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, October 29th!

Grow Interactive

I first came across Grow Interactive when I found out they were responsible for the inspirational site The Girl Effect. Since then, I have been closely watching them as they turn out one innovative product after another. Located in Norfolk, Virginia, this team of developers, animators and designers has certainly made a name for itself. For the past three years in a row Grow Interactive has garnered multiple Webby nominations and is frequently highlighted by FWA. As a side note, they are currently hiring for several positions, so read on to learn more!

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Grow Interactive.

A) My name is Matt Clack and I’m an Art Director at Grow Interactive. I have a dual role here at Grow. I design, but I also concept. You could probably call me the creative. I love the design side of my position, but my real talent is helping to develop the concept. Working at Grow has been such a great experience. I get opportunities to do what I do best and have really grown, sorry no pun intended, as a designer and an art director. I most recently art directed/concepted Grow’s digital portion of the Google “Watch this Space” campaign, the American Cancer Society “More Birthdays” site, and contributed to our FedEx “Our Changing World” campaign. It’s been a full year for us!

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) I would describe Grow as a fiercely driven, agile, fun, and tech-savvy creative agency. We’ve worked with clients ranging from established brands like Nike and Starbucks, to some of the best advertising agencies in the country. We welcome new challenges and strive to generate original ideas, both technically and creatively, for all of our projects. The team is close-knit and relies on each other to get projects done. I love the family dynamic we have here. (For example, everyone came to my wedding.)

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) I think we drive innovation and creativity with 2-sided concepting. Yes, it’s good to have the creatives sit in a room and laugh over great ideas, but we get the technical guys in the room at the same time. It helps me, as a thinker, to get a grasp on what’s technically possible and how we can push those boundaries.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) My favorite project is our most personal project. It’s our Thank You Begins with a T campaign. If you haven’t seen it you should take a look. It helps you get to know the team in an intimate, interactive experience while shopping for a free t-shirt. Our clients loved it and so did the world. Most of our clients are in other cities and as a side effect, we don’t get a lot of face time with them. This project did wonders to introduce them to our team’s personalities. It was really fun to experiment, concept and work with a new medium (new at the time), HD video.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) This question is a little late. I’ve been here for almost 5 years and we just moved into our historically-renovated space in downtown Norfolk. It’s unbelievable! I would have never believed you if you told me this is where I’d be working in 5 years. I love it. It has a lot of my ideas built right in. It’s going to give us a lot of freedom to be creative. We have a new production studio and green room. I can see that getting a lot of use. You can read more about the building and its history on our blog.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) I believe that to be happy in your position at any company “give and take” is crucial. At Grow, I get unbelievable professional opportunities, a family environment where I am friends with everyone and care about their lives, a beautiful and inspiring building, and much, much more just for doing what I love to do to the best of my abilities.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) Yes, there are so many, but here’s one of my favorites. We wanted to make our concept boards for a client presentation look awesome, so naturally we bought a shrink-wrap machine to package them. The machine was incredible, but the shrink-wrap itself was even more enticing. We chose to use it for evil instead of good. Our resident joker, Ricky, needed to be taken down a notch anyway. Ironically, he was told to go out and buy prank items. While he was away, everyone took to shrink-wrapping everything on his desk from his ipod (which was playing episodes of The Office underneath the plastic), to everything in his desk drawers and backpack, to the wheels on his desk chair. When he got back, he was really shocked and had to spend the afternoon unwrapping his stuff. I don’t know if that provides any insight into our day-to-day, but it was hilarious.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) I would say if you’re passionate about working in this business, develop your skill set to revolve around a central focus. Does that sound too simple? At Grow, everyone has the one thing they do extremely well and they use those skills to help the team make projects better. It’s important to be well-rounded, but if you can focus your unique talent and use your other knowledge and skills to support that focus, you can be really successful (and I hear rich… though I’m still working on this one).

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) We are! Check out http://www.thisisgrow.com/careers for a list. We have a couple of management positions, like a Tech Director. We also have needs for animators, artists, developers, and interns. I would say that even if you don’t see your job position open send your site/portfolio anyway. At least we’ll have it when a position opens.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Our site: thisisgrow.com
Our blog: thisisgrow.com/blog
Twitter: @growinteractive
Facebook: facebook.com/growinteractive

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, October 22nd!

Are you a recent grad who is still looking for that perfect job? I know how you’re feeling: It took me three agonizing months post-graduation to land my first job at Roanoke.com. If your story is similar, this post is for you. Instead of complaining about the flailing market and lack of jobs, why not be like Melina Kolb and start your own company? Eight months ago Melina decided to create Tellit Multimedia, a video production studio that is based in Chicago, Illinois. Her entrepreneurial spirit inspires me and I hope her success story energizes you to consider starting your own venture as well.

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Tellit Multimedia.

A) My name is Melina Kolb and I founded Tellit Multimedia in February of this year, based in Chicago. I was fresh out of journalism school at Northwestern University and decided to start my own company after spending the past six years doing freelance video. My work has aired on WTTW-11 (the local PBS affiliate), CBS 2, NBC Chicago’s website and Current TV’s national cable channel. I’m still a baby company so right now it’s just me. I am Executive Producer, Creative Consultant, Videographer, Office Manager, etc. etc…

Q) What makes your company unique? (ie what’s your elevator pitch?)

A) I create documentary style content that tells the story of individuals, non-profits, and small businesses. I rely on interviews, not scripts, to tell that story.

Q) How do you drive innovation and creativity?

A) I think my approach to video making, especially promotional content, is unique. It requires getting the perspective of different people and weaving their points of view into a compelling story. I think it’s refreshing to hear real people and not actors.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) I love this “docu-wedding” I did for a couple getting married in West Texas. I did separate interviews with them beforehand asking how they met and fell in love, then edited together their different versions. It was funny getting both sides of the story. I was also aiming to not make another cheesy wedding video, so I think I accomplished capturing the actual story of their relationship and how it all came together at their wedding.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) I’m hoping to gain some more clients who are looking for regular content for their websites along with some larger scale projects, such as fundraising and wedding videos. At this point, I’m right on the cusp of needing to hire someone to help me. In five years, I envision having a solid group of video producers for multiple simultaneous gigs. And a really cool office.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) My company’s work allows room for creativity and direct input. Video making is (in my opinion) the most fun and rewarding type of work you can be in, as long as you are willing to put in the hours and find people who like what you do.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) I was shooting a networking event for an educational organization and there were a bunch of women helping me find people to interview. They started cooing over a handsome employer then decided I should interview him since he’d be “nice on camera.” As I was talking to him, the women stood behind us giggling and pointing. Somehow I kept a straight face, but I can’t say if I turned red or not. There was also this time when I was shooting some b-roll of a street intersection and I captured a car rear-ending another car.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) If you want to go into video, start small. Join a filmmaking organization and learn the ropes, then see if you can find someone who would like you to make a video for them for free. Then it’s all about gradually expanding your portfolio and meeting people who like your work. I started out by learning documentary filmmaking in college then entering my first film in a national contest. I ended up winning, which led me to get more jobs from people who liked that first video. Soon, I became known as a “video person” and people who knew me kept referring me to others looking for video makers.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) I anticipate needing to hire in the next year, as I am currently pushing the limits of what one person can do.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Visit www.tellitmultimedia.com and follow me on Twitter: @tellitmm.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, October 15th!

Kauri Multimedia

Giveaway Day 5: In the entrepreneurial spirit, comment on this post giving Diego Vivanco one piece of advice/encouragment to be eligible to win a copy of Adam Westbrook’s e-book “Next Generation Journalist” and our last NewsU webinar pass. This concludes our week-long giveaway … thanks to everyone who participated!

The contest is now over and the winners of our giveaway have been announced! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Lately there has been a surge of multimedia start-ups, such as Adam Westbrook’s Studio .fu and Ackerman Gruber Images founded by husband and wife team Tim Gruber and Jenn Ackerman. However, few if any had arisen in Spain until I came across Kauri Multimedia, a new documentary venture by co-founders Diego Vivanco and Ian Clark. I thoroughly enjoyed Diego’s Q&A on multimedia in Spain and I hope you take the time to read his insightful thoughts!

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Kauri Multimedia.

A) My name is Diego Vivanco. I am a Spain-based documentary photographer and I am one of the co-founders of Kauri Multimedia. I take care of the photography and sound recording of the multimedia pieces. I develop the storyboarding and scripting with my colleague Ian Clark, I then proceed to do the field work of photographing the story and subjects as well as recording the audio – be it narrative, ambient sound or interviews. Afterward Ian takes care of giving the story its backbone (theme, style, structure) and completes the editing and production of the project with some involvement from myself, and he adds other elements that might enhance the video – music, credits, etc.

Q) What makes your company unique? (ie what’s your elevator pitch?)

A) I think that our strongest asset is that there isn’t a production company like us in Spain. We are solely dedicated to multimedia storytelling through photography and audio. There are a substantial number of companies in USA, UK and other European countries doing fantastic work in this field, with plenty of expertise, but I think that we are the Spanish pioneers in embracing this format of storytelling and reporting.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) I think that the inspiration and creativity in our work comes from complete dedication and focus on the subject matter. Before starting a project, we absorb as much as information on the area, story, issue, protagonists, etc. It is only when feel we have enough information to do the story any justice, that we proceed with the first steps in storyboarding. We also spend a lot of time seeking inspiration from others – photo stories, photo documentaries, promos, film documentaries, renowned multimedia production companies such as duckrabbit, MediaStorm, Magnum In Motion, other initiatives such as Soul of Athens, are prime sources of inspiration.

With regards to selecting a subject, we are quite honest with ourselves in that we only go for subjects that fascinate us and that we consider can be of interest to viewers and the public at large. We consider that both criteria need to be met for the work to be a success.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) Colores is exactly the piece that we feel represents our reason for being. It tells a story that would otherwise receive little media attention, it is a positive local story, and touches on relevant social issues such as integration and personal development. That is not to say that we do not contemplate other subject matters, but we are extremely happy with what we set to achieve with Colores and the resulting product. Also, the club initiative is receiving more media attention since the multimedia piece was produced and it is helping them in its campaigning and fund raising. This is something that we are pleased with, as it shows that by telling a story or issue in a simple, honest manner, and executing it with relative simplicity and without grandeur can have a great impact.

We are currently working on two projects that we hope can see the light before the end of the year, completely different to Colores but still of a social documentary nature. We are really looking forward to showcasing them, as we think that viewers will consider them very original in terms of content and approach.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) We haven’t really set ourselves any long term objectives. Still, if everything follows its normal course I would like to imagine Kauri as a respected and reliable company in the sector, known for its credibility and integrity. Obviously with loads of demand and a solid and varied company portfolio that can attract all sorts of clients. Ideally we would still be covering social stories, covering NGO visual communication needs and possibly completing assignments for media outlets and clients on a regular basis.

I would like Kauri to be seen as pioneers by Spanish counterparts in what will hopefully be a successful medium – photography and audio storytelling. Multimedia workshops is also an option worth considering in the near future.

In terms of (physical) company expansion, I am not concerned about the number of employees. I believe that our current set up of Ian and myself with the occasional contributor is sufficiently strong to meet client’s demands. We also work quite well as a team and we know what makes each other tick, what to expect from each other and how each other works. That is not to say that we wouldn’t welcome a company expansion, that would be a good business indicator!

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) I guess our friendly and easy-going working style is a plus. We all enjoy working on the projects at hand, we are very clear, open and honest with each other and are very supportive. We genuinely enjoy our work and are extremely dedicated. Everybody is free to express their opinions and debate what is best for the projects.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) I would love to but I can’t think of any at this moment in time!

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) First and foremost they should put all their effort into their work because even though it is a gratifying world it does demand a lot of hard work and dedication. They should also seek advice and inspiration from professionals in the field, we are a small family but we are all in the same boat. They should not expect immediate success or attention, as starting out (as in many other businesses) can be slow.

Above all, they must believe in what they do and must have genuine interest in the stories they cover. If you are not interested in the subject, you’ll grow tired of the work. You must also stick to what you know. Our knowledge is photography, audio, editing and production, therefore that is what we are sticking to.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) At the moment we are not. We are a small team that occasionally seeks support from external contributors, be it photographers, editors, musicians, etc. In that sense our current needs are covered but that is not to say that we may need contributors outside our range/circle to cover future assignments, commissions or personal projects both in Spain and abroad.

Our selection process when requiring contributors is very much determined by the needs and requirement of the project. For instance, if we feel that the project requires a strong musical score our focus will be in obtaining a helping hand from people we know are capable of meeting specific musical criteria. The practical aspects of a project might also require the assistance of others; I might not realistically be able to cover both photography and audio in certain situations therefore I will seek the assistance of a fellow professional to back me up.

Being a small production team also determines the way in which we seek contributors. We have contacts, people we know work well and who we can trust, in specific fields of expertise, therefore we take little risk when looking for outside contribution. At this moment in time, it is people we personally know and trust and who believe in the type of work that we do. We know their work, they have a genuine interest in the project and multimedia, therefore there will be little risk.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) You can follow our exploits via twitter @kaurimultimedia (inc. my own individual twitter @diegovivanco). My professional website www.diegovivanco.es is going to enjoy a complete revamp. When it re-launches with its new layout and content it will incorporate a Multimedia section dedicated to Kauri. We will let you know as soon as the website is ready. In the meantime Vimeo is the best option for following our work – www.vimeo.com/kaurimultimedia.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, October 8th!