2021: The Year of Video Production (and more)
By: Peter Gray
Happy New Year from GMP!
As 2021 comes to a close, we want to take a moment to pause and reflect on another great trip around the sun. To all of our partners, clients, and friends alike: we thank you for your tremendous support these past 12 months!
It was a year of TV commercials, live streams, music projects, recruiting videos, puppies, and even testing out my acting skills.
New Year, New Look
A year ago, I joined the GMP team as the director of development. Over the past 12 months, I’ve had a spectacular time thinking up new ways to better serve new and existing clients. It has been a year of learning new skills, “pivoting”, sharing powerful stories, meeting so many amazing people, and having tons of fun along the way.
As the team doubled from 1 to 2 and many clients were navigating government restrictions last December, we took the time to rebrand with a new logo and refreshed website.
As a business focused on helping other organizations engage their audience, we felt the updated online presence was necessary to stay true to our own mission.
In the middle of the year, we welcomed our second K-9 friend to the GMP office, Leo. Leo likes to chew on cables, pee on the carpet, and run away with his older sister Josie’s toys.
Here is a cute video of Leo…
Live Streaming Becomes the Norm
In 2020, live streaming became an unexpected reality for many of our clients, and we quickly adapted to meet their evolving needs. This need continued in 2021 and we even had the chance to help out with a few hybrid events, blending both virtual and in person elements.
We produced all of the content for South Sound Care’s Beer & Bites gala and broadcasted live from the Narrows Marina.
Check out the video below, telling the story of two community members directly impacted by the amazing work of The South Sound Care Foundation…
The Old Still
Amidst the barrage of live stream projects, we started our own live stream music series: The Old Still. This featured five local artists performing on the site of our home office. Inspired by YouTube music series like Mahogany and Tiny Desk, this summer project has morphed into a collection of raw, spontaneous performances in unique settings. You can find some of these “Distilled Sessions” on our Old Still YouTube page.
This project was a product of our love for music and a desire to support local artists, especially during a time where live performance was not an option. It was also an excellent creative outlet where we got to mess around with fog machines, new lights, and set design.
To cap off the year, we produced our first ever feature music video with Jeannie Rak, an artist from Seattle. Jeannie is an amazing artist featured on our Old Still series. Jeannie and I make our acting debut in the cold open for her Live at The Old Still episode.
Check out the cold open along with the new music video below! You can also find our blog about how the series started.
Project Highlights
The Old Still project was a way to support local Tacoma artists while giving us a chance to further our creativity and film making skills. Early in 2021, we also had some fun making our very own beer commercial. In the spec advertisement below, you’ll find our favorite Tacoma brewed beers in a reel that was shot on an extremely limited budget! This process of trial and error was a great learning tool as we went on to shoot several product style videos this year.
Beer Commercial Reel
In early March, we had the opportunity to produce content for MultiCare Foundation’s Corks and Crush event. Virtual auctions had been a reality for almost a year at that point and we felt that the video content had to be interesting and entertaining.
Keeping with the Corks and Crush theme, we felt that some cinematic wine footage would be a great way to keep the audience guessing. It was also a plus that we were able to use only wine from sponsoring vineyards for the event.
Along with wine footage, we spent a full day filming with radio personality and former Seahawk, Damon Huard, who previewed several of the auction items for the event. Prior to this, we had only filmed a handful of Puyallup video production projects, and this was certainly a highlight for us.
Check out this teaser video we put together ahead of the Corks and Crush event!
Corks and Crush Promo
Another highlight this year was the work we did with Harmon Brewing Company’s two restaurants, both airing on Q13 News. This was another great opportunity to work on our product videography skills!
Harmon Pac Ave 30
Hub Gig Harbor 30
While GMP has worked extensively with construction companies, we experienced another first with NWHS. They are a Renton based material handling company who wanted to create a video geared towards potential employees. The final product displayed the interesting aspects of technician work and the exceptional culture at NWHS.
NWHS Recruiting Video
These are just a few of the many highlights this year. For more, refer to our Services Page. We worked all across Washington state producing videos in Renton, Yakima, Puyallup, Tacoma, Olympia, Bremerton, Seattle, Lakewood, Gig Harbor, and even out in Spokane!
Thanks to all of our clients, we produced a great variety of projects… promotional videos, recruiting videos, music videos, drone photography, performance videos, business advertisements, TV commercials, corporate videos, live stream productions, highlight reels, and so much more!
We especially wanted to thank our partners who referred us to new business this year. Without you, so much of our work would not be possible!
Here’s to a great 2022.