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Who is Brien Lee VideoStory, Inc.?
Brien
Lee VideoStory, Inc. is a Wisconsin corporation
specializing in video-based communications and
marketing
projects for businesses, the arts, non-profits
and broadcast. It
is owned by Brien Lee and Diane Wilson. Brien
is the majority
shareholder. It was formed as a new corporation
in June of
2003 to provide a focused approach to video
production and
communications, as opposed to the broader "we
do
everything" approach of the company it bought
the assets of,
Brien Lee Creative Solutions.
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"What's the difference between Brien Lee
Creative Solutions,
Inc., and Brien Lee VideoStory?"
The
first is the focus of our services. We offer
turnkey
concept-to-completion DVD and video creation
and production
services. We don't offer single services, such
as acting as a
sound studio or shooter for other producers
(other than our
clients). We tell the whole story, and consider
DVD, CD-ROM,
the web, VHS, satellite, and cable all to be
simply distribution
media. BLCS offered a broader spectrum of
services,
including e-learning, web design, e-commerce,
speaker
support slides, and other activities reflective
of the
marketplace and our staff's talents at the
time. Those
activities, however, were often produced AFTER
the stories
had been created.
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Why the change?
The web
and e-learning areas became a double-edged
sword.
While they provided great sales volume, they
also required a
great
deal of manpower. They were not conceptual in
nature, so the
work was unsatisfying for our creative staff
and did not show
off our core capabilities. And they were
change-heavy... often
people couldn't visualize the end result, so we
had to produce
a fairly finished product for review-- and then
change it. The
net result was that we were being judged not
for our years of
nearly flawless video creative work in the
corporate and cable
worlds-- we were being judged for work which we
could only
offer a value at par with our competition. To
maintain our
reputation, reduce the pressure on our staff,
and move
toward profitability, we made the
change.
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You mentioned core capabilities? What are they?
We
believe our team has the unique ability to
visualize your
audience watching what we create, and the
unique ability to
know exactly how they will react. To get the
reaction you
want, we control all aspects of the creative
process (with your
input). The most important parts are the
scriptwriting, editing,
shooting and soundtrack. When you contract with
us, you will
know that we have committed ourselves to
deliver a quality
product with no cost or corner cutting-- no
matter what the
contracted price.
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Explain VideoStory.
Video
is any medium that synchronizes sight and
sound, not
just "pure" video. It could be three videos on
three screens in
a big sales meeting, or a video stream on a web
page (like on
our web site). They key thing is it moves. But
that's only half
the story. The other half of the story is the
story! We are
Storytellers, always have been (see "History,"
below). We
want to motivate audiences just like the movies
do, with
beginnings, middles, and ends, climaxes and
denouements.
We
want the music to amplify emotions, and the
pictures to
encourage thought. Ask our clients-- an
involved audience is
a motivated one. They believe. They buy. They
give.
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"How did you arrive at this point? What is the
History of VideoStory?
Beginning with just
two slide projectors, a fade and dissolve
unit for the projectors, a stereo tape deck and
a sync tone
generator, Ric Sorgel and Brien Lee formed a
business
partnership when they graduated from Marquette
University,
eschewing regular employment for the risks of
entrepreneurship. Based on trial experiences in
college, they
knew that good storytelling could succeed
beyond the
perceived bounds of a medium, when the tools
were used
within the framework of certain rules and when
the medium
was pushed to its fullest potential.
"Twin-dissolve" slide shows provided an
affordable alternative
to 16mm film and were a quantum leap above
single
tray "click-click" shows and filmstrips, and
after producing
their first show for just $150, they began to
ride word of
mouth until they had produced important
landmark
presentations for The Milwaukee Rep, Milwaukee
Symphony,
The Milwaukee Art Museum, UPAF, Schlitz, The
First Wisconsin
Center, and eventually, nearly all the top
corporations in the
Milwaukee area.
Unlike other local production companies, the
firm kept
on staff a disproportionate number of
scriptwriter/directors,
who could maintain a creative vision from
concept to
completion. With experts in photography and
audio, they
completed the blueprint for what they termed a
"holistic"
approach to audio-visual communications.
With Sorgel-Lee fully vested in slide shows and
multiple
projector "multi-image" meeting production, Lee
began to
envision the emerging capabilities of
industrial video being
used for the same purposes, but with the
addition of full
motion, synchronous sound interviews, and
animation.
After the company's most successful year in
1982, Lee left to
form Brien Lee & Company, initially as a
writing company to
serve other producers, but soon thereafter, as
a competing
producer, but one with an emphasis on video.
In the 1980's Brien Lee & Company was the
"go-to" firm for
complete video stories, producing meetings,
orientations
histories and new product introduction for
companies like
Mercury Marine, The Milwaukee Journal, Briggs
& Stratton,
AT&T, PS&G, CUNA, Kohler, Johnson
Controls, and others.
When he turned 40, Lee "retired for the first
time" and sold
the company assets to former employees, who
serviced
customers under the name of "Tri-Marq".
For the next two years, Lee worked on the
technical side of
the business, helping start a multimedia
division for Video
Images, Inc., in Chicago and Milwaukee, and
selling and
providing training for the unique TVL
presentation system,
which was the predecessor to PowerPoint and
provided
seamless wide-screen capabilities to meetings
for the first
time. This was a logical outgrowth of his
capabilities in
computing, as he had written dozens of columns
on
computers for "Audio-Visual / Video
Communications"
magazine.
In 1992 he returned to production, building a
major meeting
division for Visuals Plus, Inc., and landing
projects with
Walgreens, Inc., True Value, and Underwriters
Labs, all in
Chicago.
When the owner of Visuals Plus closed the
business on July
4th, 1994, Lee was asked to continue working
for Walgreens
as an independent producer. In 1995, he formed
Brien Lee
Creative Solutions, which at first produced
meeting modules
and documentaries for diverse markets, and
eventually
morphed into a "we can do it all" company
selling the
technical media customers seemed to be buying--
PowerPoint, Flash, TVL, Director, DreamWeaver--
and moving
into the web and e-learning worlds.
After eight years, the company refined its
definition, ready to
offer its own turnkey capabilities in
storytelling for those who
could tell the difference.
And Brien Lee VideoStory was born.
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"How should I determine what company should
produce my
next project?"
We have
to answer that with a number of our own
questions--
things to consider before you start your
search.
What kind of project is this? A complete
project, a piece of
one, finishing an existing script, etc? The
Yellow Pages
categories mix all kinds of video providers
together, from
wedding video people to High end producers.
To narrow things down, try to match the company
to the kind
of work you'll be doing.
Go to the web and search on keywords like
video,
multimedia, milwaukee, producer, production,
etc. See who
pops up. Look at the web site and see if you
can determine
the company's personality. If that passes
muster, check out
their capabilities. The web site will tell you
what they're happy
doing. Some will offer everything under the
sun, and if you
are asking them to provide just a piece of the
pie then maybe
they're worth calling. They make their money on
bits and
pieces. Others will indicate they like more
responsibility and
are willing to offer a bigger return-- our web
site will
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What should I plan on budgeting for a project?
There
are two kinds of budgets. There's time and
materials,
where you pay as you go. In this kind of
relationship, you are
telling the production company what to do and
they are doing
it. The company takes no end-result
responsibility other than
for the technical craft they are offering. This
is appropriate if
you are just hiring, say, a shooter for an
event.
The other kind, and in "turnkey" work this is
more the norm,
is the "quote" basis. The producer is taking a
great deal of
responsibility and is quoting a number for the
end result. The
producer estimates the time and materials
needed to achieve
your goals. He bases that on how much shooting,
creative
time, writing, editing, etc., will be involved,
and on the final
length of the production. Note: Shorter doesn't
mean
cheaper. The shooting days provide the core
around which
the quote is built. That will be the most
important aspect,
followed closely by the cost of certain
production techniques,
such as animations or 3-D. Hourly rates are
dependent on the
producers people, equipment and genweral
overhead, and
more technology heavy areas will bear higher
hourly figures.
However, also plan on paying slightly higher
rates for good
writing and overall direction. It's worth
it.
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"Yeah, but really, how much for say an
eight-minute video
that's pretty good and involves at least some
location
shooting?"
Where
is the location? Do you need animations? (We
can
make recommendations.) Original music or
library? How
quickly do you need it?
There is a range, but it's a big range. We've
done eight
minutes for $8K, and for $80K. We've won awards
and
ongoing relationships at both ends of the
spectrum.
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How long does a project take?
Assuming we're
talking about one piece of average length,
and before we create menus on DVD or CD-ROM, or
before
we compress for the web, you can usually guess
about two
and a half to three months. Having said that,
we've produced
effective pieces in as few as three weeks....
in fact, we've
done that three times in the last three
months!
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"How do we compare apples to oranges in this
process? Say
we meet with three different production
companies?"
Ask for
a proposal. A company should offer you a
demonstration of an understanding of your need,
your
market, and your presentation circumstances,
and also offer
you a plan for meeting those needs. A good
proposal actually
can become the working blueprint for the entire
production.
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"What can we expect from a working
relationship? Do you take
over, or do we have input? Who does the work?
What do you
need from us?"
It's
our job to make you look good, and to make it
painless
as well. We are a turnkey producer, and we have
writers on
staff with marketing and production experience
who know
how to create for the medium, create for the
audience and
produce for the result.
That being said, we require input. Our goals
are set by you,
our information about you comes from you, and
we offer you
many chances to course-correct, have input, and
sign-off so
that the production can progress.
We also have had many successful production
partnerships,
especially with in-house corporate production
departments.
We can write for their production team,
consult, or provide
any or all elements over the course of a
working relationship.
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What are the steps to a production?
Research
Script (with pre-interviews if necessary)
Script Review
Second draft as necessary
Shotlist / Art Direction comp if necessary
Videography
Logging & Transcribing
Rough Cut
Review
Final Cut
Review
Pre-Master for release medium
DVD and cd-rom distribution require additional
flowchart,
menu design, and authoring steps.
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What if I don't like the result?
That
doesn't happen, but that's why we work on paper
first--
to provide you with the best representation we
can of where
we're going.
That being said, we will course correct and
make changes to
insure that our final product meets our joint
vision. You must
be satisfied.
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"There's a lot at risk here! Everyone wants
this project to be a
success, and I'm the one who will get the kudos
or the blame.
This whole process makes me nervous. "
Don't
be. That's where our experience comes in. We've
made
many people look good, thanks to our combined
efforts. You
set the goals and provide what we need (logos,
flat art,
information, people to talk to), and we'll do
the rest. We have
thirty years of experience telling us what
works and what
doesn't.
And like the rules of marketing and
positioning, these basics
don't change. We won't be learning on the job.
We'll be doing
what we do best-- making you look good!
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How do I choose which medium to tell my story
in?
Thanks
to digital video, you don;t have to choose. You
can
tell your story in all media. Cd-rom, DVD, web
video, wide
screen video projection-- these are all media
of distribution.
Digital video "flows" into all of the media
quite nicely. It's an
excellent opportunity to amortize your initial
investment.
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"Okay. But how do I choose the primary method
of
distribution? Will my sales force, as an
example, do better
with DVD or CD-rom?"
You'll
need to look at the potential universe of what
your
targets have the most of-- cd-rom, as an
example, is pretty
universally available on most computers, but
sometimes has
compatibility issues (video cards, speed
issues, etc.) DVD is
highly compatible-- a DVD will play on jut
about any DVD
player, but not ALL laptops in the corporate
world have DVD--
they probably will once the next amortization
cycle finishes.
But be aware of the hgrowing popularity of
DVD-- just like the
movies you watch at home on the weekends, DVD
is taking
over-- its higher quality, stores a lot more
material, doesn't
need to be played back in a tiny little window,
and is easier to
use than cd-rom.
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What about the web? Can you put video on my
website?
Yes.
check out the videos on this website. They are
being
played back in flash, but we can make video
avaialble in
Quicktime, Windows Media, Real Media, etc. In
short, yes--
whatever your site or your IT department
requires, we can
accomodate.
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Can I expect overruns or changes to the budget?
Not
without your approval and prior notification.
This would
typically happen at script approval, or if
additional shooting
days are added because of new subject matter.
We generally
ask that clients set aside a 10% contingency to
allow out-of-
pocket expenses or to accommodate changes or
additions
that are not within the scope of the proposal
and/or script.
