Why Digital Handshake

Digital Handshake Co. is a digital content creation agency specializing in interview-based narrative video and photo. With over 15 years of experience in the field, our work has taken us all over the world telling the stories of people, organizations and companies doing amazing things for their communities. 

• Full service production. As a full service production company we guide our clients from pre-production to final product. We take a video from concept to final delivery including filming, editing, motion graphics, sound design, colour correction, and beyond. Being able to do everything in-house allows for quick communication and turn around along with negotiating changes quickly and effectively. 

• Local Experts. As a small business operating and living in B.C. we understand that when other businesses and sectors succeed, we all benefit.  We believe that collaboration is better than competition and there are always opportunities, no matter the industry, to work better together.  

• Global reach. We’ve had the opportunity to travel around the world - from the USA, to Rwanda and Thailand - to capture stories of global organizations that have a local impact. We’ve had to work across cultural and language barriers to create videos that reach both demographics while still conveying the key messages of our clients. 

• Experienced storytellers. Over the past 15 years we’ve had the opportunity to interview hundreds of people in many different fields of expertise and experience. Through these interviews we’ve been able to tell the stories of people in creative and concise ways that convey messages well and engage the viewing audience.

www.digitalhandshake.co

4H Club of BC

Website https://www.4hbc.ca/

Contact Jarrett Chung-Smith │Youth Development Specialist BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Product. Exploring Careers Video Series

Client Introduction

The 4-H program provides young people with an opportunity to learn how to become productive, self-assured adults who can make their community and country a good place in which to live. This is fostered through project and program work, experiences with their 4-H club members and leaders and their participation in district, regional and even provincial programs.

The goal of the 4-H program is youth development. The objectives of 4-H clubs are knowledge, leadership, citizenship and personal development.

Opportunity

The client required videos that would help the kids in the 4H Club explore various career opportunities in agriculture, farming and resources that are available to them if they are interested in careers that are agriculture related but offer different opportunities than traditional streams.

Project Action

For this project we traveled all over BC interviewing various professionals in various fields of agriculture, farming and related industries.

• Pre-Production. Create project plan and coordinated logistics and schedules for travel, interview, and b-roll over multiple months and locations. We designed interview questions with key messaging in mind. 

• Production. Travel across BC to interview experts in various agricultural fields.  We coordinated the schedules, locations and various filming opportunities while managing gear and crews. In total we carried out over 8 different videos over various funding timelines.

• Post-Production. We catalogued and stored all the footage from the various days of shooting, created interview based narratives, sound design, colour grade and motion graphics for various videos.  We delivered these videos via digital download to the client.

Delivered

We’ve delivered 8 different videos to date that are used for streaming online to show kids in various 4H Clubs across BC to teach, educate and inspire them to find careers in different streams of agricultural related fields.

British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association

Website https://www.cattlemen.bc.ca/

Contact Holly Jackson, BC Cattlemen’s Association

Product Ranch Sustainability Award

Client Introduction 

The British Columbia Cattlemen's Association (BCCA) has been the official voice of cattle ranchers throughout British Columbia since 1929. For more than 80 years, the Association - whose membership is close to 1,200 ranchers - has represented the interests of beef cattle producers in the province of BC. BCCA is proud to work on behalf of approximately 72% of the provincial cattle herd.

Opportunity 

The client required videos that would introduce winners of their “Ranch Sustainability Award” that recognizes ranchers doing innovative and restorative works that impact the environment and ecosystems on their ranches.

Project Action 

These projects required careful planning, coordination with interviewees, and organizing logistics of travel and timelines. 

• Pre-Production. Coordinating travel, interview and b-roll locations, and interview logistics. We had to plan for travel to rural locations in BC for multi-day trips and shooting schedules.

• Production. Work in conjunction with the BC Cattlemen’s Association and the respective award winners to ensure the vision of the award was conveyed to the audience viewing the films. Through the interviews we needed to communicate and show what the ranchers were doing and planning on doing to mange their cattle, their environment and their respective ecosystems.

• Post-Production. We created various videos highlighting the award winners through splicing their interviews and b-roll footage to communicate in a clear and concise way what they had accomplished. Through sound design, colour grading and motion graphics we believe we created videos that did just that.

Delivered

Engaging and communicative highlight videos of the award winners celebrating them and their forward thinking way of ranching.

The Wellspring Foundation for Education

Website www.thewellspringfoundation.org

Contact Andy Harrington, Former CEO

Product When I grow up | Women’s Education

Overcoming Barriers to Quality Education

Client Introduction 

Over the years, Digital Handshake has worked with a wide variety of clients including a few non-governmental organizations (NGO). One NGO that we have the privilege of working with year after year is The Wellspring Foundation. Since 2004, Wellspring has been on the forefront of quality educational change in East Africa, working to see transition and transformation in the education sector, with a particular focus on Rwanda. 

Opportunity 

The Wellspring Foundation needed some promotional videos that highlighted the mission and vision of their work that would engage potential donators.

Project Action 

We travelled to remote parts of Rwanda to film for this project.

• Pre-production. Required months of careful planning and coordination; translators needed to be arranged, accommodations and travel for a team across Rwanda, and preparing for interviews with limited resources. 

• Production. We spent approximately 10 days travelling all across Rwanda visiting different schools and education facilities interviewing students, teachers, education professionals and parents. The majority of interviews were conducted with the use of a translator and onsite transcriber for the interviews as the majority of the interviewees did not speak English. After interviews we would spend time collecting both candid and staged b-roll shots to fill out the narrative we were creating.

• Post-production. Due to language differences between English and Kinyarwanda we used Rwanda speaking voice over actors. We transcribed everything to English as captions in the films. We also created unique video animations for some of the videos to accent the videos we were creating. 

Delivered

Inspiring promotional videos featuring the compelling stories of young women and their educators that highlight how Wellspring is bringing quality education to students in Rwanda. The videos share how educating women around the world can transform a community, but see it flourish.

Proposed Approach

• A general overview of the project management process and how each project is facilitated.

  Discovery

  
  We begin each project by meeting with our clients to discover the full project scope. Specifically, we discuss:

  • Projected Timelines

    • Production Timelines 

    • Delivery schedules

  • Locations

    • Basic logistics of travel and accommodation details

    • Weather considerations

    • Remote locations

  • Interviewing

    • Coordination of interviews and schedules 

    • Research interviewees and backgrounds

    • Designing interview questions that facilitate the most relevant responses

  • B-roll

    • Coordination of locations to film b-roll that fills out the narrative 

    • Secure any existing b-roll

  • Editing

    • Confirming length of videos and formats required

    • Collecting brand guidelines, fonts and logos

  • Budget 

    • Budget guidelines and scope

    • Process for budget management 

  We use shared workspaces such as Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams to create a calendar, task list, and production schedule.  We work together to create a task management system that creates a clear scope of the project and timelines.

  Once a framework and timelines for the project have been established we work closely with the client, communicating at every step of the way, through our shared workspace, zoom calls and emails. 

  Pre-Production Planning

  Planning

  In the pre-production stage, we build the frame of the project. Once the scope of the project has been determined, we have regular client meetings to create the story line and work through the storyboarding process. We can then book travel plans, confirm interviewees and schedule interviews, plan related b-roll locations, and finalize a list of deliverables.  We also gather any branding details, logos, fonts, and graphics. 

  Research

  Our team does detailed research about the interviewees and/or the organizations they represent, to get a full scope of the subject and their background. We design research-backed interview questions that facilitate genuine conversation.

  Production

  Interviews

  Our small and efficient teams consist of 2-3 crew members and we take time on each shoot to find the appropriate area for interviews that captures the mood and feel of the shoot along with a space that is conducive to an interview. 

  We conduct our interviews in a casual, conversational manner that we believe leads to more genuine and authentic answers. 

  Following interviews we allow for time as needed to capture B-roll footage that will compliment the stories that we captured in the interviews. 

  
  Budget Management

  Our budgets are finalized with our clients once scope and location of work are confirmed.  All our budgets include at 10% contingency that allows for adjustments in travel or unforeseen circumstances.  Once a contract is signed we guarantee our budget remains the same. 

  Post-Production

  After the production phase of the project has wrapped, we begin the editing process. We use an integrated software called Frame.io, where the videos are hosted online. Frame.io is an intuitive collaborative video website where clients and editors can work in real time to make comments, notes and adjustments to videos.  We guide the client through the process of using the system, so they’re clear and familiar. 

  
  The editing process entails the following steps: 

  • Rough cut

    • This is a first draft of a video where client approves the narrative arch of the film

    • No sound design, basic graphics, no colour correction

    • Grammar, spelling and punctuation are corrected on graphics as needed

  • Second draft 

    • This is where all the post-production ‘fat’ is trimmed and the narrative flows and communicates the message clearly and concisely 

    • Revisions are made through collaborative tools on Frame.io

    • Sound, graphics and colour are finalized

  • Final draft

    • The client approves the final product, including narrative, sound, graphics and colour grade. 

  Delivery

  Delivery of the final product is via digital download through either Frame.io or Google Drive. A client provided hard drive may also be used in some instances where files are too large to be transferred online.

PRE PRODUCTION $1500

• MEETINGS + PLANNING

PRODUCTION $6,000 (8 days of filming)

• CINEMATOGRAPHER / DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION $4,000 (8 days of filming)

• CAMERA OP. / ASSISTANT

GEAR $3,200 (8 Days of filming)

• CANON CINE PACKAGE

• LENS PACKAGE

• LIGHTS

• AUDIO EQUIPMENT

• GRIP

Drone $1500

• PERMITS

• PERMISSIONS

• INSURANCE

POST PRODUCTION $6,000

• 4 VIDEOS (4-5 MINs LONG)

• 2 REVISIONS

• BASIC MOTION GRAPHICS

• SOUND DESIGN

• COLOUR

POST PRODUCTION $3,000

• 4 VIDEOS (60-90 SEC LONG)

• 2 REVISIONS

• BASIC MOTION GRAPHICS

• SOUND DESIGN

• COLOUR

dATA STORAGE $250

• 2 YEARS OF FOOTAGE STORAGE / ARCHIVING

• DATA TRANSFER OF RAW FOOTAGE

Travel / Accomodations

• TBD

Jarrett Chung-Smith │Youth Development Specialist

BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Jarrett.ChungSmith@gov.bc.ca

(778) 943-6947

Andy Harrington | CEO

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank 

(Former CEO at The Wellspring Foundation)

aharrington@foodgrainsbank.ca 

(604) 813-6577

Aleda Welch | Manager

4-H British Columbia

manager@4hbc.ca

(250) 545-0336 

CONTACT

Geoff Heith

Owner & Founder, Digital Handshake Co.

(778) 241-4030

info@digitalhandshake.co

www.digitalhandshake.co