Videos
The director you call when the company takes the stage.
Keynotes, launches, investor roadshows, explainers. Directed and animated since 2002.
After the brand
A new brand needs a video to introduce it.
The Brand method ends with a mark, a brand system and a live page. I make the launch video and the explainer from that brand system, so they match everything else the company publishes.
A 30- to 60-second announcement with the mark, the name and what the company does. I cut it for the website, social feeds and the stage.
A 60- to 90-second video that shows how the product works. I make it before the launch, so it is ready on launch day.
Start with the Brand method. Your team’s part is a 15-minute workshop, and the method ends with the brand system these videos use.
The Brand methodKinds of video
Each screen needs a different video.
A keynote wall can be 30,000 pixels wide, with the audience 200 feet away. An investor watches on a laptop and gives the video about 90 seconds. These are the kinds of video a company needs, and each one links to an example.
- Investor and IPO videos
Explains the company in the time an investor gives it. For a funding round or an IPO roadshow.
- Conference opens and stage walls
The video that opens the keynote and the graphics behind the speaker, made for the size of the room.
- Explainers
Shows how a product, a protocol or a process works, so the viewer understands it the first time.
- Ads and campaign spots
15- and 30-second spots for television, streaming and social feeds.
- Internal videos
Videos for a company’s own employees, for events such as hackathons and internal launches.
- Documentary graphics
Titles, maps and diagrams for documentaries and behind-the-scenes videos.
- Brand motion
Logo reveals, openers and lower thirds that animate the brand.
- Television packages
Show opens, segment graphics and interstitials, 2004 to 2017.
The videos
An example of each kind.
Each video plays on this page. The full list of projects is in the record on the About page.
Investor and IPO videos
From 2019 to 2021 I also worked on 7 IPO videos, produced fully remotely, for Fastly, Upstart, ON24, Cricut, Traeger, Rent the Runway and Rackspace. Each had a budget of about $100,000 and 6 animators.
Conference opens and stage walls
5 videos on one canvas across 7 LED screens, 30,720 by 1,280 pixels, for a live audience of 50,000.
My first year animating the keynote walls. The video is a tribute to Queen across the 7 screens.
Marathon’s first year as Moon Sponsor. The opening video and a 20-by-20-foot LED booth, delivered in under 6 weeks.
Explainers
The first DeFi lending protocol on Stellar, explained before the protocol launched.
How a consultancy works with its clients, explained in 70 seconds.
One of 22 explainers for the truTV show.
From the same series of 22 explainers.
A third explainer from the same truTV series.
One of 6 explainers, each 12 seconds long, for a launch.
Ads and campaign spots
A 15-second spot for a phone plan, timed to the start of the school year.
A 15-second spot for a phone plan with more data.
A Bitcoin ad for Marathon, cut like a pharmaceutical spot.
The motion graphics package for Hulu’s fall season.
Graphics for the season 2 premiere.
Internal videos
The video that invites Microsoft engineers to the company hackathon.
The 2020 hackathon anthem, for Microsoft’s engineers.
The second 2020 video, about why the hackathon exists.
Documentary graphics
Titles, map graphics and the diagrams that explain how a battle royale map is built and tested.
The second behind-the-scenes video, on the snow map.
Brand motion
The logo for a therapy practice, animated.
A family of logos, animated as one system.
A 5-second animation of the Visual Effects Society insignia.
The opening titles for my studio’s podcast.
Television packages
Graphics for the segment of this Shark Week show where kids talk about sharks.
The show open, for a Los Angeles Times series on Epix.
The segment opening titles for an E! show.
An interstitial for the truTV show that later ordered 22 explainers.
Full-screen standings for a live esports league.
A video for the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s Operation Change campaign.
Mission intros for a PlayStation Vita game.
Titles and interface animation for a 2013 keynote, a separate job from the 2018 keynote work in Sunnyvale.
How a video is made
5 steps, in this order.
- 01Brief
The brief says what the video must do, for whom, on which screen and by when. It is written down before anything is drawn.
- 02Script and storyboard
Every shot is drawn on a page. You approve the story before animation starts.
- 03Styleframes
I make finished still frames of the key shots. You approve the look before the video moves.
- 04Animation
I direct a small team of animators. You see a new cut every week.
- 05Delivery
I deliver every cut and aspect ratio the screen needs, tested on the media server or the platform it plays on.
Prices
Every video gets its own quote. These are the starting prices.
The starting price depends on the screen the video plays on. The length, the amount of animation and the deadline set the final quote.
For explainers and internal videos of 60 to 90 seconds, and for 15- and 30-second spots, from script to delivery, with captions and social cuts.
Start with a briefFor conference opens and the stage walls behind the speaker. I deliver to the media server and test the video in the room.
Start with a briefFor investor and IPO videos, from brief to premiere, with the founders, the finance team and the underwriters.
Start with a briefYou own the video, every cut and every still.
I do not bill by the hour.
Logo reveals, openers and lower thirds start at $2,500, and the Brand subscription includes them.
What you receive
Every file the video needs.
Masters
- Master in the screen’s pixels, 4K for a laptop, the wall’s size for a wall
- ProRes and H.264
- Stage-wall masters, one per screen
- Media-server test before the show
Cutdowns
- 1:1 and 9:16 social cuts
- 15- and 30-second cuts
- A silent version with captions burned in
Text and sound
- Captions as SRT
- Voiceover and music stems
- The transcript
Stills
- Poster frames and thumbnails
- Styleframes as a PDF
- Social banners from the video
Templates
- Lower thirds and end cards as .mogrt
- Deck loops for the stage
- The logo reveal as a file you can reuse
Project files
- The brief, the script and the storyboard
- Every cut, dated
- The source project, held for you
Start here
Tell me the screen and the date.
On the call I ask where the video plays, when it is due and who approves it. You leave with a schedule and a starting price.
- 01You write.A few lines on the company and what you need.
- 02We talk.Thirty minutes, on a call, within 1 business day.
- 03You leave with a plan.What happens first, who it needs, and a date.