The Magnificent MagnusCards Launch: Photo and Video Package

Links to review:

• Photography featured here - https://cadencebank.com/magnuscards 

• The Promo Video - Link to Youtube

• Coming Soon - two vertical behind-the-scenes videos (Mid-October 2025)

My Role: Producer and director

Backstory: This large regional bank engages our team throughout the year for their video and photography needs. They recently partnered with a company to assist people with disabilities, like autism, understand and perform banking tasks. This project involved multiple media needs in one: a set of photographs to be used for the innovative digital step-by-step "card decks", a promo video for the launch of this new tool, and two behind-the-scenes vertical videos to highlight the product and partnership on social media.

I previously enjoyed spending an exciting weekend in Jackson, Mississippi for this client's Gameday Surprise at Jackson State University. The MagnusCards project was even more personal than usual, since I have a child with autism. I used my knowledge and experience with my daughter and previous work with individuals with disabilities to meticulously plan two days of work with the talent. This helped us be organized and methodical on set, providing a peaceful space for the talent to really shine.

Pre-production meetings and open communication on set allowed us to move quickly through the shot lists as we bounced back and forth between two talent. Wardrobe changes, plenty of breaks and even weather surprises were never a problem.

Challenges: Making a promo video for a product mid-development is always tricky, but we were also involved in making the actual product, so that was nice! I had to create several spreadsheets and collaborate closely with the three crew members overseeing the technical execution of each part of the project. We had three very different shot lists and only two days to capture everything.

A peek at one of three different shot lists.

Successes: We provided more than enough photos to fulfill the client's need for the "decks". They were able to use some photos in the promotion of the product as well, which we are very happy about. Their product launched the first week of October, with a press release and lots of happy comments on social media. I am proud to have been a part of this project, helping others live more independent lives.

Some of the card deck covers.

This shot was composed on set with nothing on screen. The app was added in post.

Promotional image being used on their landing page.

Into the Woods: A "Fire" Video Series for TNC and a Partner Organization

Links to watch and read how three of five videos are being utilized:

Prescribed Fire (on LinkedIn) 

Real World Impact on Forests (on LinkedIn)

Collaboration at Scale (on LinkedIn)

My Role: Producer

Backstory: In the Spring of 2025, our team was contacted by someone from The Nature Conservancy through an online contact form. I volunteered to produce the project immediately, since nature and science are my jam. Turns out, these videos were not only for TNC but a for-profit partner organization. This is pretty common for my non-profit clients, and always adds and interesting aspect to messaging, coordination and branding. Fortunately, these teams both knew what they wanted and were solid in the understanding between them, which made my job much more straightforward.

After both clients accepted our proposal, we mapped out the plan, assigned crew and gear, and kept an eye on the weather. Our time was limited, so we arrived much earlier than the subjects we were filming. Our small-but-mighty crew was ready to roll as soon as (on-camera) boots hit the ground.

Challenges: We only experienced the usual minor challenges: wishing we had more time to cover the interviews, nature and beautiful landscape, filming out in the Texas heat. Oh, I did stain a good sock the color of red clay when my shoe got stuck in the mud. All in good fun!

Successes: Due to tight time constraints, we were a little worried about capturing all of the interviews, especially being outside in somewhat unpredictable weather conditions. But, we kept up with the tour group and filmed exactly what the clients were looking to capture. I helped the team keep calm and focused -- and safe and hydrated. The footage turned out gorgeous and the clients are deploying the content in what looks like a successful series of joint posts.

Grant-funded Locust Research Docuseries on Phenotypic Plasticity

Link to learn more and watch all three episodes here: https://behavioralplasticity.org/index.php/video-docuseries/

My Role: Producer, script writer

Backstory: A group of scientists with the Behavioral Plasticity Research Institute came to my team to document their important work and fulfill an educational video aspect of their important three-year-long grant. I was very excited to produce this docu-series for the organization, which describes itself as "a cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary Biology Integration Institute to comprehensively dissect locust phase polyphenism and use it as a model system to transform the study of phenotypic plasticity."

With my science-geek side fully engaged, I worked with the client to both meet their restricted budget and also tell a story that spans the globe. We interviewed our first batch of researchers as they (conveniently) met for a conference in Houston. Then we took a trip to two of the universities involved to visit their labs. We stepped foot into a quarantined facility full of insects, as well as a very advanced facility using CRISP-r to edit DNA and research exact neurons involved in certain behavioral responses.

Challenges: With a bigger budget, we would have been flying to be with researchers in the field, but that was not possible on this project. So, I had the job of gathering and logging visual content from all of the interviewees as well as locating available footage from stock and government sources. Since this was a long-term project, keeping up with these sources, how to credit them and keeping consistency across multiple post-production crew was not easy. Communicating with the editor about which b-roll went with which researcher was a constant back-and-forth.

Successes: Interviewing these subjects and writing the scripts created a massive learning experience for me. I had to understand the topic very deeply, to be able to piece together the story on paper before the editor could start. I can now give my own lecture on locusts. (My nephews can attest to this.) Also, the series turned out great and the client was very happy with the results.