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.

Honoring Habitat for Humanity's Big Contributors

Links to watch:

• Brian Ching (honoree): link to dropbox

• Mr. Phillips and Meghan (volunteers): link to dropbox

• Aliya and Maria (homeowner story: link to youtube

• Sima Ladjevardian (honoree): link to youtube

My Role: Producer and writer

Backstory: Houston Habitat for Humanity orders four to five videos for their big fundraising luncheon each year. I've been producing their videos since 2021, and it's always one of my favorite projects. We get to tell touching homeowner stories that tug at the heartstrings and help honor the organizations biggest contributors. This usually includes a high-profile supporter or advocate from the community and at least one of their boots-on-the-ground volunteers.

Challenges: Scheduling is usually the biggest challenge for these videos. Also, homeowners are sometimes hesitant to host a film crew in their home, but I try to make them feel comfortable by chatting with them beforehand to calm their anxieties. I, too, would be overwhelmed with someone coming to my house to record something thousands of people will see!

Successes: This client is always happy with our personal, creative touch and the videos we deliver. They've raised millions of dollars with the help of these videos at their events.

I Can't Stop Talking About This Global Helicopter Project

Links to watch:

• Search and Rescue Video (My favorite)

• Safety is Personal (series video from Brazil)

• Safety Vignette (SAR pilot in Louisiana)

See all videos here: https://www.bristowgroup.com/news-media/videos

My Role: Producer

Backstory: This multi-national helicopter's corporate comms team chose our firm as a partner for video production across their global footprint on a long-term basis. I coordinated with them to collect interviews and b-roll from their locations in Texas, Louisiana, the United Kingdom, and most recently, Brazil. I also the scripts and managed post-production for these videos.

This included some amazing flights over Scotland's northern coasts near Aberdeen and time hanging out with the UK's Coast Guard in Inverness. In January of 2025, I flew over the coast of Brazil in and around Rio de Janeiro.

Challenges: Coordinating and capturing air-to-air shots of helicopters is inherently challenging from a safety and logistics standpoint. Planning it across multiple time zones just makes the project more challenging, but the end-results are worth it.

Interviewing subjects who speak Portuguese and scripting from those interviews were also challenges. I had to communicate with an editor who didn't speak the language and then get stakeholder feedback, also in English. But, there are so many tools available now to speed up the translation process, that the language barrier merely slowed the post-production process down by a few hours per deliverable.

Successes: Not only have I had the work trips of my dreams, but the client also won awards for some of the videos. They were so happy with the videos in 2022, they've engaged our team again for more videos in through 2025.

Behind the scenes in Louisiana, Scotland and Brazil.