Amy Alyson Fans Wraps Principal Photography

On June 20, Amy Alyson Fans, from writer-director Jonathan L. Bowen and a collaboration with That's Hollywood, wrapped principal photography. The film stars Brendan Bradley as Jay Balch, Cooper Harris as Amy Alyson, and Josh Sussman from Fox's hit TV show Glee as Jay's best friend, Pete. Lochlyn Munro (Dead Man on Campus, Scary Movie) co-stars as Amy's agent, Erik, alongside Jason-Shane Scott (One Life to Live) as Kevin, Amy's friend and admirer who tries to steal her from Jay.

Jay and Amy, actor and actress, move to Hollywood together in hopes of starting successful careers in show business. Amy’s career is on an upwards trajectory, Jay’s is stalled, with student loans, debt, and bills to pay. He decides to start a fan site about Amy behind her back, just to pay the bills for a while, but before long the site starts feeding her celebrity, pushing her career further upwards, while consuming more of Jay’s time and preventing him from doing more acting himself. Their relationship starts to fizzle a bit as they rarely spend quality time together, coming to a head when she discovers his secret. Distraught, Amy’s career tanks with a dud of a movie and an embarrassing public incident while Jay’s site also plummets in popularity with her shrinking star. But the fan site that destroyed their relationship is also the means to piece it back together and put them both on track for lasting Hollywood’s stardom.

Amy Alyson Fans is Jonathan L. Bowen's feature directorial debut and represents the culmination of a year of writing and rewriting the script until he partnered with Scott Reed and Ron Singer at That's Hollywood to bring the project to life. Pickup shots and additional photography remain, but Amy Alyson Fans will be finished in late 2010 and available for viewing and purchase in 2011. 

Why Professional Video? - 3 Reasons Your Company Should Pay for Professional Production

In the past 15 years, the availability of inexpensive recording formats for video has continued to improve, from hand-held MiniDV cameras of the late 1990s to current High Definition cameras available at the local BestBuy. While everyone now has access to HD quality cameras, the gap between professional video work and amateur work is still just as wide as it was decades ago. Everyone can go buy a hammer and nails at Home Depot, but you wouldn’t hire just anyone to build your house, so why would your standards for crafting an effective marketing video be any different? In both cases, a weak foundation will lead to disastrous results. Professionals train and practice for years to acquire the skills to produce the best-looking images, they use more advanced support equipment, and professional corporate video production companies understand more about your marketing and intended results than a mere amateur or hobbyist videographer.

The Quality of Your Video Reflects the Quality of Your Company

A professional videographer or cinematographer has often studied their art and craft at a professional institute, or under the mentoring of numerous experienced workers in their field. All of their years of experience adds up to an understanding of how to light a scene just right for the medium on which they are shooting, not to mention the proper camera placement to evoke a certain emotional response. Think about the difference between a well-lit tour of a building, which looks inviting and warm, and a dark and flat video of the same building. Even once the project is shot, the difference between a professional editor who understands how to cut footage together in a specific manner using all of the available tools versus a hobbyist who understands little about theories of editing or marketing impact is enormous. 

Your company’s image depends on the image you project with your marketing. If your video looks like amateur work or is thrown together haphazardly, your potential clients will see your product or service the same way, not only discouraging them from choosing your company whatsoever, but certainly lowering their willingness to spend money on your brand. Perceived value is very important to customer purchasing decisions. Any money you save on marketing by using a “do-it-yourself” approach to video work or hiring an amateur will be lost many times over in missed opportunities with potential clients who are turned away by amateurish marketing efforts.

Sophisticated Equipment Leads to Polished, Effective Videos

Professionals use a variety of additional tools to enhance the image, including cinema lighting kits with a variety of diffusion tools to shape the light just perfectly, camera support equipment like smooth-motion fluid tripod heads, dolly gear for tracking shots, jibs (mini cranes) for sweeping, grand exterior shots and nifty interior angles, plus many thousands of dollars in editing equipment. A professional editor will often use anywhere from 5 to 10 different software programs to complete one project, all with a very specific purpose as part of the whole, which is crafting the best, most professional video possible with today’s technology. An amateur will not only lack the knowledge for how to use all of these programs together, but likely will not have access to the resources that a professional company has available to make a project shine.

A Professional Corporate Video Production Company Takes Your Marketing Seriously

An amateur videographer, or weekend warrior, even with the best intentions will likely not have much of an understanding of the way in which marketing plays a role in video creation. Crafting a nice, professional video is still not very useful for your company without an emphasis on message, delivery, and emotional impact. Your company needs a professional corporate video company that understands how to position the video within your broader marketing campaign, which includes an understanding of social media networks, video sharing Websites like YouTube, Vimeo, and dozens of others, and can deliver the video in a variety of formats that work for all mediums. The ability to write professional marketing copy, review marketing materials, and coordinate with professionals in media creation and filmmaking allow a professional company to create a video that is worth the money you spend on it.

With a professional production company crafting your videos, you will give your message the best chance to stand out amongst the competition, not only because of the quality of the video but because of the company’s understanding of video as just one part of your overall marketing campaign. Just because you choose a professional corporate video production company should not mean you have to spend huge sums of money, however. With today’s technology being relatively affordable compared to several decades ago, many companies can offer professional results on reasonable budgets. The headache and lost business of working with amateurs or trying to do it all yourself is not worth the few dollars saved, when considering how much lost business you risk by alienating your potential customers with videos that reflect poorly on your brand and company image.

Online Video For Business – 3 Reasons Your Company Should Implement in 2010

The Internet started as a text-only medium of communication with largely bulletin boards and eventually e-mail. It progressed to be a more interactive experience and expanded into millions of homes, beyond college campuses and technology institutes. Websites started including pictures, navigation, music, and other enhancements to appeal to viewers. By the end of the 1990s, Internet sites still relied mostly on pictures and sleek navigation to appeal to users.

As YouTube skyrocketed in popularity, the integration of online video to professional Websites started to become more common place. Now, offering a Website with only pictures is like running a rental store with only silent movies; Web users and customers expect a more interactive experience, complete with videos of products, services, or people. Websites that include videos offer users more detailed information about products and services, give businesses an opportunity to control the way information is delivered, and increase the conversion rate of visitors to customers. 

Captivate Your Audience And Capture Your Customer

One of the great advantages as a Web user to Websites with videos is the ability to see in more detail what one is buying before the purchase, or to learn more about a service before inquiring further. Before purchasing a movie ticket, viewers usually watch a trailer for the movie, showing them more about what they are paying to see. With an apartment complex or hotel, rather than just see lifeless still photos, videos allow people to see the community closer to the way they would actually see it if they were to visit in person, though inevitably somewhat idealized. Seeing people enjoying amenities through video is a lot more interesting than seeing pictures, though, because pictures are less capable of capturing the human element or evoking emotion. Another great benefit is seeing a product demonstration video about how a technology product actually works, step by step, so that the potential customer can see how easy it is to use, allaying fears about it being overly complicated or too technical to setup properly. A long, detailed text page with a few pictures about how the product works is a nice addition to video, but not a substitute. Unlike a site with just numerous navigational sections, pictures, and text, a video allows a business to control the way information is given to potential customers.

Better Control Of Your Message

On an old Website, the only way to display information was in a logical fashion where the business hopes that visitors click around the site in some sort of sequential order. If a person clicks through the pricing section first, without seeing what the product does, or what services are offered, they may just close the site and go elsewhere. But if they have a video they can see on the home page about what a great product or service the business is offering, they will be less surprised when they see the price. Whereas with a standard Website, the visitor clicks around at will without having much direction, a prominent video on the home page gives them a starting point before looking for more information. It allows the business to control the way the information in the video is displayed and how it is presented, giving back some control while at the same time giving the site visitor a lot more information that is helpful for their decision-making process as well, which makes them more likely to purchase a product or service from the business.

Improve Sales Conversions

While tracking of such statistics across a broad swath of the Internet is difficult, numerous sites have attested to Web videos converting visitors to clients at a much greater rate than sites with just text and pictures. One of the more well-published studies, by FindLaw (LawyerMarketing.com), indicated that visitors go to an average of 4.8 Websites to find an attorney, but when lawyers added video to their sites, the number dropped to 1.8. In other words, the presence of online video made visitors likely to select a lawyer much more quickly. The Discovery Channel Store did an independent study when the company added video to their e-commerce store and experienced an increase of 78% in sales when customers viewed the product video. A company called iAds integrated their video ads for Tandberg Video Systems, which had a conversion rate of 0.75 to 1.00 percent, but with videos the conversion increased to between 1.5 and 3.0 percent. Numerous such stories are available and there is no doubt that offering video on Websites helps businesses compete more effectively and gain more customers.

With the advance in broadband Internet connections and the high penetration such technology has seen in recent years, most customers have access either at home or at work to high-speed Internet, allowing them to view videos that give them more information about products and services, help them make decisions with greater confidence, and give businesses greater tools to demonstrate what they offer. In the years to come, companies from all industries and across the Internet will be adding videos to compete more effectively and market themselves with greater confidence. The companies that adopt last will be losing business to companies that have cutting edge videos and quality products or services to offer. Ultimately, the reputation of a company and the products or services they offer will still remain the long-term key to success, but marketing remains an important part of any company's ability to attract new customers. The professionalism and class of the videos offered online will be the key to competing effectively for years to come, which will be the focus of the next blog entry.