Behind the Degree
American Women’s College
The American Women’s College and Baypath University have been valued clients of ours for many years now. We have worked on videos for a variety of usages and platforms and we get to bring our creativity to many of them. During the conceptual phase of pre-production planning for their new TV spot, Chris came up with an idea to create a mini-documentary series. It would follow the stories of real AWC students currently enrolled in classes. It was such a great idea! We first created long “directors cuts” from which we cut their 30 second TV spot(s). Being able to create the longer format film provided us the time and opportunity to really tell these women’s stories.
Mickie:
Mickie was a little unsure of applying to be a part of this “docuseries”. She let us know that her home was filled with people (her teenage children, their friend’s dogs) and was also under major construction. She explained that she was a bit embarrassed to have a film crew come. But then she decided that the whole point of this thing was to show other women how she is finding her way through the chaos to accomplish her goal of earning her degree.
Mickie’s contagious laugh kept us smiling, and her candidness will now live on as a way to inspire other women and assure them that they are supported and anything is possible.
LaDawn:
LaDawn and her husband Terrance came to the studio for a pre-interview before the shoot. She told us that since the time she submitted her application there had been some additional news she needed to share. She had just been diagnosed with MS. They explained how difficult it was to wrap their minds around and how especially difficult it was to deliver that news to their daughters.
LaDawn is clearly a rock to their family, so for her to think of being anything less than superwoman just didn’t make sense to her. Her physical symptoms of the disease are still minimal enough that she can continue on her normal routine of life, and so be it she continues on as strong (or stronger) than ever.
We spent two days with each of the women. First, we did a full day focusing on the interview. We took that footage and created a narrative edit, finding the best way to tell their story. From there we created a list of what we felt would pull the stories together. We got pictures and assets from the women and went back to their homes to shoot some additional b-roll and scenes to pull it all together. We followed Mickie to work to see what a day in the life at the warehouse was like, and then sat with her family at the kitchen table and witnessed her getting a phone call where she was offered the job she had recently applied for at a doctors office! We couldn’t have planned that any better.
We are passionate storytellers who strive to tell real stories with good intentions. Intentions not just to sell a product (or enroll a student in this case) but to help and inspire others. This type of work feeds our souls. We were so honored to be welcomed into the homes of Mickie, LaDawn and their families and are very proud of the work that came out of this.
