"Don't forget to look up at the stars."

I love this project the storytelling the video does. Special thanks to my friend Johnson for sharing.

To Scale: The Solar System from Wylie Overstreet on Vimeo.

Content Break: Down to Nothing

RAD video from The North Face and National Geographic. A harrowing expedition in search of Southeast Asia's highest mountain. I can't believe the work the videographer did on this - wow!

Down To Nothing from The North Face on Vimeo.

content break: Vans

Great content for Vans, for their #livingoffthewall campaign. Honest, candid, cool - it's just people that are doing their thing, no matter how crazy or weird it is. I love the passion.  Check it out.

#LIVINGOFFTHEWALL - Aaron Draplin & The Art of the Side Hustle Pt 1 from Vans OffTheWall.TV on Vimeo.

For more, check out their Vimeo page.

The Moth storySLAM winning story

I've recently taken a shining to story slams. I started to attend a bunch and instantly fell in love with the rawness everyday people shared with absolute strangers. One evening, I was heading to a local Moth storySLAM here in Boston when I found myself making bullets in my head of a story a would tell based on that night's topic: school. I took this as a sign and decided I would throw my hat in the ring; why not. See, these events sell out every week and they only pick 10 names out of a hat to tell stories during the show. Only when I signed up, sure I would never get picked, I did! And even more so, I got the high score that night and was declared the winner.  Here's that story:

It was absolutely terrifying, but felt right (at the risk of sounding like a total ass). So, now I'm on the hunt to continue to do more storytelling events and explore what might come from it.  I do know that from this, I will go on to compete at a grandSLAM against other winners. Yikes! We'll see what happens next in this story...

content break: Perlas Negras

A short doc film about an all female rap group from the slums of Brazil. All heart, just being them. Read more here.

Pearls Negras: The Girls from Vidigal on Nowness.com


content break: My Mom's Motorcycle

Really loved this video a coworker sent me - a charming look into one man's thoughts on connection.

blank on blank

My brother sent me a video of an old Gene Wilder interview because he knows how much I love Gene Wilder. The interview had been animated and I thought it was such a delight.

At the end, I saw I could click to watch more animated interviews and saw one on John Updike. He lived near my grandmother and I grew up seeing him around town, a local celebrity, of course, so I clicked his:

Then I saw one from the dazzling Grace Kelly:

It's a whole series from Blank on Blank (which broadcasts old interviews of historical icons) and in conjunction with PBS Digital Studios, they animated some of them. The interviews have been given new life, yet retain their integrity and grit. So charming.  Watch more here.

content break: intel

I just saw this video from Intel (even though it has over 2 million views - have I been living under a stupid rock?) and was so moved. The director was tasked with doing a 2 minute profile on him and the result was way more thoughtful and moving than just that. Take a look:

great content in 2013 and looking forward to 2014

I saw this great roundup of the best branded content of 2013from Digiday. I always post my favorite stuff for you here (see Whole Foods' Dark Rye, American Express's Passion Project, and J.Crew on Film), but I saw this film from cycling retailer Rapha from the article that I loved. The visuals and look & feel were spot on and it was a great experience piece of their brand.

Rapha Gentlemen's Race: Adelaide from RAPHA on Vimeo.


Although, I realized I never posted about one of my other favorite pieces of content: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. I remembered this during their quick and quirky Superbowl commercial. The concept is exactly what you think it is, hosted by Jerry Seinfeld and sponsored by Acura.  They run a quick preroll commercial before diving into the content and it's a great way for a brand to get somewhere in a space people already love-- comedy (check out the Chris Rock one, my favorite).

Even Coca-Cola is joining the trend of beautiful content about their brand when they scrapped their corporate website, hired some journalists and started Coca-Cola Journey (read about that here).

I started in content two and a half years ago and pretty much used to explain it to people by saying "you know how Redbull makes films and such not about Redbull? That's what I do."  Now, more and more people are understanding content and not only do they want it, they know they need it - the numbers are pouring in on how creating content that doesn't interrupt people's lives, but creates films, experiences and websites in which their consumers seek them out is a much more positive and successful form of advertising.

And while I still use my Redbull analogy, I use it less and less as more great content emerges.  I'm looking forward to seeing content continue to grow and in the different ways it manifests itself (and what I'm most interested - how it makes a difference). 

marketing for good: Walter Mitty promo video

Here was a simple and wonderful idea - take the video promo budget of a major motion picture and do some good with it, like spend it on disaster relief in the Philippines.  That's what this guy did and everyone wins - this guy gets work, people get help and the movie gets promoted through this anyway.  Read the full article here and watch the video below.

married in Boston

Saw the cutest video today from the City of Boston called "One Thing That Makes City Hall Special." City Hall here in town gets a bad rap because it's hideous.  Well, this video doesn't deny it, but it celebrates what happens on the 6th floor...weddings! Check it out:

One Thing That Makes City Hall Special from City of Boston on Vimeo.

There's also an adorable tumblr called Married in Boston to go along with it where people can submit their City Hall wedding photos.  So charming.

unexpected travel: Iran in video

I always love hearing about the amazing places my globetrotting friends are off to and the surprising places they find they love, the friends they never thought they'd make and the beauty in it all.

Recently on my own travels, I caught up with my dear friend Sarah who is so globally minded, always wants what she does to matter to the world around her and has such insight into people and places.  She always gives me incredible energy while leaving me with something to think about.  We're always scheming about what we can cook up to travel and tell stories together and she shared this video on Iran.  I thought it was so incredibly moving and beautiful, I had to share with you all.  When all we hear about is the negative side of Iran on this side of the world, I loved seeing the softer and everyday side of a country rich in culture.  Enjoy!

Iran from Mandy Tay on Vimeo.

core values: IDEO

I learned pretty quickly starting out on my fledgling career that the people I work with play a big role on my level of happiness at my job.  I am lucky to currently work with a fantastic team that I love, but I realize that I love them not only because they are nice & fun, but because they are talented, smart, teach me all the time and are passionate about what we do.  The way companies and teams work is so important and companies these days are doing a great job at understanding and committing to their core values.  I love these videos IDEO made on two of their core values (sorry, can't imbed because they have a fancy VimeoPro account):

Embrace Ambiguity
 

Learn from Failure

colossal video

One of my favorite blogs is This is Colossal. Are you reading it?  Do it.  It's an art and design blog that keeps me in constant wonder.  I think it's one of the best curated sites out there.  Check out some of their cool recent videos (and click on links for Colossal's full post for more info):

(The Chalk Art of Peter Han directed by Adriel de la Torre)

(The Chandelier Tree of Silver Lake.  Filmmaker: Colin Kennedy)

(Adrift: A Two-Year Odyssey through San Fransisco Fog. Filmmaker: Simon Christen)

cool content: Dark Rye from Whole Foods

 A coworker recently shared Dark Rye with me, an online magazine from Whole Foods and I think it's brilliant.  It's packed with stories centering around food, health, sustainability, design, tech and social enterprise. There's video and graphics and articles and photo essays - it's pretty cool and I suggest you check it out.  In this issue, we take a look inside Detroit.  After spending a little bit of time there myself last year telling some beautiful stories, I started to fall in love with Detroit; I think after skimming through this, you just might, too.

Here was one of my favorite videos about a guy who saw a need for transportation, so he started his own bus company.

Brands Can Make a Difference

I've worked at an agency now for over a year and a half.  One of the reasons I started this job was because I knew brands had an extraordinary power and ability to use their influence to make a difference.  I wanted to bring my passion for storytelling to help make a difference in this way.  More and more brands understand the affect they can have on the world and I love seeing them own this.  American Express just launched the passion project and I love this short film they did on Charity Water.  Check it out:

for the love of music: the story of Nashville

I am so lucky to know such talented makers.  I just saw a screening of a great film produced by friends and partners over at Make, For the Love of Music: The Story of Nashville.  It's about musicians talking about the town, the people and what it means to them. It's starting its run on the film festival circuit.  Keep an eye out for pieces of the content also on some commercials for the city of Nashville, as well as pieces from the film distributed by the artists via their networks.  It really drew me in, was shot beautifully and told a great story.  Check out the trailer and just try not to fall in love with Nashville:

did you enjoy your story?

A friend recently shared this video, documented by a couple traveling through Chile and I really loved it so I wanted to share. Enjoy the adventure, story & travel...

a story for tomorrow. from gnarly bay productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

J.Crew on Film & Radical Media

I love championing great work from friends.  Lately, I've been producing a lot of work for one of our clients with the amazing team over at Radical Media.  There is an insane amount of talent over there and they couldn't be nicer people, too (because life is too short to work with people who just suck).

On a call today, they told me they did some videos for the new content platform for J.Crew, J.Crew on Film (#jcrewonfilm).  The films take an insightful look into the craft and work J.Crew puts into their clothes and they are so beautiful and fun.  Here are two lovelies:

Newport Folk Fest 2012 Documentary

Anything that communicates the humanity & the spirit of the human experience is worth getting into

Newport Folk Festival 2012 from SöPa productions on Vimeo.

As I count down the days until the end of winter, I can't wait for summer and the joy that is the Newport Folk Fest.