Behind The Scenes Look
Watch this "making of" video case study about the CORTRON MEDIA production of a marketing video for Pittsburgh's WEXFORD ACTING STUDIO operated by musical theater star Sarah McGraw Krushinski, and remember to follow The Wexford Acting Studio on Facebook, Instagram, and Alignable!
READ FULL SCRIPT HERE:
Sarah McGraw Krushinski starred on stages on three continents playing lead roles in the classic standards of American musical theater. She became known as not only an excellent singer and actor, but also a consummate professional who could master new and challenging roles very quickly.
Doug Malcolm, of CORTRON MEDIA, met Sarah at the networking group, Christian Business Partners and was aware that she had had, "a career" on the stage. But when she gave a presentation about her experiences to the group, Doug realized how important it would be for Sarah to do a video both as a legacy piece for friends and family, and to enhance the marketing of her business, the Wexford Acting Studio.
Sarah responded to the idea positively and agreed to move forward with the project almost immediately. But we identified two real challenges to the production from the outset:
First, Sarah is a confident, but modest person. Doing a talking head account of her triumphs on stage is something she would never be comfortable with.
Secondly, Sarah teaches several classes a week in her studio, produces and directs musical theater in the community, and heads theater productions for a large high school program in Pittsburgh. She would obviously have very little time to participate in a video project.
CORTRON MEDIA designed a format for production that addressed both of those issues.
We decided to have an actor draw out Sarah's experience from her in an on-camera interview, done in a relaxed atmosphere. We asked Sarah if she could recommend an actor with specific musical theater background to provide additional empathy and insight. Again, she responded immediately, and Brad Spencer got the role.
Choosing the right setting was important, too. We thank Rick Rivero, owner of the Cala Lilly Cafe, for allowing us to come in during off duty hours to set up and shoot. Rick's beautiful restaurant gave the production an artistic, New York bistro appeal.
CORTRON'S president, Lou Cordera, adheres to a consistent mantra, “thorough planning in pre- production is the key to a good project.” So, for Sarah, we were able to generate all the footage needed for both long and short versions of her video in one, two-hour shoot.
We edited a three and a half minute marketing video that quickly establishes Sarah's credentials for prospective students and their families. The video is positioned in the top right corner of the home page for the web site for Wexford Acting Studio. It effectively answers all the questions a student or their family could have about Sarah's qualifications to instruct either a young person looking to become more confident in front of people, or a talented student aspiring to a career on stage.
Sarah's loved ones have access to the full two hours of footage that describe her career in greater detail.
We join them in celebrating her remarkable career!
Director Doug
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