Video Work

I have first-hand experience in every single part of the video production process: writing, editing, storyboarding, animating, casting, acting, directing, balancing a budget, contracting production services, and so much more. From a shoe-string budget shooting in a closet at a corporate office, to half-a-million dollars shoots on the Universal lot in LA, I know how to make effective videos that are on time and on budget.

ANIMATED TRAINING

I was the full animation studio on the initial animated videos for Ethena. I scripted them, performed the audio (then used AI to change my voice), designed and animated the characters, and edited the video. I don’t normally do all that, but it was in an effort to establish a baseline for a contract animator to come in and take over. We now have an animation pipeline set up, and a full cast of characters that have have been added and developed under my supervision.

DATA PRIVACY VIDEO

I came up with the concept for this Tiktok style video, and edited it together. To make corporate training feel fresh, modern, and familiar, I wanted to try out scenarios like this one, which felt like something someone might see on their phone while scrolling social media.

MAY THE BEST LOAN WIN CAMPAIGN

I wrote two of the three spots of the May The Best Loan Win campaign for LendingTree (I also did punch up on the third). These spots were made to reflect the new brand positioning done in 2018. I helped cast the commercials and helped with the art direction.

I wanted a symmetrical, whimsical and vibrant look. Call it Wes Anderson adjacent. For these ads we brought back the director (Terry Rietta) and production designer (Leigh Poindexter) of the CompareCards.com spots below. The two of them both brought so much to these ads and were a joy to work with.

COMPARE CARDS SPOTS

I had a hand in every bit of the production of these spots—the concepts, script punch up, casting, location scouting, even the background music selection. They also performed well for the brand. About 9 months after these aired, LendingTree’s direct competitor, NerdWallet, ran an almost identical ad. I take that as a compliment.

NEW BRAND SPOTS

This spot was made to kick off the launch of LendingTree's rebrand. The goal was to focus more on the brand and emotion and less on the direct response salesy elements old spots leaned on. We wanted to tie the products to a story and a relatable family and show viewers the value added to them over the years. It performed high in trust and brand recognition in our market research, which was exactly what we were looking for.

For this one we tried to blend some of that soft brand focus with something a little more direct response oriented. We added a touch of discovery too. Thanks to user research we knew that few customers knew taking out a personal loan to pay off credit cards was a smart financial move. We highlighted that here, even going as far as having the actress say, “I didn’t even know you could do that.” This ad has performed incredibly well, and I think that bit of discovery is what helped.

FOUNDER SPOT STORYBOARD

I wrote and storyboarded this commercial for LendingTree, starring the CEO. At this point we weren't sure how long the commercial would be, and what kind of movement we'd have in it. We knew the basics of what we wanted--for him to walk a bit, for the offers to pop up from his phone, and for the background to whoosh out behind him at the end. We shared this with production studios before selecting one for the actual shoot.  We worked with Sandwich Video on this and they were fantastic. They did an amazing job bringing the script and storyboard to life, all while simplifying the action to make it easier on the viewer, and the non-actor star. We also shot a 60 second version and a few 15 second variations for social media. 

ANIMATED DIRECT RESPONSE

I worked on the script for this animated spot with a couple of others, hammering out the language until it reached maximum effectiveness. When you're doing a direct response ad, every word counts. 

LENNY & HUGO

While I worked at LendingTree, they sponsored the Charlotte Hornets. To kick off the first season of the sponsorship, we made a bunch of videos with LendingTree's mascot, Lenny, and their mascot, Hugo. I wrote a ton of these, and it was a blast seeing Lenny's puppeteers bring them to life. The final polished versions could be seen on the jumbotron during games. This one contains a very stupid joke that I'm still proud of. 

ART VIDEOS

Several years ago I did a series of art videos redesigning iconic characters. These were just for fun, a sort of hobby project of mine that combines a lot of things I like—art, design, writing, and video editing. Here’s two of my favorites: Chester Cheetah and Crash Bandicoot.