This spring we had the opportunity to work with the Jefferson County Historical Society to create an orientation film for their renovated museum.  Rather than produce a traditional historical documentary, we took the theme, “We Came with Dreams” and created a piece that was more impressionistic.

Over the course of three weekends, our intrepid filmmakers, Stephen and Kyle, set off for Jefferson County, interviewing 17 people and shooting over six hours of beautiful images.

Using oral histories, archival footage, literary quotes, newspaper accounts, present day images and interviews, Kyle pulled together a truly beautiful piece that really captured the spirit, essence and history of this colorful county.

The film was unveiled at the Jefferson County Historical Societies’ Founders’ Day on April 25th. The Peninsula Daily News was on hand and caught an interview with JCHS’s Executive Director Bill Tennant:

“The film was wonderful — it exceeded what we all thought it would,” Tennant said.

“There were strong, bearded men who were crying.”

“It really does a great job showing everything from the Olympic Mountains to the coast to the Hood Canal region to Port Townsend,” Tennant said.

“We have kind of joked that maybe we shouldn’t show this to very many people because they will all want to move here now.”

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Jeffrey selling take 3! We’ve just wrapped shooting for the third installment of Jeffrey Selling videos, this time with handbags. The SFW crew was back inside Nordstrom in the handbag department to film Jeffrey Kalinski demonstrate the art of selling. No matter if you’re “just browsing”, Jeffrey will convince you that you need that new Fendi bag.

What becomes a legend most? American Legend, formerly Seattle Fur Exchange, has been in Seattle for over 100 years. Their iconic advertising campaign for the luxurious Blackglama fur has won numerous awards and featured some of the most famous celebrities from Judy Garland to Cindy Crawford.

Where does SFW fit in?  We’ve been brought on board to help American Legend expand their clientele across the globe with a tradeshow/collateral video (translated in three different languages!). American Legend is one of only four auction houses in the world and we are very excited to be a part of their marketing efforts.

It takes a little imagination to talk about Spring Fashion when it’s freezing outside! Recently, SFW conducted two days of interviews at Nordstrom to get the low down on Spring 2010 from the buyer’s that know it best.  Using runway footage from Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Milly and many more, we’re are creating the best designer video yet for sellers and buyers.

We’ve been so busy these past few months with paying gigs (fortunately), our documentary on James J. Hill has had to take a back seat for a spell.  We did, however, manage to fly to the Midwest this November to shoot an interview with transportation history guru Carlos Schwantes from University Missouri-St. Louis, as well as business historian Professor Burton Folsom from Hillsdale College in Michigan.

It was a pleasure meeting both men and their interviews are a great asset to our story.

Interview with Professor Burton Folsom

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After sifting through 2,000+ photographs for a documentary, you are bound to have some kind of epiphany into the world of your subject.  And today, mine was a monumental one.  James J. Hill, the “Empire Builder” and founder of the Great Northern Railway actually lived in a world of color, just like you or me.  Yes, I know it sounds absurd, but I have proof.

Case in point:  Below is a picture of James J. Hill’s daughter, Mamie, living, in what I always assumed to be, her little black & white world:

But that was before I saw something in the corner of the screen…

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The funnest thing about shooting documentaries is that every day is a field trip. Last August, Stephen and Kyle headed east on HWY-2 capturing images for our documentary on The Empire Builder: James J. Hill. Armed with only a car, a camera, and an iPhone, the two followed the old Great Northern line through Washington, Idaho & Montana, shooting railroad history and beautiful scenery along the way.

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We recently completed a piece for Nordstrom Rack to use to recruit new employees.  We traveled to Bellevue, WA to meet and film the amazing Rack crew and the flurry of activity going on when the doors open.  Stephen even managed to find time to buy a pair of Jack Purcell’s…and got a great deal!  This 4-minute video consisted of seven interviews, b-roll shot on the Rack floor, and graphics created in-house.  We had a great time working with Angela, Lori and Rick and have already begun to hear some nice feedback.

We have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on a fascinating documentary for Puget Sound Energy. This hour-long, HD piece, captures the unbelievable story of Charles Baker, a young civil engineer at the turn of the 20th century, who designed, financed and built the first all-underground hydro-electric power plant in the world at Snoqualmie Falls. The plant and transmission lines, built in just 16th months, helped usher in the age of electricity to the Northwest and brought with it tremendous growth.

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We have recently embarked on an exciting feature-length documentary highlighting the life of James J. Hill. Known as The Empire Builder, Hill not only built the Great Northern Railway from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, but developed entire towns and industries along the route.

Filming began in late October with travels to Spokane, Fargo and St. Paul to shoot interviews with historians, poets and scholars. We have been working with KCTS with an eye towards a national broadcast next fall.

Stephen on set interviewing Great Northern Historian Bob Kelly.

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