Year in Review - ‘22
2022 was an exciting year for us at Colectivo Creative Media and the best one yet. We accomplished so many goals that we set for ourselves at the start of the year and completed a ton of great projects. Take a second to reminisce with us as we recap a few of our favorite videos we’ve created and projects we are part of.
Honestly, the beginning of the year is typically a slow period for our work. Everyone is trying to get back up to speed after the holidays, companies are getting their ducks in a row and planning their campaigns for the spring. This is where we focus on video projects that are a bit more creative in nature and exercise our creative ability. In January, we produced an awesome music video and our very first narrative short film, Game Point. Much of our work throughout the year is supportive of businesses, corporations, or non-profits. It is a nice change of pace to focus on a completely creative endeavor, rather than something with profit in mind. We believe these exercises in filmmaking also improve the skills we can offer our clients and make more impactful media.
Our first narrative short film, Game Point.
penny bored - Conversations - Music Video
Upon recollection, these projects improved our work and client reach immensely. Game Point started as a last-minute creative endeavor with the goal of working on more narrative-focused work. We really didn’t think it would go anywhere other than Vimeo for a few dozen people to watch. After 8 months, the film screened at over 7 film festivals across every major city in Texas, including the Oak Cliff Film Fest, and was a clear example of the work Colectivo could create. Our penny bored video was immediately released to the public and has garnered thousands of views on YouTube. The organic marketing and inquiries we received from people viewing this video were worth it alone. Along with many other musicians looking to commission a music video from us, many business clients loved the creative locations and style we brought to the work. We still receive messages to this day in reference to this video.
In the summer, we had the chance to work with Little Guys Movers with their campaign to promote their franchising opportunities. Our small crew spent a couple of days in Waco and had a blast capturing what makes Little Guys Moves such a great company to be a part of. We traveled around, saw a bit of the Gaines’s kingdom, and munched on some BBQ in the process. We love working with companies that mirror how we are at Colectivo and look forward to working with them again soon!
What do you do with your hands during an interview?
Getting the truck loaded and ready to move.
If you want to read more into the process of creating that project, take a read of our full write-up about the video here.
Who knew we’d tackle 2 short film projects in a single year? In late summer, we had the itch to take on another narrative film project and around this time Gerald Undone announced a short film content. We knew we had to enter our own film into the contest! The catch? There was a budget limitation on the gear that we’d be able to use for the production, $2500. If you know anything about film production, you know that it’s not cheap. A single lens can cost a couple of grand, let alone all the gear you’d need to record a film. We’d take on the challenge!
We hit the ground running and wrote an original screenplay to fit the bill, engaging but easy to shoot. What came of this was “Exposure”, a short film about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our total gear budget was just under $2400 and took a single night to film. Unfortunately, we did not win any prizes for our submission, but we’re extremely happy with how it turned out. We learned a lot, had a ton of fun, and created another film. As a consolation prize, we did get a little nod in Gerald’s winner announcement video… hey, we’ll take it!
Routinely, we work in conjunction with other filmmakers and production companies from around the country to capture their projects locally in the DFW area. It is easier to hire a local Dallas/Fort Worth team to handle the recording, rather than sending out a team from Los Angeles or New York to film it. In many cases, the projects that we film take the better part of a year to be released once handed over to the main production company, or often these videos are for internal use and are never released publicly.
In ‘22 we filmed many projects across multiple formats and use cases. A few of our favorites included a documentary segment for an AE show, “Beyond the Headlines”, social media content for The Food Network’s “Crack an Egg”, a mini segment about the History of President Roosevelt for the History Channel, many shoots for pharmaceutical corporations, and many more. Some of these have yet to be released but were great productions to be a part of. While we can’t release footage or what we’ve captured, we do have some behind-the-scenes to show for it!
Of course, there were so many projects and shoot day’s that we couldn’t include, these were just some of our favorites and a general overview of how our year went. In 2023, we hope to tackle even more awesome projects and work with more organizations and businesses right in our backyard of Denton. We definitely feel like there are a lot of unique potential clients in the Denton area and can’t wait to make something worth watching for them.