2021: A Year to Remember
2021 was filled with memorable projects with new and recurring clients, although it didn't start that way at all!
January 2021 was one of the hardest months I've had in my business. Many clients I had and especially potential clients had to pause work being done, as we were still immersed in the pandemic rules that limited businesses capacities.
But in February, it all started turning around! A fun and very exciting video project came my way from George's Distributing in Helena, MT. The project: tell the story about how George's Distributing and SHINE Beer Sanctuary and Bottle Shop in Bozeman were collaborating to bring incredible brews into the Gallatin Valley and beyond. I jumped at the chance to work with GD's again! I interviewed SHINE owner Travis Collins in the warehouse of George's here in Helena. But the project wouldn't be complete until I traveled to his taproom and bottle shop in Bozeman. The story came together so well, thanks to Travis, Brooks, Steve and Jason!
March saw some new adventures coming my way in droves! The first project was with another returning client from 2020, Adrienne Kennison. She had just rebranded her Montessori school and wanted to revamp the tour video we made in 2020. Take the tour of Monarch Mountain Montessori school below!
The next adventure in March 2021 was the return of previous client Coaster Cycles! Coaster had emerged from the pandemic with new business strategies, pivoting from producing pedicabs (those rickshaw bike things you see in larger cities) and wanted to start featuring some of their new products, aimed at giving shipping and delivery industries a "last-mile solution". I'll show you one of several videos we made together throughout the year below, which shows you the process of how their new e-powered cargo bikes are made, right in here in Montana! we continued together until October, and we are looking to pick things back up here in the Spring of 2022.
April 2021 continued to bring new and exciting projects! While I can't show some of the work that I did, I can tell you I spent a lot of time making videos to help bring awareness to foster youth needs in the state, thanks to a wonderful partnership I made. And, April also saw the filming and putting together another virtual conference put on by Reach Higher Montana, specifically for foster youth. I love working with the team over at RHMT!
In May, I began my three-month fly fishing adventure with Nate Stevane, who owns Montana Trout On The Fly Outfitters, based in Bozeman, MT. Man, I went all over our beautiful state, filming Nate guiding his clients along the Missouri and Madison Rivers. I learned what a stonefly and a salmon fly was, and I found my own passion for fly fishing! I'll feature just one of many awesome videos we made together but check out my YouTube channel to see the rest of them. If fly fishing is your thing, you'll love these videos! I'm happy to say that Nate and I will continue our adventures in 2022!
June 2021 saw more work for Coaster Cycles, Trout on the Fly and Reach Higher Montana and of course into July. In July, I also had the pleasure of working with an old friend from Helena, Stacy Nistler. She and her husband are reshaping the housing industry here in Helena. The story we got to tell was about how they work together to build and sell beautifully designed and constructed home here in the Helena Valley!
August and September of 2021 saw even more work for Coaster, Trout on the Fly, both monthly recurring clients this year. For Coaster, we started making product-specific videos that their customers could watch. These videos aren't public-facing but they educate their customers on specific bike-model maintenance and more. And for Trout on the Fly, our fly fishing video work continued to keep me busy out on the water and in the editing room! It truly was an epic summer of travel and fun!
But September brought on a client that I hadn't worked with since I got my start in video several years ago. The Helena Bighorns hockey team is under new ownership, and wanted to bring back the video series "Beyond the Bench" that I had made way back when. Not only is Beyond the Bench more popular than ever before, but SocialFlixx is making the video board content at the Helena Ice Arena as well! Below is Episode 1 of what I'm calling the 3rd season of Beyond the Bench. We have new episodes every month and the future of our partnership has never looked more promising!
October and November began the seasonal downturn in my business, with one exception: I got to make an amazing wedding promotional video for several vendors, on a beautiful night at the U Diamond Barn. Kelly Van Dyke is a local photographer and she did an amazing job of getting all these vendors together for a "stylized photo shoot" and I got to capture the beauty and handy work from that night. After making this video, it was clear that I had many folks who wanted to hire me for wedding videography, so I'll jump with both feet into that in 2022!
While I had a few more opportunities to work with other businesses this past fall, many of them never took off. I'm happy to report, however, that I booked some new clients in December, and you'll see new work in January of 2022! It's the first January I've been fully booked since 2019!
And so, it's with tremendous gratitude that I say "so long!" to 2021, and I'm looking forward to 2022 being the biggest year yet!
