Explore 15 years at The Art of Storytelling Inc. helping businesses find and tell their stories.
- Video and photography production
- Communications
- User generated content
- AOS Content Cloud App
- The future of storytelling
- Insights from AOS' founders
Featuring: Miranda O’Connor, James O’Connor
Hosted by: Julianne Neal
We’ve kind of settled on this niche because we know that this is what gives us our greatest joy is helping people to discover their stories, and I think a lot of video production companies trust that the client actually knows what their story really is and is able to verbalize it and explain it.
But I do find that a lot of people rely on us to help them to discover what is it that they actually want to say, and what is it that makes them special.
Welcome all to the first episode of Video Storytelling for Community Engagement. A brand new podcast from the folks at AOS – the Art of Storytelling – which is run by my friends Miranda and James O’Connor. They are responsible for several award winning documentaries exploring such themes as youth development through sports and music, climate change, and equine therapy… but also for hundreds of videos for brands who want to leverage their story to make a greater impact. It’s been three years since they affectively moved their business and their lives from the Caribbean to Canada, six years since we last met at the Equus Film Festival in Camden, South Carolina, and an amazing 15 year journey for these two entrepreneurs, which I can’t wait to share with you right now.
You know we started this business on my mother’s dining room table many many years ago and we didn’t start off doing video stories. We started doing graphic design and then we started to do web design and we were doing web hosting at a point… so we really have done quite a lot of different things before we got to where we are today and what started as as photography then went into video. I do remember you know, the first time that we decided to invest in a digital camera. This is when digital cameras were becoming more available and it was so expensive we had to go to the bank and get a loan. And in those days we didn’t have any money we didn’t really know what we were doing and we kind of just like had faith that it was going to work and we went and borrowed money. We bought our first digital camera and I think it was like 3 or maybe 2 mega pixels like something ridiculous, you know and it cost it cost a huge amount of money in those days and I told him… I said, you know you, you better learn how to use this camera and make back this money. And he did, you know? And it just kind of went from there.
But you know, coming up to the point where we met you and Bruce, we were doing a lot of business videos, business stories, we were doing some social responsibility videos for some of the bigger companies. We had started doing a lot of oil and gas and financial work and government work. But you know, the business stories are kind of where it evolved from. That’s like that’s what we draw on mostly. A lot of it is in the editing, but a lot of it is also in who we bring into these stories. Who are the stakeholders that we bring in to interview to form a really good narrative about the brand.
People might take that for granted, but I wanted to say that a lot of the times we’re doing it in real time. So yes, we do put a lot of effort into the pre production side of it to make sure that we’re going to nail all of the objectives and everything. But because it’s a very organic process where… You don’t know what stakeholders are going to say. Ultimately, you don’t know what the what response you are going to get, and that’s what makes it so exciting and engaging because you’re literally discovering something as this thing unfolds, and so you you have to be on your toes. You have to be dynamic and you have to kind o
“We’ve kind of settled on this niche because we know that this is what gives us our greatest joy is helping people to discover their stories, and I think a lot of video production companies trust that the client actually knows what their story really is and is able to verbalize it and explain it.
But I do find that a lot of people rely on us to help them to discover what is it that they actually want to say, and what is it that makes them special.
Welcome all to the first episode of Video Storytelling for Community Engagement. A brand new podcast from the folks at AOS – the Art of Storytelling – which is run by my friends Miranda and James O’Connor. They are responsible for several award winning documentaries exploring such themes as youth development through sports and music, climate change, and equine therapy… but also for hundreds of videos for brands who want to leverage their story to make a greater impact. It’s been three years since they affectively moved their business and their lives from the Caribbean to Canada, six years since we last met at the Equus Film Festival in Camden, South Carolina, and an amazing 15 year journey for these two entrepreneurs, which I can’t wait to share with you right now.
You know we started this business on my mother’s dining room table many many years ago and we didn’t start off doing video stories. We started doing graphic design and then we started to do web design and we were doing web hosting at a point… so we really have done quite a lot of different things before we got to where we are today and what started as as photography then went into video. I do remember you know, the first time that we decided to invest in a digital camera. This is when digital cameras were becoming more available and it was so expensive we had to go to the bank and get a loan. And in those days we didn’t have any money we didn’t really know what we were doing and we kind of just like had faith that it was going to work and we went and borrowed money. We bought our first digital camera and I think it was like 3 or maybe 2 mega pixels like something ridiculous, you know and it cost it cost a huge amount of money in those days and I told him… I said, you know you, you better learn how to use this camera and make back this money. And he did, you know? And it just kind of went from there.
But you know, coming up to the point where we met you and Bruce, we were doing a lot of business videos, business stories, we were doing some social responsibility videos for some of the bigger companies. We had started doing a lot of oil and gas and financial work and government work. But you know, the business stories are kind of where it evolved from. That’s like that’s what we draw on mostly. A lot of it is in the editing, but a lot of it is also in who we bring into these stories. Who are the stakeholders that we bring in to interview to form a really good narrative about the brand.
People might take that for granted, but I wanted to say that a lot of the times we’re doing it in real time. So yes, we do put a lot of effort into the pre production side of it to make sure that we’re going to nail all of the objectives and everything. But because it’s a very organic process where… You don’t know what stakeholders are going to say. Ultimately, you don’t know what the what response you are going to get, and that’s what makes it so exciting and engaging because you’re literally discovering something as this thing unfolds, and so you you have to be on your toes. You have to be dynamic and you have to kind of know what to ask next, because the answer you got was completely unexpected, so there’s a lot of that as well, and that’s taken years of experience. You know, because of budget or because of location or because of the the kind of story that you’re dealing with. You literally walk into the room. It’s just you, one camera and the audio is going to be as good as it as it can be. You have to know how to get what the client who’s on-shore now. You know you could be in another country and there’s no communication. Get what they want. And they have to trust you that you’re going to get what they want. And the person this stakeholder, this individual that you’re interviewing has to trust you. They let their guard down. They tell you the truth and you do it in a way that the audience can discover it. That really comes from years of experience. That’s how I wanted to quantify that. …
Well, I’m sure it doesn’t happen anymore, but like in the beginning, were there times that you came away from it and you think two days later? Oh man, I wish I had asked so and so and you just can’t recreate it. Did that ever happen?
Yes, you you learn a lot from editing your work and I always tell this to people who come to work with us. You know we get people who want to, you know, just do editing or just filming. Sometimes they want to film ’cause they see that on TV – the behind the scenes – and think that’s glamorous and they don’t really want to get stuck behind computers But you have to see what you got and you have to see how it works as a story and you have to see if you have enough context to really deliver these objectives, ’cause you cannot just nail objectives point by point. Then you might as well write it. You might as well get the CEO to say it. It’s not organic, it’s not a discovery. So yeah, you you really have to. You have to know what you’re doing.
So Miranda I have to ask a little bit more about this because I see so many people put out there – they are in video production or they do this or that with video and film. Is there anything else to you that’s different between what you’re doing and just a regular video company? I mean, stakeholder storytelling to me already sounds different.
I think we’ve done so many different types of videos. Anything you know? We’ve done explainer videos and safety training videos and TV commercials… so I mean, we’ve really experienced all the different types of products that people can ask for, and I think you know, we’ve kind of settled on this niche because we know that this is what gives us our greatest joy is helping people to discover their stories. I think a lot of video production companies trust that the the client actually knows what their story really is and is able to verbalize it and explain it. But I do find that a lot of people rely on us to help them to discover what is it that they actually want to say and what is it that makes them special. How do we choose the right sound bites and put it back together into something that’s really interesting and engaging for people to watch? Something that people will believe and trust. Or yes, this is a real authentic story that this person has told me and that they’ve had these other people in their video supporting what they say. We’ve had maybe employees or contractors or clients or charities that people work with. We bring them in as as the stakeholders and they help to support what the people are trying to say to make sure that what they’ve said is actually true and interesting and believable.
It sounds a little clinical, but you can talk to people and they can tell you… A lot of the time these people in describing a life change or you know a significant change. And that doesn’t necessarily apply to brands and businesses who are doing life changing work. You could be selling coffee, but our point is, if you do it using this method, this format instead of just telling me about the benefits of your coffee in a bullet point format. storytelling is really just excellent content strategy.
Well, everyone loves the recent things I’ve seen you put out that were describing businesses, restaurants, all of that in your hometown and it just seems to me that you’ve continued that trend of helping the community and reaching out to people to see what you can do to help. So I mean that seems to tie right tie in with it.
You know, once you establish that relationship where I understand the clients brand very intimately. That becomes priceless because for them to have to start over with a different company that doesn’t really understand what their brand is, understand what their purpose is. You know you can really miss the boat if your vendor doesn’t is not really 100% on board with you and your mission. But what I wanted to say is that when we got to Ontario – everyone is so supportive of local business. So you know we might not feel like we’re that local. I mean we are residents of this nice town and this nice area. But you know, once you live here, everybody wants to support you and and they will say hey, you know we have this great local videographer and I kind of feel like: Oh my gosh, I’m an impostor in this town. We’ve only been here for a few years, but I think they like what we do and I think they recognize that we have a lot of experience and a lot of professionalism that we bring and maybe that’s something that you don’t necessarily get in a small town.
I think that the localism is defined by how quickly you make those relationships anyway and just how fast people… It’s almost like they see value in your work or they appreciate what you’ve done and they quickly localize you like: Oh yeah, don’t worry, your local. You’ve only been here 5 days. And it was kind of like that in South Carolina too, you know when we got there. It’s like, oh, you’re here to help. – you’re one of us.
That’s what I see you doing up there, and so no wonder they’re embracing you the way they are. But Miranda how has the pandemic affected all of the your relationships. Or relationships with anybody? How is that? Has that affected you? It’s forced us to network more, just become more involved locally, as much as we can, and that is what is growing our Canadian business at this point. Well, and hopefully will continue too, because even as we’re opening up here in South Carolina, even in education, the push is we’ve got this virtual thing set up. Now, let’s keep making the most of it. And so for you guys, I’m sure that that’s going to still be something.
Yes, so we’ve had to do a few organisations that have had to transition from having in-person events to having virtual video events. The high schools are one of them because you know, I feel for the high school students ’cause they don’t get to have a great grade 12 experience in a graduation. So we gave the a great movie instead. Yeah, we are making them some really great movies. Really great graduations. We did one last year. We’re probably going to do a few different ones this summer. Then we have award ceremonies that could not take place in the big gala ballrooms. So we did one last summer and we will probably end up doing more this summer as well.
Julianne you were talking about how – to what extent is the virtual stuff going to stay. The other project that we did last year was the Dufferin Farm Tour. You know previously people would drive in their car and go to the farm tour and they would have this much impact And the day after the tour it’s over. But last year because they didn’t have that opportunity to have physical people come. They said, OK well, let’s do more video. And that’s when they contacted us and I was like… This is not a pandemic solution. This is a permanent solution and for sure, you know, they’re still talking now about, we may be in possible lockdowns or whatever when the when the tour comes around again, because this has gone on too long, but I think by now everyone is fully on board. Even the schools are like: this has worked out really, really well and the shelf life is permanent. You know as well from your production, you could have had an experiential event. You could have had a one off thing and maybe you know done some videos from it or whatever but. The product that you’re left with with – which for listeners is The Edge – you know the story of Bruce’s work… is like this living thing in its own right and and evolves overtime. We’ve done four or five different edits, it’s been submitted to Film Festivals. There’s the short edits for you to do all sorts of things with… So I think people are starting to see the value now in doing, you know… Investing in video used to be: look I can scramble together $500 and can I get a video… look I need something that’s going to do the job of communicating with my with my stakeholders and my clients for the next two years. And it’s going to be relevant and seem fresh for two years. That’s where the content strategy comes in. That’s where the story becomes so important.
Well Miranda, I have to ask… why are you doing it? What are you doing it for? And what kind of impact have you seen?
We’re still trying to pay off that loan for that first camera, remember? Student loans! You know we’ve been in this for so long that we know how to do this and how to do this well, and you know, we bring a lot of confidence to our clients who wouldn’t know how to do this on their own, or with like a hired videographer who doesn’t have the experience. We do this because the clients – they really, really like when they get back their video story. I mean they tell us: you know I was brought to tears. I got goosebumps and it was so emotional. And then to see the response that they get from the community when they share it. I think that’s what keeps us going because we know that people really enjoy what we have to give them.
Well, I see that it every time I’m around the two of you – James is this worldwind running around… And Miranda you just have this calm even today as you know, as relaxed as you are, it just seems like there’s a level of trust there, obviously. What do you see as the next step? What’s what’s the future for The Art of Storytelling?
We’re definitely expanding our reach in Ontario. We’re not doing too much marketing as such, but we’re definitely getting new calls every day from new clients, which is great and I really like this space that were falling into, which is a lot of municipal work. Governments, healthcare, education, and that’s actually like the really exciting work for us. You know, because that has a really good social impact in the community is definitely more rewarding for me than helping a client sell more stuff. You know? I think the social impact and the purpose driven work and the community initiative work is really what’s what we’re all about.
What impact do you see that this has had on your lives? I mean, the work together, the move, everything else. How has that impacted your life? It’s been very emotional because all of the stories we’ve worked on have been… they’ve all been significant story in terms of people’s lives and livelihoods, and I quickly realized what a huge impact having a camera had in those situations and the ability to just say like: Ok tell the people… I mean your story, you know, and we’ll see what happens. And it did have a huge impact and it felt amazing. At the same time, it can be quite emotionally exhausting. I feel like my life is somewhat of a tapestry of everyone else’s life. Sometimes it’s been 24/7. for three weeks solid in another country… And there’s no… there’s no down time. I’m not at home. I’m not with my family and not with my kids. It’s only recently now that we spend much more time as a family together and were able to… you know I much more identify as a dad now you know and that’s a cool feeling. You know it’s a really cool feeling. Does that even begin to answer your question?
Yeah, actually it does because to me it’s the same way that you and Bruce have always kind of seen eye to eye. I think for that same reason, because you’re taking in everybody else’s stuff and your creativity is what shows it in whatever light so that it ends up that the person comes away with this feeling of: Oh my – you know that’s so powerful… he does the same thing with his work in the round pen with the clients that he brings in and I think you have to be able to dump all of that. And find the way to dump it and do it in a safe way.
Yeah, I would qualify saying that this is mentally exhausting… Some of the work… 5% of the work is very difficult because we do get handed very difficult stories, sometimes. If you do that for a long time and you take on everyone’s stories it it can be a burden. But at the same time the other 95% of it – and also in some of those difficult stories, because that’s kind of why we’re there. That’s when it’s hugely rewarding and that’s when it’s… it’s joy… you’re sharing in everyone else’s joy. So again, your life is all of these experiences of everyone else is dauting. But now it’s very positive as well.
Well, it continues. I mean if you look at Chris Dennis they are still there. They are still touching those children’s lives – they are still doing that work, and the rest of us are able to see it. We would have never known anything about it. It’s the same thing with Bruce, I mean to be able to go all around the world with the Equus Film Festival, and have people in France or Italy or Germany or Trinidad or California or Canada… That never would have happened. And that’s special. So what do you see as the future? I know expansion and I know do a little bit more, but what do you see as the future of AOS?
I’ve really embraced user generated content in a big way and encourage my clients to embrace, you know, creating their own content and telling their own story and getting involved. We’ve done stuff for Headwaters Health Care Centre, the hospital Miranda mentioned earlier and their staff have used our app, AOS Content Cloud to shoot their own story And then they don’t have to worry about the editing side of it. We take care of that. Things like that… I see as the future of storytelling.
Well, I think the app was a brilliant move anyway from the beginning and for people to have access to something like that. I think what you’re doing is really special. For anybody who hasn’t seen stuff like your behind the scenes shoots or any of the rest of it. It’s intense. It’s crazy. It’s exciting. It’s addictive. So I’ve enjoyed watching everything that you put out. There are just exquisitely shot so Bravo. James and Miranda thank you both so much for being with us today. I have enjoyed talking to you.
Thanks so much for joining us today. If you’re a brand, or an organization, or a content strategist and you’re under pressure to deliver video, or you’re a creator and you want to be in a better position to advise your clients, there are storytelling and content marketing guides to download at theartofstorytelling.com so be sure to sign up and subscribe. You can also download AOS Content Cloud from the App Store for free. So until next time, I’m Julianne Neal of JA Media productions. On behalf of the folks at The Art of Storytelling, see you then.”