Video Production & Storytelling For Nonprofits [Nonprofit Marketing with Billy Silva, Part 7]

Transcript

[0:00] Introduction to Nonprofit Storytelling

John Bertino

[0:00] So you want to tell the perfect story about your nonprofit, and you want to use video to do it. Great. My next guest is an expert in doing exactly that. Billy Silva is the co-founder of 76 Degrees West, a nonprofit-focused video production agency with roots in Portland, Maine, and Lima, Peru. Billy has been filmmaking his entire 20-plus year career, from driving a cube truck as an intern in NYC to flying across the world, helping nonprofits to tell their story. Billy’s no run-of-the-mill filmmaker either.

John Bertino

[0:23] His agency work has been featured at the Sundance, Toronto, Atlanta, Tribeca Film Festivals, also National Geographic. these guys are legit. Billy and I have a fun and engaging conversation where we cover storytelling, ethics, and nonprofit filmmaking, common NPO mistakes, effectively planning for the shoot, and how his agency manages to make great videos on a budget. Always a hot topic for nonprofits.

Oh yeah, how do you tell stories about some of the most tragic events in the world while being respectful, tasteful, and effective? Small spoiler alert, catharsis. That’s the process of releasing and thereby providing relief from strong, repressed emotions. Capture this on film and you just might have the perfect mission video. Speaking of perfect videos, did you know this video is just one chapter of a multi-episode series all about how to market a nonprofit?

Click on the link in the show notes to see our other videos about nonprofit branding, communications, SEO, Google ads. We know what you’re looking for, and we’ve made sure to cover it in depth in this entire series. So, if you don’t mind, please make a little kindness donation by hitting the like button, subscribing for more content just like this and stick around for the entire interview with Billy Silva from 76 Degrees West.

Music

[1:30] Music

John Bertino

[1:40] And we’re back with another episode of the Niche Marketing Podcast. As always, I’m your host, John Bertino, founder and CEO of The Agency Guide in Philadelphia. If you’re unhappy or disappointed with your marketing agency, and most people are, then please give us a shout. We can help.

We represent 300 vetted agencies and marketing teams across the country and in Europe to whom we can essentially matchmake your specific needs, budget, industry vertical, all things like that. Give us a shout if you need some help. In the meantime, today’s guest is Mr. Billy Silva, founder and CEO of 76 Degrees West in Portland, Maine. Billy, welcome to the show.

Billy Silva

[2:17] Hey, John. Thanks for having me.

John Bertino

[2:19] Absolutely. A hundred percent. So, 76 Degrees West, I mentioned that you guys are out of Portland, Maine, but you’re in Portland, Maine. It’s really a remote agency and you have different colleagues, different parts of the world, actually.

Billy Silva

[2:29] We do. Yeah. My co-founder, Guy, is in Lima, Peru. I’m here. Travel a lot. we have head of production in Salt Lake City, Utah, and another head of design in Berlin, Germany. So, you know, we bounce around a little bit, but yeah, that was kind of the model we figured was comfortable for all of us. It’s like a post-pandemic model.

John Bertino

[2:57] Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Well, it certainly works well and yeah, in today’s environment.

So, Billy, before we get into nonprofit marketing, video production, things like this, please tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from originally and how’d you find yourself in the video world and ultimately what brought you to start 76 Degrees West?

Billy Silva

[3:18] Yeah. All right. Let’s get to through 38 years. No, I think the big things are I was born and raised in upstate New York in wonderful Ithaca, New York. Great place to grow up and was sort of fell in love with movies at a really young age. Along with some of my best friends to this day, we all took like a film class in high school.

John Bertino

[3:40] Yeah. What are some of your favorites?

Billy Silva

[3:41] My favorite films? Yeah. I mean, honestly, depends on the day that you’re asking. I mean, And I just, in preparation for a film, was just watching a lot of films about making films. So, a lot of classic films there. I was just revisiting American Movie by Chris Smith. It’s fantastic.

John Bertino

[3:59] Yeah. Don’t know that one.

Billy Silva

[4:00] Great story about the love of movies.

John Bertino

[4:02] American Movie, Chris Smith. Okay.

Billy Silva

[4:04] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Really warms the heart. And also, as a filmmaker, really hits you. But yeah, revisiting films of Agnes Varda. and um yeah just things Chris marker big filmmaker uh big fan big film crush fan on that one okay and then also just like I’ve been just uh I just got a projector and like a 4k system nice in the house so it’s um going big movies you know obviously like just uh you know finally got dune 4k and was like a

John Bertino

[4:33] Lot of fuss.

Billy Silva

[4:33] About rocks I mean it’s awesome we’ll love it so yeah all right So high and low. I mean, not that any of those is low, but yeah.

John Bertino

[4:43] Lifelong film buff.

Billy Silva

[4:44] Yeah. And then my mom’s American. My dad’s Peruvian. And so, yeah, spent a lot of time between Lima and Ithaca, New York, went to film school and, you know, graduated in 2008. A couple of things happened that year with the job market.

John Bertino

[5:02] Right that whole thing that.

Billy Silva

[5:03] Whole thing started at the bottom and now I’m wherever this is I mean I was like a production assistant at

John Bertino

[5:09] 65 India street Portland Maine yeah powers media by the way i always like to give a shout out to our hosting studio shout out to Mitchell powers, all right. Excellent. Well, I think one key thing to glean from that is you’ve been in this your entire career.

Billy Silva

[5:22] Yeah.

John Bertino

[5:23] So that in itself, I think is really powerful. And now you’re the founder of, of 76 degrees West. So how did that come about?

Billy Silva

[5:32] I mean, really it was just sort of a confluence of, of things. I mean, it was like, I mean, I think like most things for most filmmakers started with like, how do I get the chance to make more films and do more?

Billy Silva

[5:45] And yeah. And then it just sort of happened. I was talking to my co-founder of 76, uh, GA and also like longtime collaborator, um, you know, great friend. And, uh, yeah, we were just sort of like looking at what can we do? Like, what is our, what is our past work show? And we sort of just like happened to notice that we’ve like directed together, like 10 films for nonprofits. And then that just coincided with, I was moving here to Portland. I have, um, an amazing friend, uh, two friends who run an agency called side C here in Portland. They’re a digital agency that works with nonprofits.

And I was telling them, I, you know, I want to, I had like made a film for a nonprofit called the river fund in New York city. It was an incredible experience. It was really hard. I did like everything by myself for the, I mean, I had one producer, and I had a sound person, but other than that, but it was like, I don’t know, I kind of fell in love with filmmaking again. And it was fun because I wasn’t selling anything. I was sort of telling a story, you know, and it was a genuine story, and it was like a cause that I could feel good about and get behind.

And so, I was like, I want to do more of this. And then, you know, my friends shout out to Ben Blodgett and Alex Morris at Sightseed were like, we have a Rolodex filled with nonprofits, you know, why don’t do it? And we’ll, you know, we’ll, we’ll introduce you and we’ll, we’ll try to figure out a way to collaborate there. And so, it’s been great to have them to really help us along in the beginning because we,

Billy Silva

[7:10] We started about a year ago, but we weren’t like really open for business and, or we started a year and a half ago, I would say, but yeah, it was about like last June was like our first project. And then, um, yeah, we’ve been lucky enough to just keep having them. So excellent. Yeah. I don’t know. I, you know, I know that’s not normally how it goes, but I feel pretty lucky.

[7:34]

The Art of Nonprofit Filmmaking

John Bertino

[7:30] Well, there’s a few key lessons I’d say in there already for aspiring, uh, agency owners. And that is, I think niching down, niching, niching is generally speaking, usually a really good idea, especially in the hyper-competitive environment we find ourselves in now.

And then also just the fact that you didn’t hesitate to lean into something that naturally that you took a natural liking to. Again, it’s like an obvious point, but not everybody does that. They force themselves through this process of taking on a lot of work that they don’t really like. Um whereas you are pretty quickly it sounds like said I’m gonna this I like this this evokes emotion from me um brings the passion back and so I’m gonna lean into it I think that’s really smart.

Billy Silva

[8:13] Yeah I mean I think um like the obvious answer is always kind of hard to get to like i mean it feels obvious and it’s always like when you get to it you’re like

John Bertino

[8:24] Duh but love that it’s.

Billy Silva

[8:26] It’s hard to get there like I mean it happens in movies too like when and you figure out the solution and you’re like, oh, like, yeah, tell it chronologically. But in your head, you’re like, so I’m gonna start here and then it’s gonna go to this and then it’s like, and I think it’s the same, thing with life too I don’t know and maybe it’s just time getting older and having like checked off a bunch of the boxes yeah like I don’t know for sure what’s the old thing like uh you know you’ll repeat the same mistake until you finally learn from it kind of thing sounds about right yeah so it’s like I think it’s that so um yeah make just clicked so

John Bertino

[9:00] One more thing about your background before we get into specifically talking about non-profits i know during our brief pre-call, you had worked for some

[9:11]

Billy’s Journey in Filmmaking

John Bertino

[9:09] pretty intense production companies in New York City. You had referenced even your days driving around a cube truck. Could you talk just a little bit about your time in New York City and what you were doing there so people have a better feel for your background in this regard? Yeah, totally.

Billy Silva

[9:23] I mean, I was lucky enough to have a family friend who worked at a production company in New York, Radical Media, a pretty big production company. And I was like an intern there at like 16. And that was like my intern summer jobs. And I was just like desperate to get on set. And I think some, some maniac production coordinator was like, dude, you could drive the, we’ll have you as like a cube truck PA, which I don’t even know what the, I’m not getting any trouble, but I don’t know what the, I think the, I think it’s 18 is the legal driving limit in Manhattan.

Wow. I was probably 17 in the cube truck, but I was definitely like, you know, uh, younger than that, but it was just like exciting and exhilarating. And then, um, yeah. And then I was like a second AD for a while, which is like just helping with the call sheets and organizing and making sure that you know you know where the actors are and everybody shows up on time and then it was an ad um but always wanting to be a director but it was just like I didn’t have any family from in the industry yeah so I think it was like I didn’t have any like mentors or someone who was like this is what you got to do kid so it was a really like it was a long process figuring that out um but yeah then ultimately yeah I think in my like late 20s was like I’m gonna I was hired to produce a thing and they were like here’s the budget just produce this and I was like you guys just want the end product and they’re like yeah just come in and come in on budget we want the end product so i was like okay well I’m just gonna hire myself to direct it

Billy Silva

[10:44]And I gave it to him and they’re like this is great who did it I was like I did them actually they’re like oh do you want to direct I was like I do they’re like why are you why don’t you say that come direct with us I still work with that guy that gave me the job today nice to this day So yeah, um, Oliver Hartman, shout out. Um, but yeah, so he gave me like that first opportunity.

And then, um, I don’t know, dude, I mean, as they said, the rest is history. The rest is like a million small, tough jobs. I think like starting out, I remember in New York city, like I would be on my bike and have like a backpack with camera and lenses, a tripod, like on the steering wheel that I’ve like zip tied down to like to get over the bridge. I mean, it’s not that much has changed actually now that I think about it a little. There’s maybe a couple more people, someone to carry the tripod, but other than that, yeah.

John Bertino

[11:31] It’s interesting because we interview a lot of agencies or in this case, production company owners. You’re one of the newer agency owners, but one of, in some ways, one of the more experienced individuals in that you’ve done this since you were 16 years old, maybe even before that. So, I think that’s a really interesting mix. All right, great. So, in doing preliminary research, not just for this episode, but for this series on nonprofit marketing in general, as is no surprise to

[12:03]

Mastering the Craft of Storytelling

John Bertino

[11:58] you, I’m sure storytelling comes up over and over and over again. But if anyone’s responsible for telling that story in depth, it’s you or your team or you guys really need to master the craft of telling a story. And again, for nonprofits, this is so incredibly mission critical. So, with that said, let me ask you the very difficult question of how do you tell a great story?

Billy Silva

[12:23]What I was saying earlier, it’s like that thing about simplicity I think so um I think a lot of non-profits well a lot of people in general over complicate everything um and a lot of what we’re finding our job is I don’t know as I don’t know uh amicably as possible or like as sort of as friendly as possible sort of educate um the people who work with you know that you know there’s the famous saying and they drill this to you throughout writing and film school kiss right keep it simple stupid right um you could remove the stupid and just keep it simple but like is

John Bertino

[12:57] That is that that’s a common.

Billy Silva

[12:58] Thing in film school yeah that’s a common thing in general people over complicate things like interesting like if you I’ve not heard that any great movie that you love I bet you can boil it down to a sentence you know like boy loves girl doesn’t know boy exists uh you know um Guy has money stolen, needs to get it back to save family. Right. Done.

You know, like all the other stuff, like those are just scenes, you know, like that’s. And again, so the great story is like and what so many nonprofits have. And I think they’re like one of their gold mines that is so often not utilized is access to characters, access to people who have incredible stories to tell that, like you connect with more than anything.

Billy Silva

[13:42]Um a lot of our job is like and I think this is the case a lot of non-profits um but it’s like what we do so much we want to tell everything we do and I think there’s a place for that you know there’s like videos that we do sometimes that are like let’s just in a really cool fun visually exciting way like tell you all the stuff we do but um I think a lot of the times it’s just like you know you’ll ask like well what’s can you tell me just like all these movies I tell you know like I was saying, like, you can still distill a great movie down that feels super complex into a sentence, you know? I mean, The Matrix feels complex, but at the end of the day, it’s like, guy doesn’t feel like he belongs, realizes he doesn’t, fights to belong, you know?

I mean, it’s along those lines, right? But you talk to nonprofits and they’re like, well, we can’t do that. You know, like there’s like, I’ve heard it from a number of nonprofits. There’s not a building tall enough to finish our elevator pitch. And it’s like, I think it’s, you gotta, you can shorten the pitch. Yeah. And then when you shorten it, tell what’s the small story that tells that. And maybe you’re going to have to do multiple stories.

But that’s the thing. You want to invite someone to come in and be really struck by what they’ve seen and feel something. And then they’ll ask the questions. But if you just dump on every mission statement you have, all the stats, all the things you do, that doesn’t like that maybe gets into your analytical brain a little bit, but it doesn’t, it’s hard to get into the heart through that.

John Bertino

[15:10] I think there’s a takeaway there already, if not several. Um, but as you talk, it reminds me, my backgrounds in digital marketing, they talk about to get conversions. Let’s use YouTube. What we’re doing right now is an example. They say that you shouldn’t ask people to, maybe you say like, and subscribe, but you shouldn’t say, like, subscribe, leave a comment. Don’t forget to share because then once you start giving people multiple requests, you get nothing.

So, the rule is like, make one request. And so, I think there’s a parallel there with tell one story to drive home one point. If you start trying to drive home multiple points, then people get lost in it and don’t know what maybe to do next. So that’s the one takeaway, I think another then is, so therefore, if you have multiple things you wanna say, that’s fine, do it in different videos is what I think I heard you say.

Billy Silva

[16:04] I mean, I think so. You know, and I know that can be tricky for some. So, I think, you know, part of it is distilling, what’s the one thing you could do. I would also just like add an addendum onto what you were saying. Or just make an amazing video and people will just organically want to watch more of it. Well, I mean, like, I mean, I’m just saying, but like, that’s like, I mean, like I will subscribe to contour. I’m like, this is awesome. I want to see more. I mean, like, and of course, like somebody saying at the end of that video, hey, if you like what you see, subscribe, it’s not going to stop me from subscribing. I’m just saying that. Right. So, if I, if it’s trash and somebody says that, like, I’m not, it’s not,

John Bertino

[16:37] Here’s an idea. Forget all the calls to action. Just make it fucking good. Yeah.

Billy Silva

[16:41] I mean, honestly, like I, I mean, yeah. Yeah. there’s a lot of there’s a lot of garbage out there okay but that’s and i don’t mean to like disparage anything but I mean it is like you people like oh how do you get through it how do you cut through how do we get hurt it’s like when was the last time you saw a video on the internet that gave you goosebumps when was the last time your eyes got watery because it’s very rare it’s happened but it’s like and when they do those things come out they pop out of the thing and they’re like there people share them organically because like dude you gotta see this video there’s a couple examples i could think of but yeah perfect segue okay great which

John Bertino

[17:13] Really is actually staying on the point. Because we’re talking about making an impression, storytelling. We talk about just make it great, but what does that mean? Which again, I know that’s a tough question. And it’s similar to this idea of like, we just need it to go viral or can you help me go viral?

[17:36]

Emotional Connections in Film

John Bertino

[17:30] And it’s like, there is no necessarily tried and true way to make anything go viral. And I would imagine in a similar way, there’s no tried-and-true guaranteed formula to make something great, but there’s maybe some elements of a potential formula.

So, you know, uh, I think specifically as it relates to nonprofits, it’s about emotional connection. So maybe you could give us your take on making something great through the lens of building emotional connections. How do you do it?

Billy Silva

[17:59]You know, I mean, I think like films are like relationships a little bit like, you know, I mean, um, if you have one person that you can empathize with, you can connect with, you put a lot of yourself in that person, you know, um, you know, like it’s your protagonist, is an avatar for everybody for you I mean everybody sees themselves in some aspect of themselves in harry potter you know harry potter’s out there doing all this you know I mean like that’s what the thing is so I think it’s just like um yeah and those are conversations that we have nonprofits and again sometimes again that’s sometimes you want to touch on an issue and like that’s the instinct and sometimes that can be effective right but it’s always like if you have someone through which to talk about that issue or to show it for example just throw this out there a non-profit that deals with um child poverty and malnutrition you could um show lots of shots of children and food lines you could show the massive the enormity of the problem you could show you know why this happens what the potential solutions are all this Or you could tell a film about a little girl who wakes up and, uh, doesn’t have breakfast. And that’s it.

John Bertino

[19:11] You could, but I have a get the hunch that, that you’re leaning towards the ladder. Yeah. Yes. Yes.

Billy Silva

[19:15] Well, to me. Yeah. Because like that you get, I mean, this is like, I mean, it’s a dark and tragic example, but like one of the sad things, and I remember this growing up and hearing this, you know, as a, as a, as a kid, but it was like, you know, on like cable, you’d have the feed the children episodes you know and like and after and you’d see this the enormity of this problem and sometimes when you show all of it even though that’s real you as an individual you’re like I can’t like that’s well that’s too far gone can’t do that like what am I gonna do whereas if you can show one story and you can go like but there’s this one kid and then you have 10 000 people just giving for that one kid okay maybe that didn’t show the whole enormity of your operation. But at the end of the day, like, was it more effective? And this is like our constant battle of like, do you, I don’t know. It’s like, what’s more important?

Like, do you want to get the attention and the resources to further your nonprofit and further your impact and your mission? Or do you really want to just tell everybody what you do? And I guess, and I get it. And I, and I get that, that push and pull because sometimes, you know, we’re all complex things. Organizations do a lot of stuff. And so, it’s hard to be like, we do this, or this is one example of what you do, but A lot of times it’s more effective, I think.

John Bertino

[20:32] Yeah, or there’s probably numerous terrible side effects of the poverty in a given area or country, but if we try to show or address them all, then again, perhaps we water down our message where if we focused on one specific individual or one specific family, what they’re dealing with, it perhaps hits home more, the more digestible.

I think it’s actually an incredible point. It’s probably one of those things that if you’re in the business, if you do what you do for a living, it’s kind of like, well, everybody knows that. But when you don’t do what you do for a living, for me, like that was a bit of an epiphany.

And I actually, I think there was a very similar comment from one of the other video production experts we interviewed in a different niche. And so, it’s starting to drive the point home for me, which is really powerful. Is there a name for that? Like, I know you went to film school. Do they have a name for like, is it like a character lead or?

Billy Silva

[21:24] No, I don’t know. Actually, I mean, like character focus. Character focus. Like, I don’t know. I mean, it’s just like, I’ve seen, I’ve seen great, super captivating things that talk about an issue or a problem where it’s like, the issue is so big that it’s actually, that’s like bigger, you know? Like, for example, like, um, you know, there are certain issues that want to be told in the big size. Like, uh, I’ll just take like the, like the social dilemma, right?

Like talks about like the, the use of like social media and phones and screens, um, the effect it has on, on young people today. And it was super compelling. um I think Jonathan height just has like a new book too that also feels super compelling and like that’s a thing where it’s like the power is in the it’s happening to so many kids and like all of those little stories for the most part fall into obscurity or anonymity a little bit because they’re like it’s not the one story of you know the girl who was bullied or the guy who was bullied and you know either hurt themselves or something bad happened it’s like this has happened to 20 kids at this high school and it’s happened in a thousand high schools in this state and you’re just like okay this is this is the real thing so I’m not saying like it’s a case-by-case thing I’m saying in a lot of cases yeah you know focusing on a single story is just more impactful to us where it’s easier for us to take it in you know good stuff so.

John Bertino

[22:42] On the example you gave about hunger and poverty, it begets another common thing

[22:55]

Ethical Filmmaking Considerations

John Bertino

[22:51] that came up in some of my preliminary research about ethical considerations. And at first, I was kind of confused. I understand these are touchy subjects, but I wasn’t sure why ethical considerations kept coming up in my keyword research. I’m an SEO by trade.

I look at everything through the lens of SEO. Yeah. And what I was able to come across is just this idea of, you know, you want to be careful not to exploit, I suppose, some of the situations or come off in a distasteful way. And with you actually being responsible for what’s happening behind the scenes with the production of it, could you talk about that a little bit? Is there?

Billy Silva

[23:33] Yeah.

John Bertino

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Billy Silva

[24:44] It’s always a concern and always something that we think a lot about going into the story, talking to the people who are going to feature in the stories, how we film it. I think it comes from a place of intention. Um and I think it comes from mutual respect between filmmaker and subject um there’s a bond there’s a trust that you have to form there um you know i think um

Billy Silva

[25:13] But yeah, also like never, never looking at anyone with a sense of pity or shame or anything. Like every person has dignity and whatever their circumstances. And it’s, it’s, you have to recognize that. And I think it’s also just like a good way to move through the world.

It’s how I moved to the world. I mean, I don’t, you know, respect everyone. Everyone has a story. Everyone’s going through something. And, um, you know, if you are say working for a nonprofit that deals with food insecurity for people who you know have found themselves in hard times or just like because of the way things are set up like they just don’t have the money or they’ve got you know I mean so many people live on like the check to check that like one thing gets cut or goes wrong and you you’ve heard the story a million times but it just kind of it snowballs and um and so I’d always like to focus on people’s strength and resiliency like instead of like having a film about that that focuses just on the poverty aspect or the fact that they don’t have food. I want to focus on how hard they’re working to make sure that they can provide for their kids. And you might notice that person’s working a lot harder to provide for their kids than I have to work.

Billy Silva

[26:23] And so it’s generating respect, you know, and it’s, it’s, you know, we, the, the, the, the thing that we always try to like to avoid and things like that. And we talk about it a lot.

I mean, Gia and I have made films um all over the world um in some of like the poorest communities uh in Peru um and always avoid what we call poverty porn this sense of like oh let me get the shot of like the naked kid in the trash like dude no precisely like what is that telling like you can see from where we are that this place is different you don’t need to focus on all of that like we’re aware of it it’s not effective, I think no one wants, no one wants your pity, you know, at the end of the day.

John Bertino

[27:05] Interesting. That’s a great take on what I know is a tricky question, but again, at risk of being redundant, it came up over and over again. So clearly, it’s a super important thing. It’s a really delicate terrain to navigate when you’re in the business.

Billy Silva

[27:22] I still have to navigate it. Yeah. All the time where you’re like, oh, whoops.

John Bertino

[27:24] Yeah, I bet. I’m sure you find yourself editing certain things out because they get a little too much into that realm of poverty.

Billy Silva

[27:32] Porn and it’s sometimes like and sometimes like you gotta touch on it like a little bit or like some of the pain of something like again and it’s like it comes down to attention you know it’s like intention and respect I don’t know I think that’s sort of and it’s you know I wish there was like I don’t wish there were but there isn’t a checklist to go down it’s like I don’t know I mean I think that’s one of the things that like I mean I’ve always found that like talented filmmakers are also like just some of the smartest people I’ve met and like they’re you know like they’re complex they have you know complex understanding of how things work I mean there’s like and I love I’ve found myself loving more and more filmmakers who are older when I was like younger I was like Orson Welles made citizen gain at 24 like Tarantino’s making this at 28 and now I’m like man like Bergman and Kurosawa like they made their like best stuff at like 70 yeah you know it’s like it’s like we got a 30 under 30 Forbes list like I want the 50 over 50, you know, like, um, yeah.

So, I don’t know.

[28:32]

Navigating Budget Constraints

Billy Silva

[28:30] That’s, I’m kind of rambling there, but you know, you get it.

John Bertino

[28:32] No, it’s good stuff. Um, something else I think you just briefly touched on during our pre-call was that, and I think this comes back to some cash constraints that nonprofits might often have.

Um, a lot of them might be coming to you without their story or their key talking points clearly mapped out. And their responsibility starts to fall on you because they might not have a PR agency that they’re working closely with, or they just might not be on set, or they might not have a branding agency that’s helped them massage their messaging.

So again, it’s kind of might fall on you to map some of that out. Do you have a process for identifying key elements of a story or, um, some type of formula for, uh, determining what exactly you’re going to talk about and how you’re going to run it through the film? I’m kind of looking for the, the technical approach to solving this.

Billy Silva

[29:29] Yeah. Um, working on it. Yeah. Um, I mean, it’s, yeah, I mean, we’re, you know, again, we’ve been in operation now for about a year. Um, I mean, like there’s all the stuff that you learn making films sure throughout time but like that particular thing and that particular problem yeah because it’s a thing right it’s a thing time is money um and so like it’s also getting the most out of like a limited schedule exactly you know and then that’s the thing in filmmaking is always like shed more time but it’s like okay like we can do a week of prep and a two-day shoot and then you get like a three-week edit you know where it’s like it’s compressed you know um for it to work but I think it’s um I mean we’re just finding out it’s like clarity communication um and also everybody’s coming at you every different organization has the people have different backgrounds right there’s no like all non-profits are this we haven’t found that um for sure there’s such a wide array so why there’s some that do have like a bigger media budget some that have this some that are like they’re four people and it’s like this is we don’t know what to do so we work with them to figure that out like okay what do you have what access to stories do you have what are you trying to get across what are your goals and then we work together to figure that out um And I think it’s just being clear and communicating to really get there. But yeah, that’s a challenge that we’re trying to figure out as well.

John Bertino

[30:47] Understood. I would imagine you have like a list of questions, perhaps, that you cycle people through to start to extract some of those details. You mentioned a week of prep. Curious to know a little bit more about what that prep consists of, because I think in there is some of the, the, the mass, the, the mastery that you guys have, right. That you know what to prep for, what to plan for, even if it goes beyond the story. So maybe talk about what it is you’re planning for, because once you get to the shoot, you know, I mean.

Billy Silva

[31:19] The shoot is you’ve written yourself like a list of instructions and it just the way, the speed at which it moves, it’s all there. Like you’re basically just filling out the checklist. Exactly. So, what’s the checklist i said that and then i was like the last year i was on i actually had to pivot a couple

John Bertino

[31:35] Tell us about.

Billy Silva

[31:35] It the work beforehand is like understanding and sometimes the reality is like sometimes I think working with some organizations like they have an idea they know what they don’t want but there’s a lot of times where people don’t know what is actually going to serve them best and it’s figuring out that thing like we don’t want to presume what it is but like they might not know exactly so it is like understanding what their core mission values are their goals are and then okay so if your goal is to end this or to stop this or to educate about this What are some of the things you guys do?

Who, what’s your staff? Like, who do you, who’s the, who are the people in the pop? Like, who do you help? You know, do you have access? Have you worked with anybody that you think would be that like totally exemplifies the work you do perfectly? Would they be interested in talking? You know, it’s like that. And I mean, again, and you know, like most of, most of filmmaking or directing is like a joke. It’s like 90% of directing is casting. Um, but it’s not far off. Like, I don’t know. I mean, maybe give or take, but like, it’s the person that you decide to, the story you decide to focus on. So I think a lot of it is that.

John Bertino

[32:43] Casting, that’s an interesting call out there.

Billy Silva

[32:45] Yeah. I mean, because it’s like, okay, well, who’s the story? And then it might be multiple people. And then if it is, it’s figuring out, okay, what’s the best way to tell that story? I mean.

John Bertino

[32:54] Are you pre-interviewing?

Billy Silva

[32:57] Sometimes, sometimes. I think, you know, it’s a delicate balance between the pre-interview thing, because sometimes it’s helpful because you get a sense of like okay this is what the person’s into this is like or this is their vibe this is their story some you know more or less I’ve also done pre-interviews and then in the sort of like catharsis of sharing your story because I think everybody like they want to be able to share their story you know um but in that moment of release like it’s incredibly emotional and they’ve like never told anyone and you’re on a zoom call doing a pre-interview and like the waterworks are coming and like okay maybe you’ve recorded the zoom call but it’s like oh shit like hold on I don’t have a camera and it’s like this would have been amazing to have captured that catharsis because it’s powerful you know um and so maybe at risk it losing that sometimes like also too it’s like maybe you’re dealing with a really sensitive subject matter we just did um a film for one of Toyota’s non-profit arms the way forward fund um with uh an amazing non-profit based out of Dallas fort worth called the shaken baby alliance so you can kind of imagine what they work with yeah and that was a very delicate balance of like you know we decided ultimately not to do pre-interviews we had access we knew what the stories were based off of people at the agency who told us what their stories were, but it’s like.

John Bertino

[34:16] Let me interject. Yeah. So, the agency helped you identify people with stories that were, whatever it was, impactful enough that they would make for compelling content. But you made the cautious decision not to do pre-interviews so that you could get that raw, unfiltered.

Billy Silva

[34:34] Also too, it’s like, you’re talking to people about some of like the most traumatic experiences that anybody can have. And it’s like, I don’t like, I’m only gonna ask, you don’t, you only have to talk about this once. Right. Like, thank you for sharing your story and having that courage. Like that’s, you’re there. And like, again, that comes down to that mutual respect thing where it’s like, yeah, I don’t like, we’ll figure it out on the day.

Like, I don’t need, I have an idea of where your story could go and you don’t, I don’t want you to have to talk about it to a stranger twice. And it’s also like, we haven’t met yet. There’s something about being in the same room with someone too. You know, it’s like, hi, you can look in someone’s eyes. You can, I don’t know, feel whatever that energy is that someone emanates, you know, it’s like

John Bertino

[35:15] That begets another interesting line of discussion about making them feel comfortable in that day of environment to share their story. This is something else that came up a little bit in a prior interview.

Perhaps you can take it a few steps further for us. So, I mean, especially since you’re in the nonprofit space, you’re dealing with a lot of, but sometimes, not always, but sometimes are really traumatic situations. How do you create an environment that allows those individuals to feel comfortable enough to share their story in the most genuine way?

Billy Silva

[35:54] Yeah. I don’t know. I think it’s, um, it’s like a, just a personality attribute. I don’t know. This is a really describe it.

John Bertino

[36:02] You usually the guy that’s in there working hands on with them.

Billy Silva

[36:05] Yeah. I’d like to, I mean, always like if we’re going to make a film together, um, I want you to make the film with me too. It’s, it can’t be, it’s not a one-way street. If it’s, if it’s going to work, you know, um, I’m interested in you.

You should be interested me too I’m asking you to talk about your personal life or things that have happened to you on camera the least I can do is open up about myself to you when we meet um and also just like show kindness and be welcoming um you know sometimes a film set can you’re on a schedule you gotta move I mean like further

John Bertino

[36:40] Makes it tricky.

Billy Silva

[36:40] Yeah but also it’s like you don’t have to don’t worry about that you know you know I’m respectful of your time and that but I think it’s like yeah just being I don’t know I mean to me it’s like I’m trying to be as genuine as I can be I mean like I’m not like open and honest like this is what we’re looking for thank you for coming you know like and then yeah I think it’s just it’s the same way that you would you know if you know a stranger came into your house how you would welcome them like I don’t know I think it’s again it’s one of those things I say it’s like the simple thing but it

John Bertino

[37:14] Sounds like for you it comes a little bit natural. And in our limited interactions together, you have a real authentic and natural way about you, which probably helps. But I would imagine that maybe for other video production companies, this comes as more of a challenge, this idea of sitting down with folks and coming from these backgrounds and trying to find a way to get them to feel comfortable and open up.

Billy Silva

[37:38] Yeah, I mean, I think it goes both ways, though. I mean, I’m doing the nonprofit stuff now because the commercial agency side stuff was harder for me like I know a lot of directors who are so good at agency speak like boom they come in they know the thing they know the words the buzz what they got it want to hear and I’m like I don’t know like they’re like I was a Billy guy I don’t know if he’s cut out for this you know and I’m like but you know so it’s like it goes both ways I mean like you know I’m the smaller thing it’s like with a regular person like i guess That’s where, that’s where I flourish.

John Bertino

[38:10] So speaking of the business side of it, kind of looking at it through the opposite lens now, budget constraints. Again, I’m throwing it as the most difficult questions I possibly can.

Billy Silva

[38:22] No, no, no, no. I mean, yeah, let’s get it.

John Bertino

[38:25] You’re a good sport, right? Yeah. So coupled with all those things we covered of, man, you got to tell a good story. You need people to feel comfortable. You want to be careful not to make it look like you’re, you’re, you’re leaning into the awful aspects of what folks are going through in bad situations and leaning into the good stuff. How do you do that on a budget? What’s your approach to that?

Billy Silva

[38:50] Yeah. I mean, again, I think our, like our approach has been always like, I don’t know, it’s like probably a cliche, but it’s like, treat, treat the potential problems as features, not bugs. Oh elaborate if you could in the operation so it’s like we’re working with non-profits we’re never gonna get the big budget okay so what does that mean it’s like okay then we have small crews you know um we operate faster um one of the reasons i mean we do a lot of remote work you know we don’t have an we don’t have an we don’t have an office we don’t have a brick and mortar I mean it’d be nice to but like we’re operating off of a new thing where I mean we’re agency and production company combined in one we develop everything from creative the strategy and approach to the execution and production and delivery. We’re kind of missing distribution at the moment, but that’s something that we’re interested in exploring, obviously. But, um,

Billy Silva

[39:40] Yeah. So, it’s like, we’re never going to get the big budgets. Um, and our bread and butter is going to be that. Like, I mean, we’re talking numbers. I probably like the, you know, 30 to 80 range, you know? And like, that’s like our thing, you know, we’re not getting, some nonprofits spending 200 grand on a video. I mean, there’s, there are, but they’re like hard to come by. And then, and then we’re competing with like top tier commercial production companies who have like incredible directorial talent who, you know, I mean, you look at the rosters of some companies and it’s like, oh, didn’t that guy win an Academy Award last year?

I mean, like that’s I mean, so, you know, so we know we know what that is. And we’ve basically figured out a couple formulas for types of films. You know, there’s like the story film. There’s maybe a brand film. There’s maybe something shorter that is geared towards social. I mean, everything is going to be on social at some point. But then maybe there’s a film that wants to go like the festival route, right? That can go that route that can achieve some sort of level of distribution and press and earned media through that route so like we’re always figuring it out but like yeah, the reality is like we’re a small team we’ve got to work efficiently we’ve got to work pretty fast yeah i mean are there sometimes as unfortunate like yeah there’s sometimes where it’s like

Billy Silva

[40:55] That’s for what you want and to what we can accomplish like that’s not doable and then you know um the reality is like sometimes i think it’s this is tough especially because we’re starting and growing you don’t want to say no to anything but then sometimes it’s just being like yeah

John Bertino

[41:12] That can really be.

Billy Silva

[41:13] Because then that person’s like well now we’re never going to talk to you again right even we have a budget right and so you’re like oh I want to but I think it’s like it’s being like you guys come to us because we’re storytellers and we do this thing well um and we’re telling you like I mean you can talk to a price consultant or whatever like there’s no way you’re doing this for less and if you can somebody’s either lying to you or they’re not going to deliver at the level you want this product to be um and just being open right from the get-go and sometimes it’s a bummer we have to go setting

John Bertino

[41:47] Expectations is.

Billy Silva

[41:49] Yeah and I’m just learning that because I’m like I’m such a people pleaser by nature and so like i hate disappointing people like it’s so uncomfortable for me to be that person so it’s like it’s also I’ve that’s like a personal thing that I’m working on of like, sorry, you know? So anyway, that’s, I think that’s the dance, like being realistic and, you know, I don’t, I’ve gotten like pretty good at, you know, doing stuff for cheap to where like, I don’t even know what I would do on a huge set. I’d be like, what are all these people doing?

[42:23]

Strategies for Efficient Filmmaking

John Bertino

[42:19] You mentioned you’ve gotten pretty good at doing things cheap or on a lean budget. Any specific things come to mind? Little tricks up your sleeve you don’t mind sharing?

Billy Silva

[42:28] Tricks up the sleeve. I mean you know um we do stuff a lot of travel stuff we joke we have a rule called the car rule crew fits in a car nice and it’s a joke so basically like you’ve got a director you’ve got a do who’s probably an operator too um and a sound person and then a producer maybe a production assistant who’s also someone who’s like driving like that but it’s like you’re in a van probably but I think you have like three in the back two in the front you know it’s like the most part like keeping the crudely we don’t need I mean cameras are incredible now like just the ability to beautifully capture natural light and stuff like that we don’t need to lug a stuff around a ton of stuff around like sometimes we do I mean depends on what it calls for but so that’s one yeah um small footprint um and then i think it’s like yeah prep as much as you can, but also be so ready to pivot on the spot.

John Bertino

[43:22] Uh, another recurring theme, whenever I talk to smart and seasoned video folks is prep, prep, prep, the old.

Billy Silva

[43:31] Uh, fix it and prep. What is it? Fix it and prep. People joke like fix it and post, but yeah, yeah.

John Bertino

[43:36] Fix it and prep.

Billy Silva

[43:38] Yeah. Yeah. Like try to avoid the problem, but you know, sometimes planning. Yeah. But sometimes you get there and you’re telling a story, and you’ve had this whole story in your mind, right?

Like you’re like, okay, it’s gonna be like this and then oh I could do this it’s hard for I mean I’m always like envisioning this movie already edited in my head yeah then you get there and they say something you’re like wait what uh sorry that’s the story yeah okay well never mind so you’re like yeah that’s the story like we forget what we had planned we just we got a new avenue here And you got to also be ready to kind of just go, let’s follow that.

John Bertino

[44:10] It’s funny too. What we’re doing here is very meta as we film, and you story tell and we talk about filming and storytelling. And even before the show, we talked about how much to prep to not prep. What’s that DiCaprio movie where it’s like the thing within the thing within the thing inception. Yeah. I feel like I’m in.

Billy Silva

[44:28] That’s funny that you mentioned that actually we use that as a reference a lot. Like just joking, like you’ve got to incept ideas. You know, it’s like where it’s like the whole thing of that movie is like, I don’t know, Cillian Murphy’s character, like can’t, it’s like, he can’t know that you gave him the idea. You’ve got it. It’s like, I thought of the idea, but ultimately it was like

[44:48]

Common Nonprofit Mistakes

Billy Silva

[44:46] the idea you needed them to think, you know? So yeah, that happens a lot.

John Bertino

[44:49] I think we’ve just answered this when it comes to planning, but I wanted to ask you about things that nonprofits might be getting wrong or that you see over and over again when you’re brought in where you go, okay, don’t do that. Do this instead. Anything come to mind?

Billy Silva

[45:03] Yeah. Um, I mean, I think I would say like a pattern that I see pretty regularly and it’s also like, I get it too, you know? And so, I think that’s why we, we do offer various services, but I think it’s, I mentioned earlier, like this thing of like, uh, you know, um, there’s not a building tall enough for us to give our elevator pitch because we do so much. We do this, we do that, we do it here, we do it there.

And that’s awesome. Like we don’t just do this, we do this. And like, we don’t want to be known for the nonprofit that just does this thing that people, like we do a lot of other things, which is great. And I think, you know, we also worked with, with nonprofits to do engaging and fun brand films where we to talk about all that, but that’s a different ask than like, no one’s ever going to cry at the end of that video.

John Bertino

[45:48] Talk about a brand film because I think it’s to the point, differentiate if you could between the brand film and how would you characterize the other?

Billy Silva

[45:56] I would probably summarize it in like a brand film is about the mission, broad, broadly speaking um and then our character driven stories or mission films we call them are about your mission in action so let’s just take the example that we used earlier for um the child poverty and hunger there’s the brand film which is all the missions you do all the things you do how many people you help you know you can put numbers on the things which is really helpful for your like donors to see for the public to see absolutely and it’s a great way to like have people understand what your mission is maybe you can show it when you do presentations or you go elsewhere or whatever and then there’s the mission film and that’s the film though that where your donors and audiences see it and they start crying and they realize deep down in their heart in the part of like the most human part of them like wow we did that we changed that person’s life um

Billy Silva

[46:56] I don’t know if this is like, this is super dark. And so maybe cut this out and things, but I just, I come to think of it just because it’s like, I mean, he was one of the most influential people of the 20th century, but of all people, Joseph Stalin, you know, I mean, it’s dark that he said it, but there’s some truth to it where he said the death of one is a tragedy. The death of a million is a statistic because like, it’s just, it’s like, Oh my God, that’s so dark and horrible. But it’s like, what he was getting at is like the brain can’t comprehend. The heart can’t comprehend. Sometimes it’s, some things are so big that we just don’t get it. We’re not, humans aren’t designed to do it. We’ve evolved in like small social groups.

Like that’s not, but like one person, I see the suffering of one person, and I want to stop it. I want to do it ever I can help that one person. Um, and that’s, those are the different asks. And I think they’re both valid. They just require totally different approaches. Um, and we’re open to, to doing both. Um, but I would say that’s the difference of the very apropos.

John Bertino

[47:49] And I think it actually taking a step or two back answers the question quite well of one of the ways to not dilute the message is to separate the message into different types of videos let’s be clear on what’s a brand video versus again how we are mission video mission video yeah and.

Billy Silva

[48:06] 100 also like we’re all connected like i would definitely say like um I think sometimes i would say like the spends of some non-profits I’ve worked with maybe and like things but like, you know, I’ve worked with organizations where it’s like you do the gala film and everyone’s going to watch this movie in this gala. That’s all your donor base and like prospective donor base are in one place. So, the film that you show them is going to be incredibly important. Right. Like that’s where people are writing their checks at the gala.

I mean, like if we’re going to just talk brass tacks about it. Yeah. And maybe you spent, you know, 25K on the video. Like, OK, understand it and things. But then your floral arrangement budget 70. And I get it like right I like you want to make people feel good there’s things but it’s interesting to me that there are like set prices where no one went what 70 for a floor they’re like yeah that’s what floral arrangements cost how many times i have to like this movie’s gonna cost 40 and they’re like how like my son did an amazing TikTok video that was seen by 10 000 people and he just did it on his phone you know for sure i can’t you know but like that’s not i

John Bertino

[49:12] Think he just touched on something really interesting, taking us down a path I wasn’t expecting to go, which is a good thing. Okay. And you talk about how do we make it work on a budget? Yeah. Well, maybe you should be pulling from other budgets. And then, and then I think another.

Billy Silva

[49:28] I’m going to coin that, right? Yeah.

John Bertino

[49:30] And then another takeaway there is, you know, you just think about what the type of value extract and let’s use the floral arrangement example. Yes. The floral arrangements might make those donors feel really welcoming that they’re in a beautiful environment that day. But the video, as you were alluding to, we’re really directly saying is what creates that most authentic and real emotional connection.

But now I’ll add on to that, that video can be repurposed and repackaged over and over and over again. There’s my digital marketer brain coming through, right? How that, what are you typically maybe a five, 10-minute video, right? We can get exponential amounts of short form content out of that that can be distributed all through social. So, the reach you would have to assume is going to be exponentially larger than again, those floral arrangements.

[50:23]

The Value of Compelling Video Content

Billy Silva

[50:24] 100%. I mean, there’s like, so, you know, one of the things that, um, you know, uh, a film that we had a few years ago, dual say for conservation international, um, you know, it, uh, one, uh, at a couple great festivals. It was at Sundance, uh, it was at TIFF, um, conservation international, like realized the value of that. And they went to those festivals. They set up a booth.

They met with people. They talked with prospective donors. They showed it to people. People felt like they were involved in something to this day. Uh you know Guia my co-founder he still gets emails for screening requests and museums around the world it’s screened at over 100 festivals it’s done screenings and each one of those moments and it’s gotten press that’s all earned media that’s every time that’s a that’s a chance for conservation international to remind people that they’re there huge and it began like are one of the difficulties we have and we’re working on it now is how to quantify that you know and how to pull those metrics and make a compelling pitch that’s based on that.

John Bertino

[51:20] Good luck.

Billy Silva

[51:21] I mean, if you got advice on that, please, digital marketers out there, please shoot me an email. How do you do that? Let’s talk. I’m lost. We’ll talk off camera. I know one part of it. That’s a part that’s new.

John Bertino

[51:32] I think we’re up against it. Time flies when you’re having fun, Billy.

Billy Silva

[51:35] Yeah, dude. Sorry, you got me rambling.

John Bertino

[51:38] That was great. But for those out there that want to get in touch with you and talk to you about your video production expertise for nonprofits or otherwise, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?

Billy Silva

[51:47] Yeah, you can just go to our site, 76 Degrees West, and our emails there. Contact at 76 Degrees West. But yeah, feel free to shoot us an email and maybe you can put it in the show notes or something. Will do. That’s helpful. Okay, great.

Music

[52:00]