International production
Two weeks, eight states, more than two dozen cities and material for more than 30 documentary-style marketing videos.
Dream Engine founder Ryan Spanger travelled from Melbourne to join Sam Cook of Prism Communications on a two-week filming trip across the United States.
We made marketing videos for Sam’s clients using interviews, customer accounts and footage of them coaching and training.
The original idea
Helping coaches explain their work
Sam wanted potential clients to see the coaches at work and hear from the people they trained.
Sam worked with established coaches and athletes in endurance sport. They weren’t comfortable delivering a sales pitch to camera, and the videos felt stiff and overly promotional.
After seeing Ryan speak about web video at a conference in Australia, Sam approached him about filming his clients. They agreed on a documentary format, with relaxed interviews and footage of coaching sessions.
On the road
Filming across eight states
We filmed in homes and training grounds across the country. These were some of the stops along the way.
The trip continued beyond these selected stops, reaching eight states and more than two dozen cities in all.
Cross-country production
Daily life on the shoot
We carried camera gear from one location to the next and filmed people where they lived, worked and trained. There were early starts, long drives, quick meals and the constant unpacking and repacking of equipment.
Some days involved three or four emotionally demanding interviews. One location could mean an interview in a living room. The next could mean following swimmers into open water or filming a running session outdoors.
People and stories
Filming leading figures in endurance sport
We interviewed coaches and athletes about their work, then spoke with their clients about their experiences of being coached.
Terry Laughlin
Founder of Total Immersion, influential swimming coach and author.
Bobby McGee
Elite running coach who has coached five Olympic teams and nine Olympic medallists.
Mark Plaatjes
Winner of the men’s marathon at the 1993 World Championships.
The wider group included TriDot founder Jeff Booher, former Penn State dean James B. “Jim” Thomas, Total Immersion coaching educator Suzanne Atkinson, MD, and Paul Lurie, a retired paediatric cardiologist who was still refining his swimming technique in his 90s.
During the Total Immersion filming, one swimmer living with serious illness described the freedom she felt in the water.
Interviews like hers helped explain what people got out of the coaching. We combined those accounts with footage of the coaches teaching.
Production approach
Interviews and coaching footage
At each location, we recorded interviews and filmed the coaching and training sessions. The material included:
- Conversational interviews
- Specific examples explored through follow-up questions
- Client and athlete testimonials
- Coaching, training and observational footage
The shoot produced material for more than 30 marketing videos introducing the coaches, explaining their methods and sharing their clients’ experiences.
Working with an overseas partner
Planning a shoot across the USA
Ryan worked with Sam to cover more than two dozen cities in two weeks.
The schedule had to allow for travel, interviews and filming at each stop. We adapted the camera and interview setups to each location.
Our corporate documentary work uses the same approach: interview people about their experiences and film the work they’re describing.
Companion podcast
Listen to Ryan’s account of the trip
After the trip, Ryan recorded a detailed conversation about documentary sales videos, the interviews and the experience of travelling across the US with Sam.
Client feedback
Sam’s feedback on the videos
I saw the difference that your video quality made in everything, the quality of the sound, the quality of the video, the quality of interviews … If you do it right with all of these different quality elements in place, you just absolutely transform your business.
Planning a documentary or customer-story project across multiple locations?
Tell us who needs to be filmed, where the story takes place and what the finished videos need to achieve. We can help shape the interviews, schedule and production plan.
Ryan Spanger is the founder and managing director of Dream Engine, a Melbourne video production company established in 2002. Over the past two decades, he’s produced hundreds of videos for businesses, government departments, universities and healthcare organisations across Australia. Ryan specialises in helping organisations explain complex ideas through clear, engaging video content, with particular experience in corporate communications, training and education.
