What We Think About Before We Ever Pick Up a Camera

Before we start rolling—before interviews are scheduled, cameras are packed, or shots are framed—we ask questions.

Not about what lens we’ll use.
Not about what color grade the footage will have.
But about people.

Who is this for?
What do we want them to feel?
What do we hope they’ll do after watching?

I work with nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and mission-driven teams that are doing real work with real impact. Often, the stories we help tell are deeply personal—stories about illness, care, transformation, and resilience. And when that’s the case, filmmaking becomes less about execution and more about intention.

We don’t show up with a shot list and hope it connects.
We show up with empathy, strategy, and a deep commitment to getting the story right.

That means spending time in pre-interviews listening for emotional anchors.
It means asking a lot of “why” questions—not just “what happened.”
It means making sure every visual choice we make is grounded in purpose.

Because here’s the truth:

Great films don’t start with cameras. They start with clarity.

Clarity of message.
Clarity of audience.
Clarity of intent.

Only when we have that—only when we know what the story needs to do—do we pick up the camera.