Public comment periods fail for a simple reason: the people affected do not know they are happening, and the people who show up are the same forty residents every time. Video is the only medium that reaches the other ninety-five percent where they are, on a phone, at night, with the sound off.
The Kansas City angle
The Kansas City region runs public engagement constantly: the KCMO budget process, the parks master plans, the Johnson County and Jackson County transportation plans, the downtown stadium and streetcar conversations, the Wyandotte County neighborhood planning. Most of it is announced with a flyer and a public meeting at six on a Tuesday.
The local angle is showing the place. A video about a park plan, filmed in the park with the people who use it, is the difference between a survey nobody fills out and one that gets two thousand responses.
One plan, one neighborhood, one call to comment
We would film the place the plan is about and the people who use it: the park, the corridor, the intersection, the branch library. A short interview with the planner explaining what is being decided and what the choices are. Three or four residents on camera about what they want. Then a single, clear call to comment with the URL and the deadline burned in.
A ninety-second engagement film for the campaign, thirty-second cuts per neighborhood or language, and a follow-up piece afterwards showing what the feedback changed, which is the piece that builds trust for next time.
What to actually make
- A 90-second engagement film — the place, the choices, the residents, the ask.
- Neighborhood and language cuts — thirty seconds each, targeted where the comments are missing.
- A meeting recap — for the people who could not attend, posted within a day.
- A "what changed" follow-up — after the comment period, showing the feedback in the final plan.
What it costs in Kansas City
For most of the businesses in this post the right starting point is the Story Film at $4,500: a full shoot day with interviews, cut into a two-to-three-minute film. Every package is published on our corporate video page, and the video production cost page explains what moves the number up or down. There is no travel fee anywhere in the metro, Overland Park to Lee's Summit to Lawrence.
How the shoot works
It is the same two people on every project, Josh and Brandon. We scope it on a call, write the shot list, show up with lights and a lav mic, and stay out of the way of your customers. A first cut lands in about two weeks with unlimited revisions after that, and you own every frame, including the raw footage on request.
If this is your business, the corporate video page has the packages, the examples and the calendar link. If you are not sure which package fits, this is how we work and why the prices are on the site.