A public-sector pilot lives or dies on whether the people who fund it can see it working. A slide deck with outcomes is a slide deck. A two-minute film with the program staff, the residents in it and the numbers on screen is what a council member forwards to the committee chair the night before the vote.
The Kansas City angle
Kansas City has a real civic-innovation track record: the smart-city corridor on Main Street, the zero-fare transit decision, the KC Digital Drive work on broadband, the Unified Government's neighborhood programs, the library systems' community services. Each started as a pilot with a champion and a deadline, and each had to prove itself on a short clock.
The local angle is the resident. Programs are abstract; a family on a specific block in a specific neighborhood, saying what changed, is not.
The program, the people and the number
We would film a day with the program: the staff doing the work, the residents using the service, the place it happens. Two or three short interviews: the program lead on what it does and what it costs, a resident on what it changed, a partner or funder on why they backed it. The outcome numbers go on screen, sourced, at the end.
A two-minute film for the council presentation and the funder report, a sixty-second version for public channels, and the interviews as stand-alone clips for the committee packets.
What to actually make
- A two-minute program film — the work, the people and the outcomes, for the decision-makers.
- A public cut — sixty seconds for the city's channels and the press.
- Stakeholder interviews — the lead, a resident, a partner, as separate clips.
- Annual update format — the same structure repeated each year so the story compounds.
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.