Stories
News, project launches and thoughts from our team.
Project AMPLIFI : St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
When it comes to telling a story or delivering a message – healthcare communications professionals often have a delicate balance to strike. They need to deliver grand, complex visions to an incredibly broad audience (think: doctors, care workers, patients & families) …all at the same time.
We recently had the pleasure of working with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton on this piece for their province-wide initiative, Project AMPLIFI. With a snappy script and vibrant brand-aligned animation – we explained their guiding vision, underlying intention and ground-breaking technology in a way that’s easy to understand. The results speak for themselves.
This approach has struck that perfect balance, helping the St. Joe’s comms team create a message that’s more effective, engaging and understandable – across every audience! Do you need a hand with your next #healthcare campaign? It’s our specialty! Reach out : roz@doublebarrelstudios.com :) #animation #technology #communications #publicrelations
Behind the Scenes Video
Shortly after beginning Double Barrel we had the pleasure of meeting with two of Hamilton’s greatest promoters – Marc Skulnick and Kate Sharrow of Hamilton Magazine.
They were working on some upcoming fashion spreads and asked if we’d be willing to shoot some behind-the-scenes video that they could use to promote the upcoming issue.
Models, gorgeous clothes and stunning locations? What’s not to love? We jumped on board, produced a few pieces and had a fabulous time doing it.
Thanks so much for having us along Hamilton Mag!
IndieGoGo Campaign Video & Live Webathon
Back in 2014, we partnered up with Kitestring Creative & BraveNewCode to launch the #HamOntForever Digital Literacy Fund. Our aim was to raise $10,000 in 60 days to support workshops aimed at providing digital industry skills to those who might not have the opportunity. Then, the Hamilton Community Foundation came along and offered to match all funds raised and things really took off! We produced a video, then a live webathon, and subsequently hit our goal.. and then some.
From Marketing Magazine:
HAMILTON SHOPS BAND TOGETHER ON DIGITAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN
Hamilton, Ont.’s social media community has launched a crowdfunding campaign to improve digital literacy in the city.
Launched on Dec. 2 (Giving Tuesday), the goal of #HamOntForever fund is to raise $10,000 in 60 days. The money will be given to Hamilton Community Foundation, which will dole out grants annually to projects that give people online access and tools to participate in the digital world.
The idea was born when Chris Farias, partner at creative agency Kitestring, was thinking about what’s next for Hamilton’s strong digital community. “My idea was more people need to get involved with this community and there are a lot of people who just don’t have access to digital tools or the internet in general,” said Farias.
The point was driven home when Farias read comments on an article about online voting when the municipal elections were taking place. “In Hamilton, there is no online voting and somebody mentioned that would be just for the elite,” said Farias. “And that really struck me… I had never even thought of being able to access the internet as something that would be elite. And yes, more people need to be able to access the internet.”
So, Kitestring teamed up with Double Barrel Studios and Brave New Code to create the #HamOntForever fund on fundraising site Indiegogo. Hamilton Community Foundation will match the first $10,000 raised. Donors can contribute a hashtag, tweet, post and more based on their donation amount to an online time capsule viewable at HamOntForever.ca.
“The time capsule is really about what your hopes and dreams are for the Hamilton community in the future,” said Farias. At the end of the crowdfunding campaign, the time capsule will be closed and re-opened in 2030.
“I just think it will be interesting to think, ‘remember when we used to tweet?’” said Farias.
Employer Stories
Living Wage Hamilton is an organization that advocates to employers and helps to raise awareness about the importance of providing a living wage; a wage that provides enough for employees to cover basic every-day expenses. The challenge for Living Wage Hamilton is to offset the perceived financial challenge for businesses with the benefits that they will derive from adopting a living wage policy.
To help businesses better understand those benefits, Living Wage Hamilton contracted Double Barrel Studios to produce a short series of videos highlighting local Living Wage employers.
The videos feature Living Wage Hamilton employers such as Cake & Loaf Bakery, The Mustard Seed Co-op & provided us with an opportunity to contribute our own experience at Double Barrel Studios as a living wage employer.
For creative professions, wages often fall below the living wage threshold and that sometimes means finding additional work outside of the field to make ends meet. For Double Barrel Studios offering a living wage allows for our busy team of directors, producers, editors and writers to dedicate 100% of their efforts into providing the best experience when we work with our clients.
We already recognized the importance of providing a Living Wage & just like the other employers that we interviewed we also feel that it plays a vital role in the long term success of a company. It was a new experience for us having to be the interviewee’s but we were honoured to have the chance to speak about something that we feel is an important cause for our great city!
Visit https://livingwagehamilton.ca/ & join the conversation!
Safety Tutorials for Autistic Children & Families
Work that warms the heart is our favourite kind to do. So when Sarah Kupferschmidt and Nancy Marchese came to us in November 2013 to ask for help in creating videos that would educate children with autism – we couldn’t get casting fast enough.
Truly our first foray into the world of interactive video – these short, 30 second pieces are actually embedded into a mobile app that Special Appucations is creating with the help of Hamilton’s own Weever Apps. The end result will be an educational game that teaches children and their care providers many skills. Among them, what to do when a child gets lost.
Educational messaging was provided by Special Appucations, with scripting done in-house at Double Barrel. By reaching out to the community we were able to cast five talented Hamilton children, with Springy’s Tot Shoppe graciously offering us the use of their Upper James store for the day! Truly a homegrown #HamOnt project.
We were thrilled to be brought on board to help create such an important multimedia project. Thanks Sarah and Nancy for involving team Double Barrel!
Promotional Vignettes
Hamilton is a city in the midst of renaissance. Nowhere is that more apparent than the downtown core, where new businesses are emerging at a breakneck pace. A new company cracks open its doors seemingly every single day.
At Double Barrel, we live and work downtown too. So when the International Village Business Improvement Area asked us to help tell their story, we jumped at the chance.
Our challenge was substantial. First: to showcase the changing face of the downtown core. Second: to spur interest and get people excited to pop downtown to shop.
Essentially, we wanted to get people out of their comfort zone and into these blossoming boutiques. Old habits die hard, and with so much going on for all of us on the daily, it’s just too easy to pass these new stores by. We admire the frontages but never actually venture inside, choosing instead to zip up to the cozy confines of our closest shopping mall.
Through the creation of 1:30 second vignettes, each one focusing on a different shop and story – we helped the International Village BIA show the greater public that the tapestry of the downtown core is changing. Every single entrepreneur has a story of their own to share, and a reason why for them – right now – downtown #HamOnt is the absolute best place to be.
Thanks to Susie Braithwaite and the International Village for inviting us to explore!
Organization Overview
Recently Double Barrel Studios contributed our services to The Equestrian Association for the Disabled or T.E.A.D., an organization focused on enhancing the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities through equestrian therapy.
T.E.A.D. was interested in producing a video that would convey the importance of T.E.A.D. and highlight the massive team of dedicated volunteers that help to keep this program running. This is a cause that we feel very passionate about and over the years the members of their team have become great friends of ours, so when they approached us we immediately got to work.
Our approach was to produce a vignette style video that would show the amazing things that T.E.A.D. does for disabled youth. During our time with T.E.A.D. our dedication to the project only grew as we learned how important this program is to the individuals and families involved. It takes over 200 volunteers per year to keep things moving, and to care for the specially trained horses that can remain gentle and calm in unpredictable environments.
After spending time at the farm, speaking with some of the riders and their families and the incredible team that run the organization, we couldn’t be happier to be launching this piece & we hope that it raises awareness to the cause.
If you’re interested in getting involved with T.E.A.D. you can give them a call at 905-679-8323 ext. 222 or visit their website at www.tead.on.ca
