Think the Lifetime network is just for sappy made-for-TV movies? Wrong! They also have a morning show, called The Balancing Act, which apparently includes helpful information like the latest trends in education. This week, the show featured the authors of William H. Sadlier's Vocabulary for Success series.
Of course, they talked about how important the video component is to their books to help make vocabulary fun! If you've been paying attention, Kinetic Media produced those videos last year, for grades 6-8. (And we're working on some more right now!)
Calling all actors! We need a few good men, women and a baby to be featured in a short promotional film about health and wellness. We're looking for a variety of ethnicities, and the easiest part for you: there are no speaking parts.
WE NEED:
A woman in her late 20s or 30s – either pregnant or we will make her look pregnant.
A man in his late 20s or 30s.
A man in his 40s or 50s.
A man and woman in their 60s.
A baby, as close to newborn as possible.
Shooting will likely be only a day or two in May at a Connecticut location. Please send resumes and headshots by April 28 to Katie@kinmedia.com.
We took the Hartford Marriott's idea -- creating a home away from home -- and turned it into a short video they can share with guests, prospective employees, and other partners. We got to meet a lot of enthusiastic employees, eat some good food at Vivo and show that Hartford can be pretty cool too.
In addition to her countless hours of script- and copy-writing and managing a business, Kinetic Media president Rosemary O'Neill likes to support a cause she's passionate about: reading.
She recently helped found the Central Connecticut chapter of Room to Read, a nonprofit organization that distributes books, builds libraries and promotes literacy worldwide.
Room to Read was started by a former Microsoft executive who was appalled at the lack of books in developing countries and is one of America’s fastest-growing charities. Since its inception 10 years ago, Room to Read has built 12,000 libraries and funded 10,400 long-term scholarships for girls.
After reading a column about the organization in the New York Times, Rosemary and fellow book group member Elizabeth Bartron decided Connecticut needed a chapter. Already, the new group -- the 53rd Room to Read chapter around the globe -- raised close to $1,500 at its first event, a Girls’ Night In/Boys’ Night In on Feb. 23rd.
You can help too, with even a small contribution. For $250, you can educate a girl for a year. Just $5,000 builds an entire library for a community that has no books.
Check out the chapter’s next event on March 18th, a book swap at the Pond House Grille, 2935 Main St., Glastonbury, CT, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Participants will bring a book, take a book and make a donation to Room to Read. People can drop books off for the swap at the Pond House any time between now and March 18th. To meet the local Room to Read team, join us for brunch beforehand at the Pond House Grille.
When we came up with the idea of doing a free video for one lucky MetroHartford Alliance member, we had no idea what kind of response we'd get. So we were surprised to get some really good proposals and happy to meet people from some interesting businesses, which all made it really hard to choose just one!
But we went with the Hartford Marriott, whose idea is about showing how the hotel is a "home away from home" in Hartford. We think a video will really bring their story to life and can showcase what Hartford has to offer. We've met with dozens of employees already, who seem to truly love working there, and will start shooting Friday.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to come up with ideas and meet with us. We hope our little contest spurred some video creativity and you'll think of us in the future!
In case you haven't heard, iBooks 2 (to be used by students on the iPad) will make textbooks interactive, by using video, animation, search features and more. They say the move could do for publishing what iTunes did for music.
Video makes learning come alive. In today's digital world, it's always at their fingertips. It just makes sense. We loved helping kids learn with our vocabulary videos and we hope to use our knowledge and skills for math, science, history and more.
We just joined the MetroHartford Alliance and sent out this email as an introduction. Deadline is end of January. We're hoping to get a few creative responses!
Ever wish you had a little video that captured the essence of your business? Something you could post on your web site or tweet or email or show on a mobile device?
Too expensive, you say? Not when it's free. You read it right. Free.
We're Kinetic Media, a video production company. We've been in business in the Hartford area for 20 years, but we're new to MetroHartford Alliance. We thought this might be a fun way for us to get to know each other.
So, here's the deal. Send us a short proposal for a one-minute (or so) video that would help you promote your business. Make sure it's visual (not just a talking head, please), local, and tells a simple story. Clever would be nice, too, and we can help with that.
We'll have a panel pick the most creative and do-able idea and then we'll produce it for free. And you'll have a video that's worth at least $5,000. It's that simple.
It was probably our biggest undertaking yet: making nearly 900 videos to explain vocabulary words to middle school students in a matter of six months. Now our accomplishment is getting some recognition. EContent Magazine featured our project, which we did for educational publisher William H. Sadlier, in a case study of how digital content is entering the world of education.
"Kinetic (Media) always brought a great blend of their own creativity," Michael Ferejohn, Sadlier's director of digital media, says in the article. "They are filmmakers so they are very creative people, but also have a real understanding of the education market and what we were trying to accomplish in terms of motivating it but also providing instruction to students."
