09.28
I recently came across the work of Liza de Guia. She is a filmmaker based in Brooklyn who specializes in producing videos about food and eateries in and around New York City. She’s made a number of films which she has posted on Vimeo.
One of Liza’s latest films is about a couple of restaurateurs from the Brooklyn area who have taken up beekeeping as a hobby. Please watch the film and then I’ll tell you why I think hiring Liza to shoot a film about your establishment is perhaps one of the best ways to advertise your craft.
The opening interview is perfect. It is funny, quick and provides a sets the tone for the rest of the piece. Throughout the 5+ minute video the music consistently matches the imagery. The individuals she interviews are funny, quirky and enjoyable to watch. It is obvious that Liza knows what she is doing and how to tell a story and that is what makes her work so valuable.
While having Liza tell your story if you are a beekeeper must be loads of fun it really doesn’t pay dividends. However, if you happen to be the General Managers and an Executive Chef of two Brooklyn eateries then having Liza tell your story can have seriously positive side effects. Roberta’s Pizza in Brooklyn and Frankies Spuntino in Brooklyn and Manhattan are both mentioned in the piece and while the video is basically about beekeeping you end Googling the two places pretty damn quick once the video is over.
What makes Liza so effective is that she understands that in order to be able to get people interested in a product you first have to find the story that surrounds it and work on telling it. Start by telling stories about the people, their human qualities and their quirks and whatever it is they are selling will appear that much more attractive. One of the most interesting people you will ever meet is Dan Machin, who is featured in Liza’s latest video, and if you watch it you will understand why I initially titled my post about it, ‘I Would Buy This Guy’s Veggies In A Heartbeat If I lived In Brooklyn’.
While I am big fan of Liza’s work I am more interested in what she represents. Liza is producing work that, I believe, represents the future of advertising. While her video was not intended to be a marketing piece I thought it was extremely effective at introducing an establishment by first casually introducing us to the people that work there. She has turned out a number of pieces that are more direct with their message but throughout all of them Liza succeeds in humanizing a business thereby making its product that much more desirable.
I am really not trying to pitch Liza here, I just think she has a lock on what works. Hopefully, we will begin to see more of these relaxed, informative and enjoyable videos that let us know about great eateries in New York City that some of us didn’t know were in existence. If you are unsure about whether or not you want to hire Liza and her camera (minimal overhead and a small footprint – another plus) consider that once your video is branded released into the wild it will take on a life of its own and continue to pollinate other sites on the web giving you maximum return. Give it a shot and see what happens – at least with Liza you know you will get a great product.
You can find all of Liza’s contact info here and the rest of her videos here.
Please be sure to leave a comment if you know of other people who are out there shooting fantastic material and deserve recognition. Another site to definitely check out if you are into food videos is Foodtease.com which is shot by two Canadians in Texas.
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