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The Story of Isha Desselle – The Woman Who Sold Everything To Help Those With Nothing
We all have defining moments in our lives. They can be times, situations, or places that challenge your view of the world and yourself, and inspire you to set a new course. Taking part in Muse Film School this past fall and telling the story of Isha Desselle was a defining moment in my life. It challenged how I viewed video production and what it means to create impactful stories that motivate change. Stories that help a business be more success, stories that help launch a startup, stories that help share the mission of a nonprofit. But beyond all that, stories that make the world a better place.
As the team’s director I’m proud of Isha’s story and the impact she is making in her community at Turning Point Center. We talked for hours on the phone before we arrived in Houston and then we spent three days together during filming and she is a truly remarkable person.
Here’s the official writeup from Muse Film School.
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“What if she was my mother?” This is what Isha Desselle thought when she saw the face of the homeless woman on the street.
That nagging thought kept her awake for months – and Isha decided to do something about it. This is the story of how she found a way to make a change, and help thousands of elderly homeless people finally find a place to call home.
Produced by a global team of filmmakers as part of Muse Film School for the original web-series The Remarkable Ones.
A FILM BY MUSE STORYTELLING AND ISHA DESSELLE
DIRECTED BY JAMIE HONCE
PRODUCER ALI KASHI
CO-PRODUCED BY MADELINE SAPORITO
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY JOE DRENNAN
AUDIO ED KAISER
SECOND CAMERA RICK UNDERHILL
EDITOR ED KAISER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DOUG DARLING
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PATRICK MOREAU
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER KATHRYN GIROUX
Core Values Video – The Story of Roger Freeman
Client: Meritor
Producer/director: Jamie Honce
DP: Christopher Hersey
Lighting/sound: John Miller
Video editor: Jamie Honce
Almost every company in America has core values. You can see them posted in the lobby or in bold text on the About Us page. But unfortunately, they are usually forgettable. Anyone can claim they have integrity, passion for customers, or respect for others, but until you can experience these things, it’s difficult for them to resonate with employees or customers.
You will hear me talk a lot about putting people first because we believe that stories about people connect with people best. So our approach with this video for Meritor was to find a person who lives the core value of integrity and show’s how they “do the right thing”.
Roger Freeman has worked at Meritor building axles for over 32 years, but what’s more impressive is that he has been a volunteer firefighter for over 38 years! He started as a junior firefighter when he was 14 years old and his dad has to drive him to calls. He is passionate about helping others and is dedicated to helping his community.
As a Meritor employee, he brings this dedication and work ethic into his job at the Fletcher, NC facility. Roger and I chatted a lot before filming and he would tell me stories about his father and grandfather, and the influence they had on his life. They would tell him to create something good enough where he is willing to put his name on it. And that’s what he does every day. This work philosophy is especially important because the axles that Roger helped make are on the trucks in his fire station.
Early on in pre-production, we conducted multiple pre-interviews so we could get a thorough understanding of our main character, Roger, and the key points in his life that define who he is and why he does what he does. Before we even arrived in North Carolina we had the storyline completed and knew exactly what we needed out of the interview and b-roll shots. This approach really helped us maximize our three days on location and focus on quality of over quantity.
If you have any questions about the video production process behind this story and to see if it can apply to your project, please give me a call.
Jamie Honce
Web commercial – Skipstone “Father and Son”
As a father of 5, I have first-hand experience with kids asking questions… a lot of them. The idea of an inquisitive boy, and father, was the foundation for Skipstone’s web commercial “Father and Son”. It shows that no matter how old we get, we all have questions; especially when we need to buy something.
The idea for this web commercial surfaced while developing our previous Skipstone piece, the Skipstone Product Launch Video. We thought the clean and informational Launch Video would be supplemented well by a story-based piece depicting how the technology would be used in day-to-day life. After we were given the green light on this commercial, the Clearview team jumped into pre-production with location scouting, script writing, set design and talent auditions. After weeks of planning it all came together over the course of the three-day shoot.
We had a great crew consisting of a creative director, director, director of photography, gaffers, script supervisor, audio tech and production assistants. With all the duties split up we were able to focus on telling the best story possible and cover all the bases.
This project was multi-faceted and exciting! The folks at Skipstone have been incredible to work with and have been up for all the crazy ideas we’ve thrown at them so far. We’re excited to see where this innovative technology ends up and are grateful to be along for the ride.
Client: Skipstone
Project: Web commercial “Father and Son”
Producer/director: Jamie Honce
Creative director: Evan West
DP: Jamie Honce
Lighting/grip: John Miller
PA’s: Sarah Graziosi, Steve Foran, Cody Stauber
Case Study Video – KUKA Robotics and Widmer Brothers Brewery
KUKA Robotics asked us to produce a case study video about the integration of their robot into the Widmer Brothers Brewing Company in Portland, OR.
At first, we thought, “strange, a brewery isn’t exactly the first place you’d expect to find a robot.” As it turns out, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. In fact, robots have become effective in a number of small and unique businesses.
Midwest Engineering was charged with heading the custom integration of the KUKA robot. Not only could the robot safely fulfill Widmer Brothers’ needs, it was agile and customizable enough to work in the cramped, low-ceiling space of the bottling room.
You build your perfect brewhouse and then, all of a sudden, you can’t make enough beer so you increase your fermentation capacity. Then you have to increase your celler capacity. Well, now you can brew it, you can cellar it, but you can’t package it fast enough or efficient enough. -Ben Dobler, Brewing Innovation Master
Now case study videos are usually straightforward, and often rather boring. We wanted to approach this one differently and set out to create a storyline that could make the robot, and the brewery, more engaging. Integrating a robot doesn’t take away from the handcrafted feel of the microbrewery, to the contrary, it allows employees to focus more on their passion: crafting amazing beers.
After 4,000 miles of travel and a few beers, we crafted a piece that’s uniquely Widmer, with a hint of innovation only KUKA could provide.
Client: KUKA Robotics
Producer/director: Jamie Honce
DP: Joel Knoop and Jamie Honce
Video editor: Sarah Graziosi