Cummins Meritor | Core Values

The Story of Roger Freeman

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.

Story Development for a Core Values Video

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

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