New Studio in Downtown GR

We've moved into a 1,800 sq. ft. space in the Avenue of the Arts, located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. The main level houses our business office and a video studio, while the lower level will be developed into an audio studio and video editing suites. If you're in GR, feel free to stop in for coffee to check out the new pad.

Creo Productions
40 S. Division Ave. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

New Audio Division

We've also launched a new audio division, working with our audio engineer Matthew Korn. Now we're fully equipped for professional audio recording of musicians, bands, podcasts, voiceovers and commercials.

Our first major audio gig took place in Zimbabwe, Africa in April, with Aaron alongside capturing video footage. Look for the Zim project to debut in August 2008.

New Website, Video and Audio

To commemorate (and explain) the new studio and audio expansion, we launched a new website at CreoProductions.com.

The site features fresh video and audio portfolios of our latest projects, including Chicago rocker-chick Brooke Barrettsmith, a mysteriously-composed Boggle video, and Spish, an all-original short film we wrote, shot and edited in 24 hours for a recent film festival.

Coming Soon: LifeStraw Video

We're working on a video about the global water situation for European company Vestergaard Frandsen. They are the creators of LifeStraw®, two amazing water purification products that will help alleviate the water crisis around the world.

Forbes magazine called LifeStraw® Personal "One of the Ten Things that will Change the Way We Live," while also nabbing the 2008 Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas in New York.

Cheers to changing the world with the triple bottom line.

WOM: Word-of-Mouth

We're a relationally-driven company in a people-driven industry. Want to help?

The best way is spreading the word about Creo to your colleagues, friends and family. You don't have to staple green play symbols on kiosks or launch an urban graffiti campaign, but passing along our URL would be a big help.

Brooke Barrettsmith EPK

In March, we traveled to suburban Chicago to shoot an EPK for musician Brooke Barrettsmith. We shot Brooke's interview and did all the post-production work. Here's the final video.

Spish (Creo Productions' Short Film)

Below is Spish, Creo Productions' entry for Compass Academy's 24 Hour Film Festival. We had 24 hours to write, shoot, edit and produce the short film, using the following common elements:

Theme: Passing on the tradition
Prop: Remote control
Line: "We all go a little mad sometimes."
Location: Baseball diamond

We placed in the top 10, and Spish was shown on at Studio 28 in Grand Rapids. Enjoy!

The 24 Hour Film Festival

We entered the Compass Academy 24 Hour Film Festival last weekend in Grand Rapids, where filmmakers have 24 hours to write, shoot, edit and produce an all-original five minute (or less) short film, all using the same theme, prop, line and location.

Tonight, the top 10 entries will be played on the big screen at Studio 28, with awards going to the top three films. The cost is $8. Studio 28 is located at 1350 28th St SW in Grand Rapids.

We'll be posting our short film online, entitled "Spish," next week.

The Science of "Neuromarketing"

It's no joke.

Scientists have teemed with advertisers to measure brain waves to see how good an ad is.

It's called "nueromarketing."

Everyone's in the Media Business

It's been an exciting week. From recording audio for a local brilliant furniture entrepreneur, to partnering with a singer marketing her own teaching CD, to emailing Dan Pink, the author of the world-changing book A Whole New Mind, to talking with a local creative firm about the changing industry, to this blog post from American Express, entitled "You're in the Media Business Now."

What does it mean that everyone is in the media business? John Battelle writes:

Today, I’ll assert, no matter what business you think you’re in – be it making widgets or providing a service, you’re now in the media business, plain and simple. Those that recognize this shift will succeed, those that ignore it will atrophy and eventually become irrelevant.

What everyone is talking about is the web, not just the web, but the evolution of the web and how it's changing communication. The furniture entrepreneur was talking about the enormous shifts in activity even since 2005. Battelle even goes far enough to say this:

The web provides a mediated experience between your business and your customer. If your offering on the web is satisfying your customer’s needs (even those your customers don’t know they had), it’s time to consider a major investment in the web media business. The Web already is - or will soon become - your most important customer satisfaction and service (and perhaps even sales) channel. You may be in the “making widgets business” now, but no matter what you do next, you’re going to be in the media business. All aboard!

Well said. All aboard.