We spend most of our time as a production company on client projects, like social media ads, brand videos, explainers and whatnot. But with the rest of our time, we make our own original content under the name Flightless Bird Originals. Let’s be clear – we make no money from original content. But we are firm believers in keeping original content creation as a consistent part of our schedule. Here are a few reasons why:
1. Original Content Gives Us a Fresh Perspective on Client Work
When pumping out client work, it’s easy to become a formulaic machine where leads come in and corporate videos come out. But our goal is to look at every project with an open, flexible, and creative mindset. We’ve found that one of the most helpful ways to do that is by keeping a healthy portion of original content creation in our diet.
By making original pieces, we’re forced to design everything from scratch. That means we can take as unconventional of an angle as we see fit for our projects, (more often than not, we do). And we’ve found the process of building our projects from the ground up and taking a unique angle on them to be good practice when it comes to client work. It gets us in the habit of letting our minds wander freely to stretch what a concept can become. Otherwise, the brain loves to slip into fixed routines, and corporate videos quickly turn from individually crafted gems into identically cut cookies.
2. Original Content Shows Our Capabilities (Sometimes Better than Client Work)
Clients often like to see our previous work and what we’re capable of before kicking off a project. If we’re about to produce a brand video, they might want to see an example of one we’ve made before. But sometimes it’s our originals that really catch our clients’ eyes. Our original videos are where we take more risks and try some things that would probably be a stretch in a typical corporate video. But sometimes a client will see those risks and say “We love this. Can you do that for our video?”
3. We Learn How to Capture an Audience Quickly
With ad times shrinking down as short as 5 seconds, grabbing people’s attention and holding it is essential. We’ve found that one of the best ways to practice that skill is through building an audience. It’s one thing to grab and hold people’s attention for a 15 second ad, but another to keep them interested for a 3-minute bizarre comedy sketch, and hopefully make them want to watch the next one. Viewers are especially decisive nowadays. If you don’t pique their interest in the first couple of seconds, they’ll keep scrolling. Through learning to catch and retain viewers for 2-5 minute comedy pieces, we’re also learning to catch and retain viewers for 5-30 second ads.
4. We Learn How to Do a Lot with a Little
As online video content follows the bite-sized trend and client turnaround times shrink, budgets drop accordingly. We’ve already learned ways to be a nimble resource for clients who need their videos fast, but our skill for making a lot with a little has really solidified through original content production. At least our client videos have a budget. With our originals, we piece the puzzle together on how to make the most believable Hollywood-quality work while spending the least from our own pockets. Thus far, we have risen to the challenge and produced period pieces, made things explode, and incorporated Hollywood-quality VFX on the eenciest of budgets.
5. Original Content Showcases Our Creativity
It’s one thing to tell your clients how creative you are, and it’s another to show them. What better way to demonstrate your creativity than through a library of content that you wrote, produced, directed, edited, and acted in all yourself? It’s an unrestricted opportunity to let loose your raw artistic energy, and show what you can do when you’re given that freedom. It also helps us stay true to our goal of never saying out loud, “We’re very creative.”
Written by Stephen Kipp | Head Writer