Lights, Camera, Advocacy Action!
January 22, 2020
We have long wanted to do a 403(b) explainer video. The current group of online 403(b) videos are mostly advisor-created. We wanted something that was K-12 teacher- and advocacy-focused. My podcast partner Scott, my art director and wife Amanda, and I enlisted our good friend Neal Weiss to oversee the production. Neal is a content production veteran who has worked for Yahoo! and who led the team that created Fender guitar’s online tutorial videos. You can view some of his excellent work here as well as message him directly.
We kicked around a lot of ideas. I have always liked the narrated illustration approach like this one by educator Ken Robinson. We also tossed around the idea of using a chalkboard.
In the end, we decided on a direct, personal approach accompanied by key text callouts. Now we just needed on-air talent. I never shared this idea with the group but I really think George Foreman would have killed it. He’s so good I might even fall for an equity indexed annuity product if he pitched it.
I like talking about 403(b) and teacher savings issues on our podcast. I like talking about these topics in front of teachers, during online workshops, and to reporters. But the idea of doing it on camera always made me a little uneasy. Guess who is the spokesperson in this video? If you can get past me, I hope the video can be used by advocates to illustrate the K-12 403(b) issues and offer a solution: the education and advocacy community at 403bwise.org.
Von Cendejas, production assistant; Mario Framingheddu, cinematographer;
Neal Weiss, producer; Amanda Otter, art direction; (bottled: annuity salesperson).
It was a blast to work with such a creative team. Each contributed mightily. Well, truth be told Scott’s big idea was to make the video four minutes and three seconds long. And he might have also done the featured savings calculations. I have a new respect for those reading off a teleprompter. Huge credit to my wife, who in addition to providing art direction on the graphics in the video, operated the speed of the teleprompter device. Neal’s team, (pictured above) was superb. Finally, Neal’s vision was awesome: spokesperson leaning against a teacher’s desk with excellent accompanying graphics. It’s not his fault we couldn’t afford George Foreman.
Yours truly with producer Neal.
View our 403(b) Explainer Video »
