Stories
News, project launches and thoughts from our team.
PROJECT LAUNCH: INVIS & Mortgage Intelligence
When you’re a national brokerage with teams in hundreds of Canadian cities, how do you even begin to capture the spirit of the hard working brokers representing your brand? In the case of INVIS/Mortgage Intelligence, the answer was simple. You go to them. With a camera crew in tow.
Over the summer of 2016, the Double Barrel team was thrilled to film across Canada, documenting the passion and the people behind the INVIS/Mortgage Intelligence brand. In one of our most ambitious documentary projects to-date, we filmed in six provinces and seven cities, capturing the camaraderie that makes INVIS/MI truly unique. From wineries in Kelowna, to line dancing at the Calgary Stampede, from charity golf tournaments in Niagara to boat cruises off the Halifax harbour. Through it all, what stood out the most was an overwhelming sense of community and caring. Brokers that truly care for their clients, and each other, working exceedingly hard to ensure their happiness.
Double Barrel is thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with Invis/Mortgage Intelligence, documenting this beautiful country and their world class teams from coast to coast to coast.
This completed piece screened at the INVIS/MI annual gathering, to rave reviews. And it’s easy to see why! Invis Mortgage Intelligence has successfully built the only true full service brokerage in Canada, attracting top brokers that are continually diversifying and developing their craft to deliver the best support possible. That’s something to cheer about.
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PROJECT LAUNCH: Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
For people who have recently been diagnosed with cancer, one of the first challenges is overcoming the amount of information that exists when it comes to care and treatment options. In the digital age, opinions are everywhere, and sorting through them to discover which are accurate and which are bunk can be an overwhelming task.
At Double Barrel, we’ve all lost loved ones to cancer. So when Wayne MacPhail of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer approached us with an innovative way of educating patients about how to separate the wheat from the chaff we were thrilled.
This was a unique project as Wayne came to us with concept in hand. CPAC wanted to create an online educational series that was dramatic, comedic – and demanding. In fact, the entire piece depended on a pitch-perfect embodiment of our two leads, Franny & Zooey, two 12-year-old budding scientists.
Knowing that we needed rock-solid talent, we decided to reach out to ACTRA. For web series this can seem daunting, but their fantastic industry liasons walked us through the process effortlessly. Our two actresses – Chelsea Okyere and Zoe McGarry came in prepared and ready, doing such an amazing job in the audition that we ended up using their second rehearsal take in the completed video.
The final piece is everything we had hoped to achieve, and definitely goes into the Double Barrel vault as one of the most original concepts we’ve executed. Says MacPhail, “It was a pleasure (as always) working with Double Barrel on this project. From our first conversation about the unusual concept they got it and brought a ton of creative value to the end product. This is the type of idea, as we said in the meetings “that had a hundred ways to fail”. But, through casting, direction, animation and post-production, they didn’t let any of them happen. The result is delightful.”
We’re excited to see where this goes. Thanks for inviting us along, Wayne!
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ExploreMcMaster.com
High school students considering an engineering degree at McMaster University have a new way to immerse themselves online in student life and their chosen profession.
McMaster University’s Faculty of Engineering and Double Barrel Studios are proud to announce the launch of ExploreMcMaster.com – an interactive 360 degree panoramic microsite combining photography, video, music and soundscapes.
In concert with Helios Design Labs of Toronto, ExploreMcMaster.com represents an innovative initiative in the higher education market. The site goes far beyond just text, hyperlinks and images. Through a series of 26 embedded video vignettes and mini-documentaries, ExploreMcMaster.com enables potential students to meet faculty members and student leaders, look into the university’s facilities, and get a feel for undergraduate life on campus.
“Truly a breakthrough in recruitment outreach, this new communication style allows McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering to speak to the next generation of engineers in an engaging interface they are comfortable with” says Lucy Sheung, Manager of Outreach and Enrolment. “Engineering at McMaster constantly looks for new and modern ways to reach out to its audience. We are confident in the professional knowledge and experience of Double Barrel, and decided to pioneer this unique online presentation. Our prospective students have used computers all of their lives. So for them, the site functions as an online lab, furthering our tradition of experiential education.”
This technology required over-the-top creativity and collaboration from both the Double Barrel Studios team and the interdisciplinary studio Helios Design Labs of Toronto. Inspired by the Gemini Award winning National Film Board of Canada web documentary, “Out My Window,” ExploreMcMaster.com similarly provides an immersive, 360 degree experience. (https://interactive.nfb.ca/#/outmywindow)
Mike Robbins of Helios says, “We used a ‘whatever its takes to get it done’ approach that mixed panoramic photography, html5, javascript and …. gasp …. flash!” The result is a consistent cross-platform experience for smart phones, tablets and desktop computers alike. “We feel the result points the way to the future of small but innovative studios having the tool-sets to create super-engaging content and story experiences for not only the arts but the corporate culture as well. The idea that business must be boring is tumbling fast!”
Lee Hillman, Double Barrel’s Executive Producer, says integrating the new HTML5 standard took weeks of fine tuning. “With every new technology, the learning curve is steep. We’re fortunate to have a partner like McMaster who is willing to take risks and delve into the unknown to create something truly unique in student-recruitment campaigns. We’re excited about the possibilities of taking this interactive technology even further with an eye to building community and enhanced functionality within the microsite.”
Executive Director Roz Allen, who has produced interactive content for the Web almost since its invention, is excited about the artistic and creative possibilities. “Being able to stretch our storytelling capabilities into the interactive realm is a very exciting direction for hospitals, new building launches, tourist resorts… virtually any kind of business that wants their potential customers to have a ‘you are there’ experience. We are just at the beginning of what’s possible.”
The McMaster site can be found here: www.exploremcmaster.com
Double Barrel Studios: www.doublebarrel.ca
For more information, contact:
Victoria Fenner
Business Development Director vic@doublebarrelstudios.com 905-745-7462
