Houzz.com turns to Fresh Coast Studios for videos featuring their “Wisconsin Pros”.

Houzz.com www.houzz.com is global online community/social media network providing information on architecture, interior design, landscape design and home improvement. Its websites and mobile platforms in 15 countries draw more than 40 million unique visitors each month. And at last count, videos on HouzzTV https://www.youtube.com/user/HouzzTV have attracted more than 33 million viewers. In other words, they’re a pretty big deal.

Two camera production for Houzz.com at Fresh Coast Studios in Milwaukee includes the Canon C300 MkII recording 4K and the Canon C100 capturing HD.

All Houzz videos have extremely high production values and we were honored they chose Fresh Coast Studios to film this series of 2-camera interviews with Wisconsin architects, interior designers and homebuilders. A total of nine interviews were filmed in our Milwaukee studio over a period of two days.

Video recording being slated at beginning of interview for Houzz.com at Fresh Coast Studios in Milwaukee, WI.

The technical specifications were very exacting. Houzz requested the A camera shoot 4K to allow their in-house editors to re-frame in post. We chose a Canon C300 MK II. Since only 1080p was required for the B camera, we used a Canon C100 recording Apple ProRes. The background was to be 100% white to match the look Houzz has chosen for all their interviews with “Houzz Pros” around the world.

Talent being recorded for Houzz.com interview in

Here's the turnkey solution provided by Fresh Coast Production Resources for filming Sargento's “We’re Real Cheese People” TV spot.

You’ve probably seen those Sargento Cheese www.sargento.com TV commercials that feature the company’s owners - Lou and Louis (Louie) Gentine - delivering this line while standing in front of a picturesque old barn. To anyone in the video business, it’s obvious the two men are actually filmed in a studio against green screen. But to most TV viewers, the shot looks realistic because of how well the camera perspective and studio lighting is matched to the background image.

Fresh Coast Production Resources Sargento TV spot green screen with barn background compositeSargento TV spot Fresh Coast Production Resources green screen studio raw footage


For the most recent spot promoting Sargento’s new Snack Bites, producer Jon Messner and Sargento’s ad agency, Oglivy & Mather www.ogilvy.com reached out to Fresh Coast Production Resources for a turnkey solution.

At Fresh Coast, we pride ourselves on our ability to assemble just the right combination of crew, equipment, and production management to meet our client’s needs and expectations. This job was a perfect example.

We chose RDI Stages www.rdimage.com in Milwaukee for the shoot because it would be convenient for the Gentines who would be coming from Sargento’s corporate offices in Plymouth WI. RDI was also spacious enough to accommodate the large broad light sources necessary to match the overcast lighting of the barn.

Fresh Coast Productions RDI Stages green screen rigged with lighting

We were able to source all the equipment, and most of the crew in Milwaukee. Lighting and grip came from Blue Moon Lights www.bluemoonlights.com and DP Mike Gillis www.mikegillisdp.com provided the client-specified Arri 4K camera and lens package. www.arri.com/camera/amira . Gaffer on the shoot was Ryan Brooks. Tim Moder served as swing grip and AC. Tom Beach handled the audio mix, and the makeup artist was Jhousy Leon www.blushmilwaukee.com.

Fresh Coast Productions RDI Stages green screen studio with lighting and talentFresh Coast Productions Sargento TV spot fully lit green screen studio with lighting camera audio crew and talent


Two non-Milwaukee exceptions were Director Ray Dillman who the agency brought in from New York http://rabbitcontent.com/directors/ray-dillman , and Chicago Stylist Martha Heppler because she had provided wardrobe for previous Sargento spots featuring the Gentines.

As we expected, everyone did a great job. The shoot was quick and painless, and by mid afternoon the footage was on its way to Optimus www.optimus.com in Chicago for post-production.

See the finished TV commercial here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ginlh0ADG2E

Fresh Coast Productions Creates Cost-Effective New Product Launch Video for InControl Medical.

One of the challenges in this business is finding a way to provide high production value video solutions that will accomplish the client’s objectives even when the budgets are small. A perfect example is the new product introduction video we recently produced for InControl Medical www.incontrolmedical.com.

All InControl wanted was to have their VP of Clinical Services explain the product’s features and benefits in front of a camera - the preverbal “talking head”.

InControl Green Screen Studio Shoot

To add a little more production value, while still keeping costs low, we employed a green screen technique that would allow us to film the presentation in our studio, and then make it appear that the VP was speaking in an actual corporate office setting. Pretty simple stuff actually, but that extra bit of green screen compositing added a lot of perceived production value for very little additional cost.

InControl Green Screen Studio Final Composite
We filmed using our Canon Cinema EOS C100 recording to an external Blackmagic Video Assist recorder. The resulting ProRes 422 video keyed perfectly. This is one of our favorite camera solutions for great looking video on a limited budget.

Fresh Coast™ Productions' Innovative Virtual Set Solution for Training Home Depot Sales Associates

We’ve been fortunate to have Chicago-based water conditioning equipment manufacturer RainSoft www.rainsoft.com as a client for nearly 20 years. During that time we’ve produced video and graphics content for their marketing efforts and annual dealer sales conferences. Our most recent project was an iPad-based product knowledge video to train Home Depot www.homedepot.com sales associates on RainSoft products.

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On-camera talent portions were filmed on green-screen with store backgrounds added in post. When combined with in-store footage and graphics, the resulting video provided RainSoft with a highly effective, yet economical training solution.

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