Filming the Texas Mission of Mercy

Hey everyone! Hope all is well with you and yours.

Nikki and I are in the process of finishing up the website videos we produced for our client in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We're making a few last-minute adjustments, and will hopefully launch the videos (along with the client's new website) very soon. Stay tuned!

Also, we've been busy booking projects for next year! We're getting terrific referrals from our clients, which have led to additional video shoots around the country. Soon, we'll be shooting in Washington state, followed by a return trip to lovely Georgia (our third!) a few weeks later. We're really looking forward to both. Give us a shout so we can include your office on the schedule!

Meantime, we'll be wrapping up the year with one of our biggest projects, and certainly one of our most rewarding. Earlier this year, we were commissioned to produce a major fundraising/awareness video for the Texas Dental Association's Smiles Foundation, which is based here in Austin. And since January of this year, we've traveled a couple thousand miles across the state of Texas and back, filming various Foundation events. The last event happened this past weekend, in the West Texas city of Lubbock.

I'm sure most, if not all of you, are familiar with the "Mission of Mercy" concept. In fact, you've probably got them in your state, and might have even volunteered for them. Well, this past weekend in Lubbock, the TDASF held another of its hugely-successful Missions of Mercy, during which dozens of dentists, orthodontists, hygienists and assistants volunteered their time and their skills to treat more than 1,000 needy dental patients over two days at the Lubbock Civic Center.

It was - in a word - amazing. There, in the Civic Center, they had set up several waiting areas, a patient screening area, triage, a digital x-ray area, a children's play area (which included several dental-related educational components), and of course a MASSIVE treatment area. There, the volunteers performed countless cleanings, extractions and other dental services - all at no cost to these underserved patients. Wow.
Naturally, we were there to capture all the action, and interviewed several patients and volunteers over the course of the two-day event. And I gotta tell you, the way it all comes together is nothing short of remarkable.

Our most interesting times were spent in the prosthetics section of the event - also known as the "smiles and hugs" section. There, patients who had been missing teeth for whatever reason (in many cases for upwards of 15-20 years) were fitted with custom prosthetics - allowing them to leave the clinic with bright, full, healthy smiles. It was awesome to meet and talk with these patients, who hadn't seen themselves with a smile in many years. And we couldn't help smile ourselves, thinking of how their lives are sure to change for the better. Our hats are off to the volunteers who made it all happen. Bravo!

All in all, it's going to make for a terrific video, which is now in post-production (which is essentially the editing process). Our target is to have the video finished by the Christmas break and we'll be sure to share it with you here when it's ready!

But I've definitely got more to blog about in the meantime, including answers to some common questions we get about the website video production process... so, as I said... stay tuned! And take care.

~ Dusty