Episode XI Studios Blog

Happy Birthday Episode XI Studios!
March 1st is the date we, at Episode XI Studios, celebrate our first year in business.

This year has taught us a great many lessons and we’re sure that there are many more down the road. We have learned (the hard way) that we cannot park our equipment trailer in most parking decks, you can never have too many heavy-duty extension cords, and that storyboards are our most useful tools when planning a video project.

Most importantly, we’ve learned that the value of a professionally produced video is really much more than it’s price. With the advent of TiVo and digital cable, consumers are skipping commercials with ease. It’s getting to be a waste of money to advertise of television, especially when you consider that your website can hold those same commercials, or better, longer versions with no additional cost to you. Companies are taking advantage of times that they have a captive audience by playing entertaining and informing videos on monitors in waiting rooms and lobbies, elevators, in public rest rooms, behind the counter at the local deli, and in their booths at tradeshows.

Over this past year we’ve heard many ideas about where our customers are planning to use their videos. Even more resoundingly, we have heard about how much our customers have benefited from having that video on their website, playing on monitors in model homes, or on a DVD that is also a business card. It seems that the video gets more attention than our clients ever anticipated. Our customers say that their clients now spend more time on their websites, and have a better understanding of their products or services.

The popularity of video advertising in the virtual and the real world- is skyrocketing. We plan to be ahead of the game every step of the way for our clients, making sure that style of our editing and the technology of our equipment is the best it can be.

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E-Z Cleaners, LLC

Our latest video marketing project is for an amazing company called E-Z Cleaners. We're doing a video project for their hand cleaner. Stay tuned to see the video on their website, and on our sample page.

This product is fantastic! It will not only clean anything off your hands (or anywhere else for that matter) but it's completely biodegradable and environmentally safe.

We recommend you check it out and be amazed. You can purchase it at Lowe's.

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Concord NC Hotels: Embassy Suites Hotel Resort & Conference Center Charlotte-Concord - North Carolina

When planning your next meeting or special event in the Charlotte area, keep the Embassy Suites Concord in mind! We recently had the pleasure of working with them on a project and got to "experience" the hotel. With a beautiful decor, fantastic breakfast and manager's reception, relaxing spa and excellent restaurant, we couldn't find a bad thing to say about the hotel.

The best part about the trip was that the hotel staff is extra friendly and helpful and always going above and beyond to make sure that we were comfortable. Kudos to the Embassy Suites! We will come back!

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How to Roast Chestnuts - wikiHow

In an effort to lend a little holiday spirit, here are complete instructions on how to roast chestnuts. I spent my entire childhood now knowing how wonderful roasted chestnuts were, and I don't want anyone else to miss out. If nothing else has put you in the holiday spirit so far, this might just do the trick.

Happy Holidays!!

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Video production, event planners, commercial photographers and more in Charlotte NC-EpisodeXIStudios.com-Habitat for Humanity Video.html

Randy, along with his son Tony assisted Habitat for Humanity (HFH), in partnership with Golfers in Transition (GIT) in erecting the walls to a four-bedroom home in North Charlotte, NC. A time-lapsed video can be seen on the company website, under current events.

Both non-profit organizations serve different functions in assisting those in need. HFH is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry and seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. GIT is a networking group for job seekers who gather not only during HFH functions, but also gather on the golf links of Charlotte, in an attempt to build relationships between job seekers and recruiters. The Charlotte chapter of GIT is organized by Gary Burgess (Gary.L.Burgess@gmail.com) and has been active in several Habitat Homes.

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Meeting Street Homes&Communities

We're proud to boast of our newest project with Meeting Street Homes & Communities, one of the most unique home builders in the Charlotte area.

We applaud their efforts and keeping ahead of technology and understanding today's marketplace. They understand that 80% of home buyers are online, and in order to sell to them Meeting Street is making their online experience the best it can be by adding video to their website.

The best part about Meeting Street is their unique townhomes and old-world approach to design. If you aren't already familiar with them, please check out their website at www.meetingstreet.net.

We'll keep you posted during the process and let you know when the video is completed!

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Technorati Profile

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Golf Outing

The Girl's Day Away golf outing was a success! 144 women showed up to golf that day, and everyone had a wonderful time. If you are interested in seeing a slide show of pictures we took during the day, visit our website. Special thanks to Visit Charlotte for hosting this event, and we know that Girls on the Run benefitted greatly from the fundraiser.

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Finally something for the women!!

This is a “must attend” event for any woman needing a fun day out of the office, and Episode XI Studios is participating by being the official event photographers. We found out about this golf outing during a monthly meeting with Visit Charlotte and we are really looking forward to being a part of it. Apparently it's all about women, and the best part is that the men involved will be wearing pink t-shirts and will be serving for the women. The fun will take place at the Birkdale Golf Club in Huntersville on September 24th, and proceeds will benefit Girls on the Run. (More information about Girls on the Run is listed to the right.)

You don’t have to be a golfer to participate in this charitable event, and most of the women who are planning to play have admitted to having no idea how to hit a golf ball with "those sticks". As if doing your part for a great charity isn’t enough, joining a group of women for “Charlottinis” and a party at the 19th hole complete with food and drinks will lure any woman in for the fun.

If you’re interested in joining the group, please contact Melissa Hershey at Visit Charlotte. Her email address is Melissa.hershey@visitcharlotte.com or you can call her at 704.331.2727.

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Joining and Participating with the Chamber of Commerce

We joined the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce last month. Excited about getting involved, we signed up to be a part of the Amazing Race Scavenger Hunt hosted for the Chamber’s Young Professionals Group. Just like the well-known television show, the local version of the Amazing Race has its contestants going from one adventure to another.

The prize has not yet been announced, but the race is on and the deadline to finish is August 10th. The winner is not determined by being the first to finish; winning is based on a number of assignments completed and the creativity used in completion. In order to prove our participation in the activities on the list, pictures must be taken wearing the assigned bright green bandanna that we were given at the Kick-Off party. All pictures have to be compiled in a scrapbook and turned in by the deadline.

Some of the activities include trips to the Belmont Drive In Theater, Lazy 5 Ranch, and the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, as well as local libraries and museums in Charlotte. By the end of the race, contestants will have attended a NoDa Gallery Crawl and created their own art masterpiece. In addition, other assignments include salsa dance lessons, buying produce at the Farmer’s Market,
attending a performance at CPCC's Summer Theater, having lunch at the culinary school of their choice, hiking up Crowder’s Mountain, cheering for the Charlotte Knights at a baseball game, and completing at least 15 other tasks.

Although we have scrambled around exhaustively, we have to admit that we’ve had a lot of fun, and of course, we fully expect to win the race. We have ridden the Gold Rush Trolley, taken pictures of ourselves with the uptown fireworks in the background, posed with a statute created in tribute to
Nascar’s favorite Dale Earnhardt, and enjoyed a performance of “Seussical the Musical”. We are still looking forward to checking out the live music at the Fast Grass Bluegrass Festival and playing Frisbee golf.

Having fun has been the ultimate goal of this venture, and we have taken selective required photos of some of the events and “Photoshop’ed” a little something extra…like bighead Randy and bighead Beth. It’s an exaggerated toddler “head is too big for the body”. If anyone is interested in joining us
for Salsa lessons, we'll be Latorre's tonight at 10pm.

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by Randy Davis

Many times, people have asked how we came up with the name
Episode XI (11) Studios, and the answer to that question is
one that would make Tim Allen proud. Randy has always been a
huge fan of the sitcom Home Improvement, and even has the
first five seasons on DVD. Who would have ever thought that
a company would be named after it…here is how it evolved.

When Randy and Beth decided to begin a new career, the first
order of business was to give the new company a name. Their
belief was that the company name should be personal. They
each made a list of personal jokes, likes, hobbies, and
quirks. Beth believed that the word “episode” would highlight
the video aspect of the business, and its use in a company
name was a first. Randy thought it would be a great idea to
incorporate his favorite Home Improvement episode as part of
the name, and thus Episode XI Studios was born.

There is an episode of Home Improvement where Tim Taylor
(Tim Allen) realizes that he should help out more around the
house. In his “Tim Taylor-ness”, he rewires the vacuum
cleaner, because it needed “more power”. In its soft whisper
mode, the vacuum performs just as any other, but in super
suck mode, Tim nearly loses his youngest son to its vortex.

If anyone out there, through the six degrees of separation,
knows Tim Allen, and can get a signed autograph, Episode XI
Studios will forever be grateful.

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