Podcast episode 12 | February 23 - 2023

00:00:08:10 – 00:00:23:16

George Arabian 

What’s going on, everybody? It’s George here from NVISION and we’re here recording another Brews and Buzzwords with a real dear friend of mine, Mr. Andrew Sorlie, from Stature Films and Stature Studios. Why don’t you give us a little bit of background on yourself first? Introduce you to our world.

00:00:23:23 – 00:00:30:04

Andrew Sorlie 

Well, hello, everyone. And thanks, George, for having me on the brews and buzzwords.

00:00:30:04 – 00:00:31:01

George Arabian 

Brews and buzzwords.

00:00:31:02 – 00:00:58:15

Andrew Sorlie 

A little background. This is approximately year 15 of our business. It was around family day of 2009 when I quit my full time job and decided, hey, I’m going to jump in and start a business. And at that time, I had a little camcorder. I made videos with Lego and GI Joes and stuff like that But I knew nothing.

00:00:58:15 – 00:01:30:15

Andrew Sorlie 

I was a marketing guy from the beginning, so slowly and surely built up our our capabilities. Emily, my wife, joined full time about a year after we started and went from there. So it’s been 15 years. We have seen in our brief, what I call brief career, all kinds of changes. One, when I first started the business, people would call and ask if we could convert VHS tapes to DVD.

00:01:30:20 – 00:01:54:10

Andrew Sorlie 

That was the phone call I would get. And, and the first chunk of our business, I had to convince people that they could actually put a video on their website. Then there was sort of a real wild west where it was just a rush, hey, get me a video, get me. I want to be the first company in my industry to have a video on my website.

00:01:55:03 – 00:02:09:06

Andrew Sorlie 

And now it’s like, well geez. Can I have that video in one by one format so that the title looks right on Instagram? But then I got to convert it for that. And the thing with the okay, but now there’s nine by.

00:02:10:03 – 00:02:34:19

George Arabian 

And it goes on and on and it’s going to evolve. But I think the one thing that always holds true and you know, with video, obviously part of that is to tell a story. So it’s not just about the big hero background, but that hero background has to be immersive and compelling to have some sort of action be taken, whether it’s retention of the audience.

00:02:35:10 – 00:02:58:01

George Arabian 

I mean, I’ve watched all your work and it is just stunning, beautiful, and all of them have meaning. There’s a purpose. How do you approach when a client comes to you and says, I want a video shot? Is it about the story, the composition? Like, what is your approach and why is the story aspect of it? Why is that important?

00:02:58:17 – 00:03:23:20

Andrew Sorlie 

Great question, George. And I think it might sound a little silly to say, but if you really think about the content that you like to watch and you like to even share with people that, you know, Top Gun two, great movie. They took a long time to make that movie. They have the technical capabilities, but they wanted the story to be perfect.

00:03:23:20 – 00:03:44:22

Andrew Sorlie 

I think that’s what Tom Cruise has said in every interview I’ve seen him say. Story is the thing that moves the needle. It’s really cool to have the flash and the high production value, which I love, but story is the thing that we connect with. And I’ve had all kinds of clients say to us, Hey, we trust you.

00:03:45:00 – 00:04:04:10

Andrew Sorlie 

Just just take us, lead us. And I’ve had other clients say, Hey, no, this is exactly the scriptures, exactly what we’ve got to do. And they’re not thinking about story. They’re thinking, this is what Legal said, this is what Marketing said, this is what comms said. This is what VP said. Soon as we get through all those filters, there’s no more story sometimes.

00:04:04:16 – 00:04:17:09

Andrew Sorlie 

And so it’s to bring people back like you want to go to the theater, you want to go and see the big blockbuster because it has a good story. Some people hate Marvel, but Marvel has good story.

George Arabian 

But they’re doing something right.

00:04:19:15 – 00:04:38:05

Andrew Sorlie 

They’re doing something right. And so, yeah, whenever we’re tasked with creating a video for a client, we want to get to know them. We want to understand how we can take the things that they know, communicate it to a general audience or a specific audience. But, story is a huge lever in the process.

00:04:38:11 – 00:05:03:17

George Arabian 

Yeah, for sure. The one thing I’ve loved about you and conversations we’ve had is your thought process, coming from an outsider not familiar with all of the varying stages, you’ve always been like, Okay, what are we trying to ultimately achieve here? And how do we do that? Through good storytelling strategies, right? Do you get fixated on the impact that your projects are going to have or are?

00:05:03:17 – 00:05:21:11

George Arabian 

When you just mentioned, for example, you know, there’s legal so there’s certain things you can’t do, but you know that if you were allowed to do this thing, you could be so much better. Like there are certain critical elements when you’re telling a story that just have to be there. How do you navigate around that to ensure that it has an impact?

00:05:22:00 – 00:05:50:17

Andrew Sorlie 

Well, the truth is, is that sometimes you can navigate around it and sometimes you can’t. But I like to push. I like to push where I can to understand what someone’s trying to do and then take them sort of on a little journey. And, you know, sometimes that’s messy. Like sometimes people need to see the systems, they need to see the script, they need to see the storyboard.

00:05:50:18 – 00:06:25:23

Andrew Sorlie 

Then what I find in our process works the best is, is actually being a little bit open. We like the documentary style approach. Documentary style. There’s no script, right? There’s no guideline, there’s no preconceived notion. You might have some things that you want to try and accomplish, but you’re finding those things out in an interview. You’re talking, having a real conversation with someone, and you’re finding out in real time and you’re adjusting.

00:06:25:23 – 00:06:48:15

Andrew Sorlie 

You’ve got a list of questions, but you almost abandon those questions almost right away and you listen to what people are saying, and that’s where the story comes. And then when we move to the edit, that’s when you start to piece together a compelling narrative, a compelling story. No way, almost no way that someone could have prescripted majority of that work.

00:06:48:15 – 00:06:51:16

Andrew Sorlie 

It’s because we’re all human beings or interesting.

00:06:51:16 – 00:07:16:20

George Arabian 

Yeah, I think the one thing I love seeing is when you’re watching something and you can relate to it because of its authenticity. So when things are I mean, it’s one thing to have a Hollywood film where there’s a script. I even think in, you know, in things that I’ve read about film production, they sometimes do give a little bit of leeway to the actors to kind of interpret what’s to be said, improvise on the spot.

00:07:16:20 – 00:07:40:20

George Arabian 

And that authenticity and that opportunity is evident most times when you allow it when you’re not so rigid, as you mentioned. So going full circle with video in terms of when your clients approach and obviously you’ve got, you know, you’ve identified a great opportunity for yourself, oftentimes these things are being leveraged. I know you do a lot of production as well, like big, big production stuff.

00:07:40:20 – 00:07:55:07

George Arabian 

But when it comes to videos being leveraged for marketing and communications opportunities, what’s your what’s your spin there? Like, how do you start to navigate those waters when this thing is meant to be a driver of like leads or messaging?

00:07:56:07 – 00:08:29:15

Andrew Sorlie 

Great question, George. And I would tell you that I remind people and people remind me that in B2B sales, we’re still humans talking to humans. And humans love story, we know this. And so finding ways to connect with an audience through storytelling, I think is critical to retain their attention, to keep them engaged, to make them interested in whatever it is that you’re trying to move.

00:08:29:15 – 00:08:48:20

Andrew Sorlie 

If it’s trying to hire someone or you’re trying to sell something, the longer we keep them engaged, the more they want to fall in love with you, the more they want to be next to you, to buy your thing. The fact of the matter is, is that sometimes a client will think, here’s what my video is going to be about and we’ll hear them talking.

00:08:48:22 – 00:09:13:13

Andrew Sorlie 

There’s one example of a company we worked with from France called Willow, a really cool company. We worked with them just before the pandemic happened. In fact, it was our last project we did right before COVID hit. And these guys invented a new way to brush your teeth. And it’s a super cool product. And when they came to us, they had an idea of what they wanted the video to be about.

00:09:13:13 – 00:09:34:04

Andrew Sorlie 

And we listened and. Sure. Okay, well, gotcha. Tell me a little bit about your upbringing. Well, as it turns out, we found out and this wasn’t in the script. The CEO, the founder’s dad, spent his entire year as a dentist. And there was this father son, camaraderie and connection.

00:09:34:16 – 00:09:53:19

Andrew Sorlie 

Son spent all kinds of time in the dentist’s office just watching Dad work. And there was and he was also an inventor. He came up with ideas and that transcended. And so we ended up getting the exact things they asked for. But then, hey, we’ve got a few extra minutes, can i ask you a few extra questions, explore it a little bit.

00:09:54:18 – 00:09:56:13

Andrew Sorlie 

What do you think ended up making the final cut?

00:09:56:20 – 00:09:57:09

George Arabian 

That story.

00:09:57:17 – 00:10:10:21

Andrew Sorlie 

Of course. Right. Like the stuff, the stuff that was more familiar, a lot more connecting. And I think that moved the needle a lot further than, hey, by the way, we are the scientifically approved first, of course.

00:10:10:21 – 00:10:26:14

George Arabian 

Yeah. Just the authenticity in that relationship that you can after that story. Right. There’s lots of research to say that authentic storytelling actually releases oxytocin in the brain, which allows you to connect more with the audience, with the story that’s being.

00:10:26:14 – 00:10:27:14

Andrew Sorlie 

Not OxyContin, no.

00:10:28:14 – 00:10:30:16

George Arabian 

Oxytocin, not OxyContin.

00:10:30:16 – 00:10:31:13

Andrew Sorlie 

Just making sure. 

00:10:31:14 – 00:10:46:00

George Arabian 

Going back full circle, though, I do need to figure out who this Willow Company is, because, I, as you know, I’ve got four kids. And requesting them to brush their teeth every morning is very challenging. So if there is an easier way, Willow, I will be looking you up.

00:10:46:03 – 00:10:52:19

Andrew Sorlie 

I’ll make sure that you have their info there. They were featured in Time magazine for one of the inventions of the year.

00:10:53:00 – 00:10:53:13

George Arabian 

Nice.

00:10:54:04 – 00:10:55:12

Andrew Sorlie 

They’ve done extremely well.

00:10:55:12 – 00:11:11:05

George Arabian 

And I’m sure the way you were able to project that story into the world and telling that story helped their cause because it does certainly allow for a genuine connection, with whatever they’re trying to achieve, even you telling me that it’s like I’m interested, I’m curious now. It’s not.

00:11:11:05 – 00:11:11:19

Andrew Sorlie 

But if I said, hey.

00:11:11:19 – 00:11:16:18

George Arabian 

Scientifically proven right, it’s like I’ve seen those ads a million times and they’re out to get you.

00:11:16:21 – 00:11:18:16

Andrew Sorlie 

Yeah, right. Yeah. You got your back up.

00:11:18:17 – 00:11:20:22

George Arabian 

Yeah, of course. There’s nothing human to human connection.

00:11:20:22 – 00:11:23:10

Andrew Sorlie 

Right. Right. Story breaks down a lot of those walls.

00:11:23:10 – 00:11:31:14

George Arabian 

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I agree. 100%. So do you feel that storytelling only works like in the video medium?

00:11:33:05 – 00:12:00:20

Andrew Sorlie 

No, no, I don’t think it only works in the video medium. I mean, if I said that, I think I’d be pretty arrogant. Books, novels, poems, speeches. There’s elements of story in paintings and photography and you can find story in a lot of different places. Obviously my slant or whatever you want to call it is, is in the video world. 

00:12:00:20 – 00:12:08:12

Andrew Sorlie 

But I think you can. I think you can be a storyteller. I mean, cave paintings and.

00:12:08:12 – 00:12:09:15

George Arabian 

Yeah, for sure. 

00:12:09:20 – 00:12:11:19

Andrew Sorlie 

Leather bound books.

00:12:12:01 – 00:12:50:21

George Arabian 

No, I love a good leather book. So I want to tie this into a conversation you and I have had many times, because you’re so passionate about around video and video quality and the storytelling aspect of it through, let’s call them, higher end mediums like professionally done through guys like you. When you see videos, and I’m prodding here a little bit because I think I know where you’re going to go when you see videos that are being generated in the volume of millions of videos with an iPhone or Samsung or whatever, what’s your take on that?

00:12:50:21 – 00:12:54:05

George Arabian 

Like, where do you go? Like, how do you tell a proper story without.

00:12:54:05 – 00:12:54:15

Andrew Sorlie 

Sure.

00:12:55:02 – 00:12:57:17

George Arabian 

With just that? And is it possible?

00:12:58:08 – 00:13:18:22

Andrew Sorlie 

Hundred percent possible. So I obviously have a bias. I have a bias because, for a few reasons. When I was just getting my business off the ground, I would make a video, I’d be proud of it, but I’d watch it. And we do this thing internally called deconstructing our own work. So it’s really.

00:13:19:06 – 00:13:19:17

George Arabian 

I like that.

00:13:19:17 – 00:13:45:16

Andrew Sorlie 

It’s beating ourselves up, not because we’re going to change this one, but the next one we do, how are we going to make it better? We do that on every single video we do. We have done it for 15 years and an early mentor taught me to do that. Now, that can be a heavy thing to do because you’re proud of your work, but you’re like, okay, that was good, but we’re not going to rest here or we need to improve this, this, and this.

00:13:46:06 – 00:14:05:22

Andrew Sorlie 

Now, for my entire career, I’ve had people that I’ve looked up to still look up to this day, and they’re making media campaigns through the Toronto Maple Leafs. I have people I look up to who are doing incredible work for nonprofits. It’s just this work that you would just want to go watch even though it’s a commercial and they’re constantly pushing us forward.

00:14:06:03 – 00:14:25:03

Andrew Sorlie 

So we, in 2015, we see our work and we’re like, okay, if I could just do this, this and this, then I can be where they are. Two years later, they’ve improved and you’re like, okay, well, I mean, those are probably now got more improvements, right? So and you know, that’s true with NVISION. We’re always trying to do a little bit better.

00:14:25:03 – 00:15:13:20

Andrew Sorlie 

And then this weird thing happened with COVID. All of a sudden everyone’s doing work from home, they’re doing teams or Zoom or whatever. The quality of everything drops. I’m not talking storytelling here, literally talking about webcams blown out window behind you, whatever it is. People’s expectation for quality, I feel, has dropped. You watch a national broadcast program and, even today in 2023, you know the doctor who’s talking about updates and how the hospital is doing is staring at a laptop down here and you see up his nose and I’m thinking to myself, all right, that is what is now the norm.

00:15:14:03 – 00:15:17:16

Andrew Sorlie 

It’s not those beautiful pieces that I fell in love with.

00:15:17:16 – 00:15:19:03

George Arabian 

The standards have dropped.

00:15:19:07 – 00:15:36:01

Andrew Sorlie 

Standards have dropped. And so that boils my blood. So I think to myself, what has happened I just spent 15 years going this way and now everyone else is going this way, is my job to pick them up and put them back up here, or is it my job to just accept I know we’re down here now.

00:15:36:14 – 00:15:40:02

Andrew Sorlie 

That has nothing to do with storytelling. You could tell stories.

00:15:40:20 – 00:15:42:01

George Arabian 

With anything.

00:15:42:01 – 00:15:59:16

Andrew Sorlie 

CellPhone. You could tell stories with a black and white Polaroid. The thing that I believe in is if you’re in a place where you can push for excellence, I think you got to think you got to push for it. Excellence looks a lot of different ways to a lot of different people. You can have the TikTok channel.

00:15:59:16 – 00:16:21:09

Andrew Sorlie 

You can have the Instagram reels over here and you can also have the front of the website hero video over here. You can also have another piece that’s used exclusively in private sales meetings to close big deals, and those different pieces can be completely different production value. And, that’s okay. I, I think you can have everything.

00:16:21:15 – 00:16:41:03

George Arabian 

I absolutely agree with you. I think there’s a place for all of it. And the beauty of that is, is that you can get your quick message out on a platform like TikTok. Doesn’t necessarily I don’t think anybody’s going to sit there and work towards winning an Oscar on their TikTok platform.

00:16:41:03 – 00:16:41:09

Andrew Sorlie 

Sure.

00:16:42:01 – 00:17:03:19

George Arabian 

But then when it comes down to, as you said, you know, a potential sales presentation a little bit about your organization to give it that higher production value if you have the means, I think it goes a long, long way. The thing I always say to our clients is that the presentation matters in the context it’s being delivered in.

00:17:04:08 – 00:17:23:04

George Arabian 

So if it’s hey, we’re having a little bit of fun here, this at the office or at the shop with, you know, whatever, one day, something quick. Great. Yeah man, use TikTok, use IG or whatever. But if you want to tell somebody’s story about your organization and you know, we’ve been around for 20 years, there’s a lot to be told over a 20 year period.

00:17:23:09 – 00:17:36:19

George Arabian 

I can’t do that in a one minute reel. So I want to have high production value because I give a shit about how that message and how that story is delivered. So if you give a shit, if you don’t give a shit, others aren’t going to give a shit either.

00:17:37:04 – 00:18:02:17

Andrew Sorlie 

What it or it’s a direct reflection of your brand. Right. So if I think about Yeti coolers, we’ve seen stuff in Yeti’s media. If Yeti coolers puts out a DIY shot with a cell phone reel, I’m going to think to myself, Oh, that’s nice. But that’s not that’s not the real thing. Yeti has built a reputation.

00:18:02:17 – 00:18:13:20

Andrew Sorlie 

Are these eight, 13, 16 minute epics. Patagonia. Same thing. Like they put out these stunning films.

00:18:14:06 – 00:18:15:11

George Arabian 

Yeah. The beautiful stories.

00:18:15:11 – 00:18:36:07

Andrew Sorlie 

Burton Snowboards. Like, they have helicopter teams in there and obviously they have some budget. Burton is also, probably got a TikTok channel, and they’re doing quick, quick videos. That’s fine. So I think there’s I think we’ve already said there’s room for everything. But I do really stress that you really have to think about how your brand is perceived.

00:18:36:12 – 00:18:52:02

Andrew Sorlie 

And where you’re showing up, right? So if you’re showing up on a national TV spot and everybody else is high production value and you show up, you might stand out for the wrong reasons. And I don’t want that for people. I want, I want everyone to succeed.

00:18:52:10 – 00:19:05:15

George Arabian 

Of course. Yeah. I think that’s what we’re all trying to achieve here. And, you know, finding the right solution for the right medium or the whatever the context of what we’re trying to achieve there. There is a play for everything.

00:19:05:15 – 00:19:21:10

Andrew Sorlie 

Sure. What I actually try and spend a lot of my time on, George, is trying to get people to open their minds to storytelling. There’s so many things that we know as individuals. There’s so many things we know as experts. Did you start as a coder? 

00:19:21:18 – 00:19:27:20

George Arabian 

Yeah, well, yeah, my story’s very long. I’ve said it a million times, but yeah. I was dabbling in code.

00:19:27:20 – 00:19:53:21

Andrew Sorlie 

Sure, sure, sure. But, but anyone that we work with, anyone that you work with. Generally they started as, as the thing and then as their business grew, they had to bring on a team, HR, and I think we all forget that we have special gifts, we have special talents and unique voices. And, and I think I think we all have that.

00:19:54:14 – 00:20:20:18

Andrew Sorlie 

I don’t know if it’s like a reservation or a shyness, but we, we, we, we assume that everybody else has the exact same skills as us. They have the exact same experience as us. They don’t. So that’s a huge part of storytelling. Is, is, is getting you comfortable as the client with actually sharing a little bit about yourself being a little bit vulnerable and opening yourself up and saying, Hey, you know, I didn’t have it all figured out on day one, but here’s where we are today.

00:20:21:06 – 00:20:40:22

Andrew Sorlie 

I think a lot of people relate to struggle. I think a lot of people relate to ups and downs. Some people just want to have the varnish. You know, everything has been great, but I think the audience relates to, hey, like we were almost failing. You know, we are we failed a whole bunch of times. Like.

00:20:42:01 – 00:21:05:15

George Arabian 

I think honesty and authenticity go a long, long way. To your point, if I go back to three or four years ago of doing my first video, a lot of apprehension and a lot of doubt. You know, second guessing the words that were coming out of my mouth and not knowing what to say. And, you know, it’s trial and error.

00:21:06:01 – 00:21:14:13

George Arabian 

And if you’re willing to learn and adapt and you embrace it, you embrace the failures as much as you embrace the successes.

00:21:14:13 – 00:21:15:04

Andrew Sorlie 

Sure, sure.

00:21:15:15 – 00:21:18:01

George Arabian 

Man. It’s a wonderful world at that point.

00:21:18:01 – 00:21:40:06

Andrew Sorlie 

To your credit and to your team’s credit, what I love about what NVISION has done, because I’ve seen a lot of companies kind of start these conversations up. You guys have invested in production value. So you are working on your storytelling. You’re working on having great conversations, casual conversation, but helpful conversations. But you’re respecting your audience.

00:21:40:06 – 00:21:45:03

Andrew Sorlie 

You got great audio. You’ve got really nice light. You’ve got really nice Michael.

00:21:45:19 – 00:21:46:12

George Arabian 

Very nice, Michael yes.

00:21:46:12 – 00:22:07:11

Andrew Sorlie 

Yeah, Michael’s great. You know, and I believe that I’m just going to say I’m just going to say it. I think it’s a responsibility of a brand to respect their audience. And how do you respect your audience? By paying attention to the details. And that’s where production value comes in. By paying attention to doing things with excellence.

00:22:08:05 – 00:22:13:21

Andrew Sorlie 

Good story, good production value. I think that’s a recipe for really great content.

00:22:14:02 – 00:22:46:07

George Arabian 

I agree with you wholeheartedly and that’s why we’ve kind of set up the way we have for sure, and we keep working away at it. I mean, the beautiful part of, as you know, this industry is like it is ever evolving. You know, and it’s amazing. I mean, if you’re truly a geek at heart like I am, I mean, the things that we get into dialog here about like the lens and what the differences are between the lenses and the different microphones, I don’t think the general public appreciates that as much as you and I would where we’re like, you know, in this room right now, we have four microphones, we have three

00:22:46:07 – 00:23:16:04

George Arabian 

cameras pointing at us. We have amazing professional lighting. And that all takes thought. And, you know, obviously, Michael, he was the man here. I mean he put this all together. And, you know, it’s been a work in progress for us, too, because we’re like, okay, sound, density and, you know, the acoustic panels and yadda yadda. And it’s like you learn and you just keep adapting so you can tell your story with that marriage of, you know, great production value, great narrative authenticity.

00:23:16:10 – 00:23:43:07

Andrew Sorlie  

We’re all doing the best. I think we’re all doing the best we can. I hope we are and look at there’s going to be, there’s going to be, there’s always going to be things in your way from doing it exactly the way you want. But I think just a renewed focus on storytelling being real with people as real as you as you’re comfortable with, connecting with people on a human basis.

00:23:43:10 – 00:23:57:07

Andrew Sorlie 

And, and, yeah, story. Story is a great way. It’s a great way to connect with your audience. It’s a great way to accomplish the thing that you’re trying to do. We say at our company that we want to help you do more of what you want to do.

00:23:57:18 – 00:23:58:15

George Arabian 

That’s awesome. 

00:23:59:03 – 00:24:00:08

Andrew Sorlie 

Right. And that’s Stature.

00:24:00:08 – 00:24:24:18

George Arabian 

Amazing. If you want to learn more about storytelling, check us out at NVISION.co Check Andrew out at Stature and never be fearful of telling your story. Keep it authentic, keep it genuine because people do care. People do care not only about your story, but the production, the medium that you’re on. Andrew Thank you, man. It’s always awesome to talk to you.

00:24:24:23 – 00:24:35:13

George Arabian 

I love talking to you because I always learn something new. Michael Always love having you behind the scenes as well. Michael’s also doing a great job with all of his stuff. Keeping us on time here. So.

00:24:35:13 – 00:24:35:18

Andrew Sorlie 

Bravo Michael.

00:24:35:18 – 00:24:38:11

George Arabian 

Check us out. Brews and Buzzwords, peace.