When Country Music Artist Brett Kissel asks if your video production agency wants to create a music video for his latest single, in February, and you are wanting to avoid snow at all costs, what do you do? You pick up a broom and start sweeping snow! Literally. Let me explain.
Brett reached out to us over Instagram, after a “deep deep deep deep dive” into our content, to share some incredibly kind words and express his interest in working together someday. We of course did what any other people in our positions would likely do: we squealed, we read the message a thousand times, we verified that it was really him (blue check mark approved!) and responded, in the most cool, calm and collected fashion: “HELL YA BROTHER!”And so the planning began.
Brett presented us with the incredible opportunity to collaborate on his inspiring new song “Make a Life, Not a Livin’”. In his words, the song is “truly about the little things and being grateful for what you have and who you have around you,” and after hearing it for the first time, we all knew it was something special. Brett trusted our team with the creative, and honestly, the storyline wrote itself. We would have Brett’s entire family be a part of the shoot. The video would take place in a cold corporate setting, lead into the plot of a life truly lived and end off with a bit of a twist! It would be a whole love, laughter and happily ever after story. One for the books! And with the concept set, we jumped forward with the logistics.
In order to meet the song’s release deadlines, we had to film in the middle of February (not really ideal filming conditions for outdoors). Immediately, we knew going to Brett in Alberta was out of the question. And him coming to Kelowna…. Well that was a little bit dicey. So we finally settled on a location in the Lower Mainland: Abbotsford.The forecast was in our favour. The landscape lent well to the concept. Everything was perfect! And with location scouting in full swing, we were able to find a beautiful farmhouse, the quaintest local general store, a used car lot with character to spare, and a corporate office setting. Calls were made, schedules were drawn, flights were booked and everything was lining up perfectly! Fast forward to the morning of the shoot, where the entire team woke up to a beautiful, fresh, fluffy layer of, you guessed it, snow.
SNOW! We honestly couldn’t believe it. We had checked the forecast so many times you would think that it was our screensaver! But Brett and his family had arrived, hair and makeup were on set and ready, and there was no time in the schedule to postpone…. So in true One Peak fashion, we did the only logical thing. Picked up a broom and started sweeping the fields! You may have heard us say in the past “anything for the shot?” Well now you might better understand just how far we will go! All in all, everything came together perfectly! You wouldn’t even “snow” that it was there… Okay, that one was pretty bad… Sorry!
Filming with Brett and his family was such an amazing experience. We shared so many laughs and heartwarming moments, and through it all, we had the honour of bringing Brett’s beautiful words to life. At least we think so! Let’s see what the CCMA’s have to say! Stay tuned…
UPDATE: ‘Make a Life, Not a Living’ won CCMA’s Video of the Year!
Thank you all for your support!
