Shoot Production: Small Business Services For Staples

Connelly Partners, Staples’ Boston-based internal ad agency, contacted us with a quick turnaround project to highlight Staples’ small business and personal printing services. The ink on the contract was still wet as we set to work on the production with photographer Josh Andrus. Based on the client’s recommendation, we opted to shoot at a cozy cafe and bakery in a bedroom community a short drive from Boston. With the location squared away, we confirmed our relatively small Boston-based crew; a stylist team, digital tech, and photo assistant. Then we hammered out the schedule, prop list, catering, and production book.

Producer Julia Hanley and I made the 5-hour drive the day before the shoot, arriving just in time for a walk-through with Josh and my main man, Alex Trainer (Sr. Digital Designer), our main point of contact at Staples. We made quick work of the crazy convenient location, wrapping up in time for Alex to pick up his kids from camp. After the scout, Josh, Julia, and I grabbed some frosty brews and an early dinner on the patio at the bar across the street. After sweating about the weather forecast for a bit (period of light to moderate rain expected) we closed out so that Josh could try to beat the rush hour back to Boston (he didn’t).

The weather turned out to be a blessing. Though we did have to contend with a few misty stretches, they were brief and manageable. Well worth the trade for periods of cloud cover that shielded our outdoor shot from direct sunlight for most of the day.

In hindsight, it really was a perfect location. Not only did it offer the aesthetic and variety called for by the concept, but it also proved to be super convenient. In addition to the adjacent venue serving as a sprawling staging area, the location itself provided outstanding catering and the oh-so-necessary waves of coffee throughout the day.  

As great as the location was, we couldn’t have made it look so easy without our bad-ass Boston-based crew – Josh Andrus crushing it behind the camera, Alex Subers keeping the content and tunes flowing from his tech workstation, Sierra Baskind setting the stage and layering on just the right amount of context, Anthony Tulliani keeping us all safe from sailing 12x’s – and support from the entire Connelly and Staples teams. Thanks everybody!

To hear more about how we can help you, please send us an email or give us a call at 1 610 260 0200.