Kickstarter Success Story - BRIO

Here’s how our media company helped BRIO raise over $200,000 on Kickstarter.

As a small company of creatives, we like to think of ourselves as uniquely positioned for helping Kickstarter companies bring their product to the world in a big way. Helping them compete with the big guys for a fraction of the cost. After all, quality media is not determined by the budget behind the project, but more by the creativity and thought put into the scripting, planning, shots, locations, and everything else that goes into the production.

The production behind BRIO’s launch media was a great example of this. Requiring a variety of locations, coordinating with multiple different actors and families, working around constraints with the prototype, and balancing a heavy shot list. This was a tough project to pull off but through ingenuity and creative problem solving, we came away with one of our best launch videos to date. Not to mention the joy of seeing BRIO crush their Kickstarter goal and raising $150,000 in just 24 hours!

The scope of the project was relatively simple from the get go. Evan, one of the co-founders, reached out to me and was looking for someone to produce a launch video for their new product, the BRIO Kitchen Box. After some back and forth I pitched an idea for an ambitious project for a larger launch video as well as shooting for 2 additional smaller ads that they could run for separate target audiences (adventure seekers vs family campers). With budget constraints in mind we settled for shooting for all 3, but only producing the 1 main video so they could focus solely on launching the Kickstarter, possibly adding the 2 additional videos at a later date. They would however need some photos so we added photography to the scope of the project.

What was clear from the start is that we really needed to sell the experience of the outdoors instead of focusing all on the features of the product. This does a couple things: it allows the audience to really see themselves using the product, it sells the emotion of the outdoors and adventure, and finally it allows us to feature a wider range of target demographics in the video as we can use montages to quickly go between each setting. And as a bonus, it gave BRIO a lot more footage to work with for their advertising and Kickstarter launch page.

Initially we were buzzing at the idea of such an ambitious project but there were many questions that were unanswered. Such as: needing actors to fill various roles (including one with a nice Jeep), needing locations that were accessible without large filming fees or permits, and what could we actually do with the prototype which was of course still a work in progress.

Luckily we were all able to pull some strings and bring the project together. We were able to reach out to one of our friends who owns a Jeep that was perfect for the shoot (@pwnwrangler on Instagram) and also knew of a great overlanding camping spot on the Squamish Forest Service Roads, Evan reached out to 2 families which were available to come for our family camping scene around Golden Ears Provincial Park, and he also managed to find some friends to come to Tsawwassen in Delta for a ‘surfer’ hangout (which should have been paddle boards in hindsight).

With the actors, locations, and dates selected we were ready to go!

Throughout the process we were putting a script and storyboard together on Figma (my favorite program for it’s Figjam sticky note style boards), then arranging them into shot lists so we could remain organized on set. With shots for 3 different video edits in mind, photos to show off specific features, and voice to camera segments to shoot, there was a lot to keep track of.

Having sharable documents like this is key for communicating with the client and making them feel confident in the production. They can clearly see what we’re planning and make any comments if they have any concerns. Then during the shoot we all have a document we can reference so we know what we still need to capture and how much time we have left to do it.

First Location: Overlanding

Let’s just say for this first location, I knew what kind of shots I wanted and what to do once we got to location… I just didn’t really know how to get to the actual location. That’s where we were leaning on my friend Zsolt and his Jeep: Oreo. As an avid overlander himself, he knew all the secret spots we could drive to on the Squamish service roads. Promising the best spots with the most spectacular views. And after about an hour driving up the service roads, boy did he deliver!

We knew in the script we had one piece of audio to camera for Evan to do, then the rest of the time was spent showing certain features, getting specific photos, and in general showcasing how useful the BRIO box was for a group of friends overlanding in the wilderness and cooking up a nice lunch. I got to say the BRIO box looked really great in this area with a large opening for the overcast light to come in and dense forest creating natural shadows and contrast.

Showing off the rugged nature of the product was important as well. Making sure to spend a little time kicking dirt onto the BRIO box and getting it all muddy. Then getting a shot of Evan stepping up onto the box to show how useful a sturdy box like this can be around the campsite.

All in all this area was perfect for what we needed and a great way to start the project. We had no idea what the location would look like heading into the shoot but came away really grateful for Zsolt for providing us with a fantastic free campground to shoot at.

Plus we got some AMAZING clips of Zsolt driving his Jeep which was a major item on the checklist.

Second Location: Family Camping

For this shoot we did have a good idea of where we would be shooting, just not an exact idea on how we would set up and what it would look like. The original idea was to head to Golden Ears Provincial Park and use some of the benches for a picnic style BBQ. We needed to be relatively close to the parking lot to pull this off as well since there were scenes where a car drives up to unload the BRIO box.

As luck would have it, through talking to one of the nicest park rangers I’ve ever seen, he clued us into a group campsite that was just recently vacated due to some drunken behavior the night before. We went to check it out and it happened to be absolutely perfect for what we were looking for. Complete with picnic benches grouped together, ample space to setup tents, and parking spaces for cars to pull up to. It was exactly what we needed.

This shoot had two main components. The first was some shots for the skit that would start the video and the second was shots of the families enjoying their time at a campsite. Followed by Evan’s 2nd piece to camera which would conclude the video edit. A lot to fit into 1 late afternoon as we were scrambling to get everything done before the sun went down.

But again, everything went perfectly on the shoot and the family actors did an incredible job. Not only nailing the ‘acting’ scenes but also having a great time playing and allowing me to get the action shots I wanted. Now we only had 1 shoot left and luckily the easiest of the bunch.

Third Location: Campfire Hangout

I still chuckle to myself about this shoot because from the start of the project I had it in my head that we would need a surfing location as one of the main target audiences for BRIO was surfers. For this we would need a location with ocean water, a beach we could drive up to (very difficult), and a surfboard prop. The idea was that we would be shooting a group of surfers who had just finished surfing and were hanging out on the beach later in the evening.

But after getting to the location it was clear that we really should have just done paddle boards since the water was very calm and there were a bunch of paddle boards out on the water. I don’t know how I missed this but regardless, we pivoted the theme of the shoot to more of a campfire beach hangout with drinks and carried on with the shoot.

And as luck would have it… we had the most amazing sunset that evening.

We got all the shots we needed without any issues, grabbed a couple more hero shots since the sunset was so nice, then setup for the campfire and allowed everyone to relax and hangout. It was such a great feeling to finish the shoot on such a high note and watch the founders of BRIO relax and have a great time by the campfire. Felt like we were all enjoying the sweet feeling of a successful shoot wrapping.

It’s not often that we are able to get such a variety of shots for a product. Typically the budget and timeline constraints require us to narrow the script to focus on a single location. But I think this production thrived because of the scrappy mentality we had towards it. Pulling some strings to get some friends to help as actors, taking some risks and lucking out with amazing locations, and really just putting the effort in with pre-production to ensure that no matter what happens we can get the shots we need to get and pull through with the edit.

All in all it was about 2 months from start to finish and the guys at BRIO loved the final edit. They also loved the additional clips and images they were able to use on the Kickstarter page, embedding gifs for features they wanted to highlight. Evan mentioned this was a huge bonus, really helping them fill out the landing page and allow audiences to get a good look at the product and the features.

We couldn’t be happier with the end result and think it’s one of the best projects we’ve done to date. Often we finish a project and don’t know what happens next, maybe seeing the company post our images on social media or see them around their website. But with a Kickstarter launch it was much more exciting to watch Evan and the guys at BRIO succeed with their launch and raise such a large amount of funding for their product. Definitely a very fulfilling feeling that we hope to continue feeling in the future as we work with more Kickstarter projects.

Here’s what Evan had to say about working with us:

“I was introduced to Josh on a recommendation. This was one of the best partnership experiences I have ever had. He communicated well, hit every deadline (or beat it), had a great vision for our video, guided us through the process with ease, and produced an exceptional, high quality video. I would recommend Lex & Josh to anyone!”

— Evan Sidwell