Case study

NPower

Tahjee Speight, an NPower alum and U.S. Air Force veteran, smiles during a meeting in his alumni story video.

Challenge

How do you convince someone a tech career is meant for them?

Deliverables 18 videos: 13 alumni stories, 3 partner videos, a program video and a graduation video. 6 in 4K.

Let graduates who once doubted themselves make the case.

NPower gives young adults and veterans free tech training and career launch support. It asked us to help grow enrollment and win more employer and apprenticeship partners. Free should be an easy sell.

But graduates keep coming back to confidence. Michael Fugett didn’t want to apply, because he didn’t think he was good enough. Valentine Komen says you can’t picture yourself in tech until you see someone there who looks like you. Tahjee Speight says NPower gave more than training: skills, mentorship and the confidence to succeed.

Employers had their own question: what does a graduate save them? Kian Sanders, a human resources executive on the NPower Regional Advisory Board, says support organizations are consistently asked to do more with less. The partner videos had to show employers what a job-ready graduate is worth.

What we made

Each alumni story follows one graduate, who does nearly all the talking. Steffi Ockenfels, our executive producer, gets to know each person before the shoot. Our interviews are unscripted, and nobody on shoot day is meeting a stranger.

The series runs from 14-second spots to three-minute stories. Brittany Holmes makes her case in 14 seconds: “you are gonna have a better outcome if you stick with the NPower program.” Geneva Knott, a Marine Corps veteran with about 10 years in law enforcement, gets three minutes.

Faith Uzo, Tas Gallahar, Krivonne Evans and Patience Gyakari each get 30 seconds. A recruitment video has to reach people where they already are, often a phone, mid-scroll.

We also put employers on camera to speak to their peers. Estrella Davila, Quincy Harper and Denise Carlson of Accenture Federal Services explain why NPower graduates are typically ready to work when they finish. A three-minute partner video shows how Harris County’s investment opened apprenticeships for 15 NPower graduates. Kian Sanders needs 30 seconds: “NPower could be everyone’s secret weapon.”

A program video explains the IT apprenticeship programs through interviews with staff, partners and an alum. Tech Fundamentals is an intensive 20-week course built to line up with Department of Labor apprenticeship curriculum. A 30-second event video covers the San Antonio spring graduation. Class speaker Nanekah Greenwood, a Navy veteran, ends with “Congratulations, y’all. We did it.”

Six of the 18 videos are in 4K. On the same shoots, we photographed alumni as well. Geneva Knott was photographed outdoors and in the studio, and she appears in NPower’s 15- and 30-second social media spots.

The result

NPower first hired us on a referral from someone we had worked with before. Alexis Moore, its development director, had worked with us in a previous role and referred us to NPower. “My employer quickly saw the value in their work and signed them on,” she says.

Over a multi-year partnership, the series grew to 18 videos: 13 alumni stories, three partner videos, a program video and a graduation video. Alumni speak to applicants, and partners speak to employers. In a Google review, Detrick Garza-Propes calls the team “dependable, easy to work with, and truly invested in the San Antonio community.”

Michael Fugett once doubted he was good enough to apply. When we filmed, he was a vice president in risk management. His message to viewers: “even if you don’t think you’re good enough, you’re wanted here.”

If your program trains people for new careers and needs employers to hire them, this is the series we make. Every version is planned before the shoot, from a three-minute alumni video down to a vertical cut for social.

How we make workforce and recruitment videos · Packages and pricing · What a video costs in San Antonio.

Their keen attention to detail, coupled with their creative talent and expertise in storytelling, enable them to beautifully capture the people we serve.

Alexis MooreDevelopment Director, NPower