Inquire. - Project WET

Thank you.

Thank you so much for asking us to bid on this project. Understanding and communicating the process, complexity, and fragility of Arizona's water systems is something that we are extremely excited to undertake. Especially, at this critical moment in our state's history and future.

Over the years, we have worked a lot in and around the education space. We wrote/produced and created 3 series for the Gates-funded, Teaching Channel in partnership with PBS; created content for the edtech startup, PopExpert; produced a feature documentary about the importance of teacher quality, Mitchell 20, which was sponsored by the National Education Association; and many other projects for broadcast, non-profit clients. We bring to this project rich experience in creating long and short-form content for educators and students, and a pedagogical understanding that informs the creation of content that sticks.

Below you will find an overview of how we intend to approach this project.

Objective

Create a series of informative and inspiring videos that clearly communicates the process, complexity, and fragility of Arizona's water systems to young people, and adults alike.

Deliverables

· 9, 3-4 minute videos in desired formats

· Source material on a hard drive

Assumptions

· We will work from the existing outline

· Key stats and subjects will be provided by the client

· Inquire will provide a turn-key solution, including scripting, pre-production, production, and post-production

· Animation will be paid directly by Esser

· Our general style will be elevated documentary, with high-quality and contemporarily-styled imagery, interviews, and animations that will feel relevant for many years to come.

Working Creative Approach

What we love about the approach you have laid out is the emphasis on using beautiful live-action nature footage and documentary-style profiles that are intercut with animations that feel both contemporary and timeless. Using "Blue" as our guide, we have a narrative device that allows us to move swiftly between contexts and allows us to explore the interconnectedness within an ecosystem.

Narrative

With our primary audience being 5th graders, and our secondary audience being adults, we feel we should strike a tone that is both rational and aspirational. In other words, we won't dumb things down, we won't be fatalistic, and we won't draw our own conclusions—and we won't be overly didactic either. We'll share factual and balanced information with excitement—maybe a sense of urgency—and keep the grounding that responsibility is upon all of us to manage this precious resource. To do this, we will move fluidly from our narrator giving high-level details over nature footage or animation and profiles of energetic subject matter experts who will provide concrete examples of our topics.

Score + Sound Design

As we are doing script research, we will undertake a music search to ensure tonal cohesion between the visuals and narration. Our feeling, at present, is a score that feels contemporary and universal in appeal. Possibly cinematic strings and/or more electronic elements that have driving beats. In post, we will apply sound design that accentuates the sounds of wings flapping, the wind and water rushing, and city life to bring an aural texture that enriches the story.

Visuals

In scripting, we will focus on visuals that will bring power to the topics being discussed and transitions that keep the energy high and move us fluidly through our topics. To help us do that, we will lean on an FPV drone that gives the POV of Blue and allows for fun transitions from the ground to the air or into animation, subject matter expert profiles, as well as powerful nature imagery—captured by one of Arizona's most prolific nature filmmakers, Dustin Farrell.

Creating a look and feel that has a high-production quality and is rich in depth.

Examples from our aerial and nature filmmakers below.

Working Process and Production Schedule

· Oct 6 · Deposit + Final Outlines, Stats, and Contacts Received

· Oct 7 or 8 · Kickoff Meeting

· Oct 21 · First Draft of Scripts and Music Options

· Oct 25 · 3 Hour Script Working Session

· Oct 28 · Scripts approved

· Nov 1-10 · Production/Animation

· Nov 10-19 · Assembly editing

· Nov 22 · Rough cut delivered

· Nov 23 - 26 · Thanksgiving Holiday Break

· Nov 29 · Review/Changes (In-Person w/ Decision Makers at Postal)

· Nov 30 · Review/Changes (In-Person w/ Decision Makers at Postal)

· Dec 1 · Review/Picture Lock (In-Person w/ Decision Makers at Postal)

· Dec 2/3 · Color/Sound (at Copper Post + Amp)

· Dec 3 · Final Review

· Dec 6 · Delivery

Estimate Overview.

This is not a fixed bid but rather a starting point that can be aligned to your budget needs and the needs of the final script.

For now, we've estimated ample time for scripting and revisions, 3 days of interviews around the state, 5 days of nature broll, 2 days of aerial photography, 20 scenes with animation or graphics, 2 cuts of music per video, Spanish language versioning with via narrator VO (we could cut cost by just doing captions), ample time for editing and assembly, 4 days of fine editing at Postal the Edit Suite, 2 days of color with Rob Beadle, and 2 days of sound mix with Abbott Miller. In terms of camera, we have estimated for using the Sony Fs5MkII for interviews, Sony Fs7 for nature broll, and an FPV drone with a GoPro for the aerials (we could move to the Fx6 for an extra $1400 per day). With this approach, we feel confident we can deliver a high-quality set of videos that will stand up for many years to come.

Below you can find our estimate summary and a detailed estimate is here.

Terms.

We will share a more in-depth production agreement at time of deposit. General terms include: a 50% deposit to begin work, 25% at the close of production, and the balance at completion; client can cancel production at any time though is liable for any costs incurred up to point of the cancelation; any possible overages will be shared with client before incurring cost and must be approved in writing.

Thank you, again.

It is not lost on us that this project has the potential to shape the future of Arizona water policy and sustainability by informing our next generation of leaders. This is a task that we could not be more honored to take on and will do so with absolute focus and joy. We hope that this proposal serves as a starting point to further refine our approach and collaboration. Thank you again. Please let us know if you have any questions.

We'll look forward to more.