Sixth Consecutive Year Studio Provides “Mini-Doc” Film
Los Angeles, PICROW, the Hollywood headquarters television and commercial production company, recently completed a short documentary for the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. Premiering at the EFGLA’s annual Care & Cure fundraiser at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the film was the latest in a series of epilepsy documentaries directed by The Hall. The Hall has been directing the short documentaries for six straight years. The film can be seen here.
Care & Cure 2017
For this year’s film, The Hall worked again with EFGLA Project Coordinator and Producer Nathan Jones, chronicling two families with young children stricken with epilepsy. Through the tireless efforts of devoted doctors, epilepsy experts and hospital staff, two different solutions helped stopped the seizures; one through diet, one through drugs. “There are countless stories we hear each year,” says The Hall. “each story is emotional and very real to these epilepsy patients. It’s some of the most rewarding work we do, telling these amazing stories in a way that inspires others to join the fight.”
The Fight
In this year’s film, a young girl named Gracie was opening her gifts on Christmas morning when she suffered her first seizure. For one-year old Annabelle, her parents noticed tremors in her arm, followed by a 10-15 second seizure. Thanks to expert help received at Children’s Hospital Of Los Angeles and the University of California at San Francisco, both children are now seizure free. Gracie had genetic testing done after standard medications failed, revealing a glucose transporter defect that caused her seizures. After starting a strict low-carb diet called the Ketogenic Diet, Gracie’s seizures were gone within days. For little Annabelle, videos taken by her parents and further testing allowed doctors to prescribe medication that stopped her seizures within hours.
The Big Challenge
Over the past decade, the EFGLA’s Care & Cure fundraiser has raised millions of dollars that have gone directly towards training pediatric Epileptology fellows in Southern California. The impact of training more specialized doctors has been tangible, decreasing wait times for families around Southern California. According to Jones, there’s a worldwide shortage of epileptologists, causing patients sometimes to wait months to see a specialist. “There needs to be more happy endings, more early diagnosis and better care for people with epilepsy,” he says. It is estimated that 10 percent of the population will suffer a seizure at some point in their lives.
About PICROW
Pictures in a Row (PICROW) is a combination studio, production house, and post house — a new hybrid. Equipped with distinguished directors, full time development and production staff, digital talent, and post facilities for commercials, film and television. The company is headquartered at 736 Seward St., Hollywood, CA 90038. For more information go to www.picrow.com
Sonic Branding For Social Media: Engage, Align, Connect
By Chad Cook -- With more than five billion people accessing social media daily, savvy brands understand the importance of cultivating a strong social identity. They devote massive resources toward brand awareness, audience targeting, content strategy and community engagement. Yet, while they know that social platforms are critical to boosting sales and attracting new customers, many neglect one of the most effective tools for connecting with consumers: sonic branding. Marketers often associate sonic branding with catchy mnemonics used by big brands like McDonald’s, Netflix and Intel in their advertising. But that is a very limited view of what sonic branding is and what it can do. Sonic branding is a way to build awareness and stimulate engagement across all touch points, from advertising to broadcast digital, in-person and social. And it’s not limited to members of the Fortune 500. Brands at all levels can benefit from a sonic identity that is memorable, engaging and reflective of its core values. Sound has been scientifically proven to be deeply tied to memory and emotion. There’s a reason that certain songs stick in your head and bring back memories formed years or even decades earlier. So, it’s surprising that sonic branding is often an afterthought in marketing plans. That is especially true in social media marketing. Faced with tight deadlines and strained budgets, creative teams are often tempted to select music for their content simply because it “fits.” Unfortunately, that may result in content that is in tune with what’s trending but is out of tune with brand identity. Effective sonic branding, by contrast, requires thoughtful strategic planning,... Read More