Behind The Scenes With Expedia & VRBO on Cabin Culture Season 2
Expedia approached us with an opportunity to work on Cabin Culture, season two. They did a series last year and they wanted to another series this year.
This was a three-video series, where we followed three groups of characters during their stay in West Virginia. Our characters in each video was a group of friends, an individual, and an an extended family. We wanted to show amazing VRBOs and experiences all within the state of West Virginia.
“One of the most important elements was building strong characters. When it came to the look and the feel of these videos, authenticity and realism were at the forefront. I really wanted it to feel almost like a documentary” - Vanessa Diaz, Director.
We shot this series over a two week period, and because of that, there was a ton of work to be done in pre-pro. In a typical commercial shoot day, you're generally at one or two locations. This was not like that. There were four locations, all 45 minutes apart.
For months, Kyle and I (Vanessa) worked on schedules, we worked on scouting, we worked on character building, we worked on everything that we could do ahead of time to make sure that our production was a smooth ride.
When we woke up on day one, we were surprised with some snow...in May! There was probably a foot or two of snow, and that's just not what we anticipated. We went up there in the Spring to shoot these videos to promote Summer travel, and Summer was right around the corner. We couldn’t shoot outside, because it didn’t even look like Spring. We were out in West Virginia, our team was there, and we were ready to go. We had to pivot and we had to find a solution.
The only place we could shoot was in a brewery that was in the town of Davis. We decided to shoot some of the interior scenes at the brewery. We had to avoid the windows and the outside as much as we could.
The story here is that these three friends were friends in college. Over time, you get a new job, you move away from each other, and things change. But, when you come back together, it's like nothing has changed.
We would shoot one scene, then the talent would go home, and we’d continue on our schedule. We added the pickup days at the end of the schedule so it wouldn’t disrupt the rest of the schedule. What that did for us, was set the scene.
The whole point of that story is these college friends are coming back and reconnecting, and they literally did that. They met for one scene, got to meet each other, and then they went away for two weeks, and came back two weeks later to reconnect.
Shooting with our creative individual was a fun process. Because Ashley was alone, the locations that she was in really became a strong second character in her story. We shot our talent in Audra State Park, West Virginia. In this scene, she's out in the woods trying to find inspiration. The VRBO that we shot in for Ashley was so cool. I think it became the perfect character for Ashley to play off of.
Then we had our family of six with three generations. Their goal was reconnecting. Life gets in the way, family moves away from each other, and you start to lose touch. That's another thing that kind of worked to our favor. The grandparents hadn't actually seen the kids in a while, so it really was a reconnecting story, which is something that was a part of the story before we even cast them. There was just a natural, organic chemistry with them that you don't always find with talent pieced together.
Having a client like Expedia was so beneficial. When you have all these different things moving around, you really want to have a partner that is just as organized as you are. Every person that has touched this project had some sort of effect on it. I know it's cliche to say, but this is a truly collaborative process. You won't see the credits like you do in a movie, but we would have a very long list of credits scrolling down the screen from how many people have touched this project (see credits below).
This was the crew that I wanted to be with for a journey like this. You're trapped in cabins for 15 days with seven people. You need to not only know that you can trust this group of people on set, but know that you can come home and have dinner and laugh and come up with new ideas for the next day. I cannot speak more highly of this crew.
-
Director of Sports & Entertainment: Anthony Santa
Creative Director: Will Shanahan
Executive Producer: Susan Mulvey
Project Manager: Dana Wahlbeck
Director: Vanessa Diaz
Producer: Kyle Franzak
Production Coordinator: Hannah Page
Editor: Cory Draper & Michael Csorba
Colorist: Alec Pieper
DP: Wes Eldridge
2nd Cam / Drone Op: Nick Morales
BTS Videographer Camila Camacho
BTS Editor: Alejandro Segovia Walle
Gaffer: Evan Penso
Grip: thomas Vandevander, Trevor Coffman, Sam Young, Daniel McMullen
Audio: Joshua Laemmle
Props: Jen Davis
PA: Morgan Ward
Casting: The Talent Group
Expedia Group Partnerships
Make your brand unforgettable
Have a video project you’re ready to discuss?
Click below or call us at 1 (813) 972 5400.