Steven Schrier of Kalamazoo, Michigan is an independent video producer who has been a loyal Hightail customer for many years. He previously spent over 25 years as an Educational Television Producer for the State of Michigan Department of Community Health. Today, Steven primarily works on fine arts projects and educational video programs. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Steven about his use of Hightail:
Lindsay: What were the business challenges you were looking to address?
Steven: Greatly decreasing both the time and considerable expense of producing educational videos.
Lindsay: What process or solution did you have in place to manage this before Hightail?
Steven: For many years I filmed choral concerts with the Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley in San Jose, among others.
Previously, after filming a choral concert with 12 cameras in San Jose or Palo Alto, I would assemble a first edit, then burn a preview DVD and send it via conventional US Postal Service from Michigan to San Jose for review by the program’s music directors. This video editing-production methodology was exceptionally slow, time-consuming and wasteful in its use of materials.
Lindsay: How did Hightail change things for you?
Steven: Thankfully, when Hightail arrived, the sharing of the first edit of videos became fast, convenient, inexpensive and very easy. The first edit of a concert video can be quickly uploaded to Hightail and sent from Michigan to California or wherever the artists reviewing the program are located. The artistic folks collaborating in the editing process privately and securely review the video file in Hightail and make their recommendations for further editing as needed. Re-editing the video can be done quickly and conveniently and sent via Hightail for further review. Once the edited video is approved, a DVD can be burned and sent to the group via regular mail or shared via Hightail.
Lindsay: Why did you choose Hightail over other offerings?
Steven: Speed of service, convenience and security are the primary reasons, along with the very practical cost savings realized by sending edited video files electronically versus physically burning a preview DVD and sending the DVD through traditional mail services.
Lindsay: How are you using Hightail in your work today?
Steven: To collaborate on creative projects with team members across the country. The convenience of sharing video projects requiring editing decisions by the participants is simply more efficiently accomplished using Hightail.
Lindsay: What would you say are the key benefits Hightail brings to your business?
Steven: That’s easy. First, ease of use for team members – they can easily preview video files, without downloading, and provide feedback via Hightail to streamline video production. Second, the ability to easily upload and send large video files has brought significant efficiencies to my daily operations without time spent burning and mailing hard copy DVDs for every edit. And third, reduced video production costs by being able to send videos to colleagues via Hightail before producing DVDs.
Want to see how easy it is to collaborate on videos for yourself? Watch our short tutorial video.
