All Posts

In today’s fast-paced digital world, capturing and retaining your audience’s attention is more challenging than ever. Enter commercial videography—a powerful tool that can transform how your brand connects with your audience. From streaming ads to brand videography, at Hale Studios , we create scroll-stoppers for digital platforms. And the best part? We can create all that variety within a single production. Here’s how we can help when it comes to commercial videography:  Str

This is as much a love story as it is a look at our first production with the iconic Swedish lifestyle brand Fjällräven. How We Met: We pulled off a small miracle on our shoot with Goldbug ( see how we orchestrated 8 babies under 6mos to help a brand launch DTC without a hitch ) and, in doing so, gained the attention and respect of their outside marketing consultant.  At the end of every production, we send out a request for reviews and referrals. We like to get feedback and

When our friends at  Native Poppy , a local and women-owned flower shop in San Diego came to us for assets for their website, we knew shooting at our sister-studio,  Influence Studios San Diego , was the way to go. Read on to see how we tackled the shoot and why Influence Studios SD is largely responsible for its success. The Benefits of Influence Studios San Diego The difference between shooting in a studio  vs on your own is huge, and when you book at Influence Studios SD y

We’re spicing things up over here with a new monthly blog post to share what we've been working on lately. We're also sharing some tips and tricks we've picked up along the way to keep you in the know.  FEATURED PROJECT BTS of Our Campaign Shoot with Fjällräven   We’re stoked to share the content from our shoot with the team at Fljaraven for their 2024 Packs campaign. Not only are the actual packs durable, lightweight, and really cool, but working with the team at Fjällräven

Embracing user-generated content (UGC) in brand productions has blown open the marketing landscape, bringing a combination of authenticity and creativity that resonates with audiences across various digital platforms. Balancing commercial content with user-generated content, our approach at  Hale Productions  elevates user-generated content to cater to the diverse quality expectations of different platforms, ensuring brands can effectively engage with their target audiences.

Goldbug  is a giant brand you’ve probably never heard of. They have been quietly producing baby products (mostly clothing and accessories) and white-labeling them for brands you see daily in Target, Walmart, and other big-box retailers.  Because they were having so much success in the B2B space, they didn’t need to pay much attention to their customer-facing image. Their branding, website, packaging, etc., were not things that would necessarily inspire a young person to take

Considering the benefits and impact of commercial lifestyle photography  on-brand content, understanding the nuances of budgeting for such shoots becomes crucial. From determining the number of locations feasible for the shoot to selecting the right models to bring the brand's vision to life, each aspect plays a vital role in the success of the project. We're going to dive into the intricacies of budgeting for commercial lifestyle photography, providing insights to help brand

There are many ways to arrive at the launch of a business. Brand Content Creation Strategy Many people start with a side hustle and then learn from their customers that they are good at it. They are often focused on the product or service and not so much on the business side. They learn the hard way about things like HR, taxes, marketing strategies, and cash flow management.  Some people are big-time planners and spend years mapping out the perfect idea - anticipating every p

We are a little too proud to use ChatGPT to write our blogs, but we did ask them how they would define “ E-commerce photography ”.    Here’s what the AI said: “E-commerce photography would refer to the specific, clear, and unambiguous photographic representation of products used in e-commerce settings. This type of photography aims to provide potential customers with a precise depiction of the product's appearance, features, and quality, leaving little room for interpretation

Price of Booths at Expo West 2024 For some context, the smallest baby booths at ExpoWest go for around $10,000 for the three-day event. Some of the larger activations cost $40-$50k just for the square footage. For more context, 99.9% of the exhibitors are existing CPG brands who are either trying to gain exposure or maintain their place in the natural products world. We had never been there before. No one on their sales team could give us any indication if our photobooth conc

Finding a great creative partner is like finding a great employee - it takes time, and you have to be discerning. But once that relationship is established, it is remarkable how much easier it is to stay on track with marketing and sales objectives.  Our Own Experience Over the last 8 years, we've had the chance to work with 300+ brands with revenues ranging from $100K to $4B. Believe us when we say it has taught us a lot. We've made every possible error while finding our uni

Having the right balance of content creation for your brand is essential. In our last blog - The Best Content Strategy To Market Your Brand  - we talked about how to allocate a $10,000 monthly budget towards the various types of content. One of the essentials is commercial/studio campaign work. If you’re lucky enough to have your in-house creative team, then you probably have this dialled. For those who aren’t as fortunate, we act as an in-house creative team for many of our

Hale Production Studios began over two years ago in the San Diego neighborhood of South Park. Founded by Kirk Hensler and Alexis Asquith, Hale Production Studios specializes in capturing product and lifestyle content for a multitude of local and national brands — helping to craft the visual identity for Boochcraft , Chosen Foods , Bonafide Provisions , SmartyPants , and dozens of other brands. Origin of Hale Production Studios We started Hale Production Studios  in a tiny stu

For better or worse, I grew up in an environment that did not allow for rest, unfinished projects, or a lack of conviction. Craving for Success running in Genes I was playing 150 baseball games a year by the time I was 10. They helped set me up for the 60+ basketball games later in the season. By high school, I was a three-sport athlete, captain of the baseball team, and a 4.0 student. My dad woke me up every morning before 5 am so he could take me to school - before anyone e

Our clients come from a range of industries and regions, but they all want the same thing — quality content that is effective and engaging. We love working with health and wellness brands because it’s an industry that’s growing quickly and one we align with on a personal level. Our team recently worked with SmartyPants Vitamins  to capture photo and video content  for the launch of one of their new products. SmartyPants  is a Los Angeles-based company focused on simplifying h

Scroll to the end for 3 tips on improving your engagement --- Some of the best content we've ever shot has fallen flat when we posted on our socials. At the same time, the BTS from that same shoot will get tens of thousands of views. Even more, the mockumentary-style skits we shoot with our staff get hundreds of thousands of views.  What does that mean?  People are no longer stopping to view content that looks or feels like a traditional 'ad'. They are attracted to specific b

Challenges One of the biggest challenges for brands is generating enough unique content to satisfy all of the platforms. We invented ourselves to solve this issue. Being able to shoot commercial photos  and videos for products and lifestyle (often at the same time) has made us an essential multi-tool for over 100 brands. We can customize and adjust the formula every single shoot to make sure our clients are constantly getting what they need. Our Clients and How we work with W

We recently reached out to our friends on Instagram and asked them to share their questions and challenges regarding the photography industry.  Pricing, and how to appropriately price your work, was a common theme  — as well as how we grew Hale Production Studios  from a two-person team shooting families to shooting commercials for 100 million dollar international brands. Evolution of Business and Price Strategy Our business has changed over the years, providing us with more

We all dream of the same client - easy to work with, big budget, loves our ideas - and - already has an existing marketing funnel and need for recurring content.  If you see one, please send it our way ;) A lot of the work we've done with brands has started at a really small scale, just like us. We've grown with these brands and often seen them off through acquisitions (see: SmartyPants, Chosen Foods, Birch Benders,  etc.). In the beginning, we were just happy to be working w

There's a lot of debate about doing work 'free'. Many people are on the 'know your worth train'. While others subscribe to the 'being on the grind no matter what' philosophy. Philosophy Behind My Business I have always been a fan of earning it. Putting in the time and energy to make changes in your life. The same can be said for growing a business. If you want more clients in a specific industry but you have no work to show for it, what should you do? Sit back with your worth