The Storyfinding Session

Find the story before you spend the budget.

A half-day working session to find the one true thing your company is about, who it has to move, and what the film is supposed to cause. You leave with a document you keep, whether or not we ever shoot a frame.

Half a day.
One document. Yours either way.
TL;DR

Storyfinding is a fixed-fee, half-day working session. Two to three hours live, then a short, dense document a few days later. It stands on its own. If you want us to build the film after, we'll show you what that looks like.

Most video fails before the shoot. Nobody found the story. It was made for the wrong room. Nobody planned the day after delivery. None of that gets fixed on set, and all of it gets paid for there. Storyfinding fixes it while it's still cheap.

See the three ways it fails, then come back here.

How it works

01 · The session

Two to three hours, live, with the person who owns the story.

Usually that's the founder. We dig past the pitch-deck version of your company until we hit the thing you've never quite said out loud.

02 · The document

A few days later, a short, dense document.

No fifty-slide strategy deck. Just the thread, the audience, the structure, and the plan, written so any team can build from it.

03 · Your call

The thread is yours.

Build it with us, build it with another team, or sit on it until the timing's right. If you want us to build it, we'll show you what that looks like.

What you walk away with

If the document only made sense as step one of a production, it would be a sales call with an invoice. It isn't. It's worth the investment even if you never hire us.

  1. The Golden Thread. The one true thing your story is about, in a sentence.
  2. What you've got wrong. The three beliefs about your story that would have wasted the budget.
  3. Who it's really for. The person the film has to move, and what they're weighing.
  4. The structure. The spine the film gets built on. Six beats, not a script.
  5. The deployment plan. Where it lives, who sees it, and what it's supposed to cause.

Who this is built for

A good fit

  • You've paid for video before and it didn't do anything.
  • You're about to raise, launch, or hire, and the story has to land the first time.
  • Your team can't agree on what the company is actually about.
  • You want the thinking done before you start collecting production bids.

Not a fit

  • You already know exactly what you need and just want a crew.
  • You need something shot this week.
  • The person who owns the story can't be in the room.
Book a Session

Tell us what you're working on.

Storyfinding is a fixed-fee session. Tell us a bit about the company and what the video has to do, and we'll follow up with pricing and dates.

What happens next

We read what you send and reply within one business day.

If it's a fit, we pick a date and send a few questions ahead of the session.

If it's not, we'll say so and point you somewhere better.

Request a Session

James reads every submission personally.

FAQ

Quick answers.

01

Who should be in the session?

The person who owns the story, usually the founder or CEO. If someone else will own the video after it ships, bring them too. Keep it small. Big rooms produce safe answers.

02

Is the fee applied to production if we hire you?

No. Storyfinding is its own product, priced for what it delivers. The document works with any production team, including ours.

03

Is it in person or remote?

Either. We're based in Austin, so local sessions can happen in person. Everyone else, we run it remote.

04

We already have a video. Is this still useful?

Usually more useful. We'll look at what you have, figure out why it isn't working, and find the story it should have been built on.

05

What if we just need a video made?

If you already know the story, the audience, and the plan, you may not need this. Tell us what you've got and we'll say so.