Posted December 25, 20154:57 pm
December 2015 -- CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As one of the most in-demand video production agencies in Cleveland, Ron Goldfarb and Tony Weber have their pick of high-profile, deep-pocketed corporate clients. But instead,Goldfarb Weber Creative Media strives for a balance between its Fortune 500 customers and Northeast Ohio nonprofits with limited marketing dollars.
For every client like Sherwin-Williams or Lincoln Electric, they work with an agency like The United Way or The Gathering Place. They have also produced rousing videos for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Destination Cleveland, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Cleveland Orchestra.
And when Cleveland was trying to attract a national political convention, Goldfarb Weber produced videos designed to woo both the Democrats and the Republicans here ("We're like Switzerland," Weber jokes.)
"At any given time more than 50 percent of our clients are non-profits, and 100 percent of the work we do for those organizations could be considered outstanding examples of video advocacy," said Tony Weber, chief executive and co-founder of the recently renamed Goldfarb Weber Creative Media. "Clearly, we are strong believers in the power of film as a tool for change."
Goldfarb Weber Creative Media takes a personal, hands-on approach to its work; its partners personally oversee every one of their projects. Their attention to detail helped Cleveland welcome its first-ever Gay Games in 2014 and win the Republican National Convention next July, as well as set record highs for local nonprofits' fundraising campaigns.
"We work for everybody, but we know that ultimately the work that we're most proud of is the stuff that we do for the nonprofit community," Weber said.
Their website says simply: "We make films people feel strongly about."
Goldfarb and Weber won't say how much they charge those organizations for their videos, other than that it's less than the corporate rate and the fees don't quite cover their costs.
When an animated fundraising video they created for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland prompted other Legal Aid societies nationwide to clamor for similar videos, Goldfarb Weber donated half of their $4,000 fees back to Legal Aid.
Ron Goldfarb, formerly of Cinecraft Productions, joined the Glazen Creative Group founded by Alan Glazen in 1996, and Weber joined the company in 1998. Glazen named them partners in 2002, Goldfarb as president and Weber as chief operating officer, and the two bought the company from him in 2009.
Weber, a graduate of Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills and Denison University in Granville, found an enthusiastic ally in Goldfarb, who grew up in a rural area outside of Dayton and received his bachelor's in cinematography and film/video production from Bowling Green State University.
In February 2014, they rechristened their company "Goldfarb Weber Creative Media," signaling that it was now focused on video production and digital storytelling.
Q: Why do you do so much work for nonprofits?
A: Goldfarb: Our nonprofit clients tell us, 'You guys have this uncanny ability to cut through the clutter to get to the heart of the story.'
Weber: The nonprofit clients trust us, and our corporate clients help us [afford to] tell their stories.
Goldfarb: We don't want to compromise the quality of what we do. [Even if their nonprofit clients can't afford to pay as much,] we're delivering it anyway. We're really hoping that good work begets good work. Why would we want to start comprising the way we work, since it's gotten us this far?
Q: Tell me about some of your clients.
A: Weber: In 2014, longstanding client United Way of Greater Cleveland introduced a new Community Impact Agenda that prioritized its work into three main areas: education, income and health.
We produced three documentary-style videos that use specific client stories to shed light on the important work being done in those service areas: the Baldwin Wallace Scholars Program, the Cleveland Housing Network, and CornUcopia Place, which provides residents in the Kinsman neighborhood fresh foods and nutrition education.
The life expectancy of someone living in Lyndhurst is 88 years, but eight miles away, the life expectancy of someone living in Kinsman is 64 years.
We also felt it was vitally important that the public, partners and funders understood the big picture — the overall value of the organization — and so we created this animated spot to articulate United Way's collective impact: We Live United.
These pieces helped United Way articulate its mission and relevance in a way that had never been done before and dovetailed into a larger digital communication strategy. You can find these pieces on United Way's website at http://www.unitedwaycleveland.org/
Q: So, who's Titus?
A: Weber: So Baldwin Wallace has a scholars program for students from John Adams High School, and that's where we met Titus Hicks, a senior at Baldwin Wallace and the youngest of eight children. His four brothers are in prison, but he's the first in his family to graduate from high school, and the first one to go to college.
Even with teachers telling him he wasn't going to amount to much, Titus said the program kept him out of trouble and saved his life. [Ninety percent of Baldwin Wallace Scholars graduate from high school, and 70 percent of them go on to college.] Now his nephews and nieces are talking about going to college, too.
Goldfarb: We had so much good stuff, it was really hard to edit it. You wouldn't believe what ended up on the cutting-room floor.
"People recognize that this is a powerful way to tell your story," but are no longer willing to watch 20 minutes of video, even if it's a good story. "So we're making a series of videos instead of taking a 'kitchen sink' approach" and putting everything into one video.
Q. That's a great story. What else are you especially proud of?
A: Weber: We just finished Legal Aid's 2015 annual meeting video. In civil matters like divorces, child support cases, home foreclosures, bankruptcies and landlord-tenant disputes, there is no right to an attorney. And very few low-income families can afford a lawyer to defend their interests, no matter how urgent.
That's where Legal Aid comes in. We wanted to produce a video that articulates the vital nature of the work that Legal Aid does in our community — and the vital need to support this work, particularly as it relates to health outcomes in our region.
Poverty Is Our Cancer features Dr. Robert Needlman, a pediatrician at MetroHealth Medical Center and professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, talking about why he prefers to practice medicine with a Legal Aid lawyer by his side.
This film uses a combination of live narration and animation to shed light on a hard-to-grasp concept — the fact that disadvantaged children sometimes need legal intervention in order for health outcomes to improve.
Q: How did the two of you meet?
A: Goldfarb: I was playing keyboard in a band after college. We had a great music scene at Bowling Green, and Tony was friends with our bass player. And when we'd get together to play, Tony would act as our manager.
I was working in video production; Tony was working in a cubicle farm.
Q: Besides the Republican National Convention, what else is coming up in 2016?
A: Weber: We're helping the the Cleveland Orchestra celebrate its centennial in 2018.
Goldfarb: The Orchestra had no footage of itself, so we've been going out toBlossom [Music Center] -- we shot some amazing drone video of the crowds at Blossom -- and to Fridays@7 concerts at Severance to build up a collection.
Weber: And we're hoping the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio's #RethinkLabels video keeps going.
Q: Why was the Diversity Center's video so important to you?
A: Weber: [Fighting racism and bigotry] has always been a thing with me. I can't believe that people here are still treated differently because of their race, color or country of origin.
We're bringing social justice to them. We want to give them the same chance, on the same playing field. We want to give them those same opportunities. We all want to make a difference. Who wouldn't?
Goldfarb: The American dream is giving people the chance to chart their own futures. It's easy to be passionate about something. We're just passionate about social justice.