Tell us a bit about your organization and what your specialty is in the film and video space.

Cutter Entertainment is a woman-owned, full-service video production company with two decades of experience partnering with national brands, public institutions, and nonprofits. We are acclaimed for developing and producing inclusive, influential, and imaginative content with the most diverse creators and teams. Our growing roster of legacy clients continue to turn to Cutter for our industry-leading production quality, reliability, and on-set experiences along with our dedication to getting it right the first time.

What is your organization’s ethos and how does it set you apart from industry competitors?

Cutter Entertainment was founded in 2005 to break the mold by proving that world-class content can be created with predominantly diverse teams. Our ethos is grounded in a commitment to inclusion, mentorship, and premium storytelling with purpose.
Across our three branches—Cutter Entertainment (development), Cutter Productions (production & post), and Cutter Connections (mentorship)—we actively inspire, employ, and mentor filmmakers with unique perspectives and backgrounds. This model sets us apart, allowing us to consistently deliver imaginative, influential, and broadcast-quality content on time, on brand, and on budget.

How can people join or learn more about what you do?

Explore our work and ethos at www.cutterentertainment.com. You can also follow us across social platforms [@cutterentertainment and @cutterconnections] to stay up-to-date on projects, opportunities, and mentorship through Cutter Connections.

Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?

Our Gold-winning piece at the 2025 Telly Awards, Asphalt Green: Sports, Fitness, and Play for All 2024 Sizzle, celebrates a nonprofit that creates opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to thrive through movement.

The concept was to capture the joy, energy, and inclusivity of Asphalt Green’s community programs, from fitness classes to youth sports and adaptive initiatives. It was designed not only as a sizzle reel but as a testament to Asphalt Green’s impact, galvanizing donors, inspiring staff, and engaging participants in the nonprofit’s mission.

What are you most proud of about this piece? What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?

As with most non-profit projects, the first challenge is always the budget. How do we create something without spending all of their money, since we all want it to go to the cause? With Asphalt Green, we partner with their PR team to share some of the responsibilities of production. We oversee the creative process and work closely with them to figure out what they can provide from their own resources, which can include everything from staff members and gym-goers as talent, to pre-existing footage the PR team shot at previous events.

We’re very proud to have partnered with Asphalt Green in 2024 and to have helped them raise over $1.2 million dollars towards teaching all 2nd graders in the NYC area how to swim, which will ultimately help lower the number of children who drown each year. We are happy to be a part of the community and help to keep our kids safe.

Do you have any advice to other filmmakers based on your career or your team’s approach to work?

Filmmaking can be a big job – long hours, lots of responsibility, lots of personalities, so you have to want to be involved. It’s important to have an “all hands on deck” attitude for smaller projects, like our non-profits – No job is too big or too small and especially for PA’s who are just starting out, it’s good to get a feel for all the different departments. It’s easier on smaller shoots to support younger filmmakers and up and coming artists, so that’s an excellent way to gain experience. If you’re an emerging filmmaker, look for and be ok with unpaid shadowing experiences to build up your experience on set.

Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?

We were filming B-roll with two cameras and on this particular day, we were filming a swimming class for little babies. After we had filmed most of the class with both cameras, we decided to split up and move one camera upstairs to start rolling elsewhere while the other camera stayed behind to finish filming the babies’ swim class. As we pulled one camera, the producer asked the B Camera Operator if he was okay to remain filming that class on his own. Now, to understand why this is such a precious moment, you must know that this particular B Cam Operator is about 6’4” tall and has broad, linebacker-like shoulders – to be frank – he’s a very large human – And here he was, curled up holding his camera, sitting beside this small swimming pool, filming babies that he could probably hold in one hand. So when the producer asked him if he was okay to stay and finish out the class, this giant man beamed up at her and said “Are you kidding? This is the cutest thing I have ever filmed in my life!” So she left him there to cheerfully film babies for as long as he could.

Tell us about the most memorable response you got from this work.

“You have told so many inspiring stories and I especially like the Sharp cutting styles reflecting the world of your audience in Asphalt Green!”
– From Eric Covert at GoNoode, Chief Creative Officer

Complete this sentence: ‘Great video storytelling is…’

…authentic, intentional, and inclusive. It doesn’t just show what an organization does—it makes the audience feel why it matters.