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

DMV productions is a boutique video production company that has primarily worked with non-profits in telling their stories and enhancing their message.

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

As a small business, we understand the budgetary restraints most companies face having worked in those industries previously. As an organization, we have created multiple systems and processes that allow us to remain highly efficient and agile when going on-set or managing multiple projects simultaneously.

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

We’re always happy to connect with people about what we do and how we do it. Reach out and let’s talk!

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

For the Smithsonian piece, “We Do This Work In Their Honor” was dedicated to showcasing the impact that women played in environmental advocacy and justice. Women of color have led the environmental justice movement, often identifying health risks in their neighborhoods and advocating fiercely to protect their families. The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum exhibition, “To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.,” celebrated these remarkable women through art, photographs, and personal stories, highlighting their leadership from the 1880s to today. By placing their achievements within a broader historical and national context, the exhibition shows how the collective efforts and solidarity of these activists have created lasting change for their communities and beyond.

For the IN Series “Rigoletto” opera piece, the circus-themed production frames the opera in existential, almost Faustian terms—emphasizing how Rigoletto, surrounded by clowns and forced into laughter and complicity amidst cruelty, resembles a soul bargaining with darkness for a hope of escape or redemption. The Artistic Director, Timothy Nelson, draws parallels with the “theater of absurdity and cruelty,” making the audience complicit in the horror while Rigoletto, like Faust, seeks to defy fate but instead sets in motion his own doom. This interpretation highlights the chilling irony: Rigoletto’s quest for control and vengeance ultimately ensures his tragic downfall, much as a Faustian bargain promises power but seals one’s fate.

For the Caribou Digital piece, Caribou Digital partnered with the Mastercard Strive program to highlight the impactful work of supporting small businesses in a rapidly digitizing economy. The collaboration is designed to strengthen the financial resilience and growth of micro and small businesses worldwide by helping them digitize operations and access essential digital tools. Caribou Digital brings expertise in inclusive digital economies, working alongside the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to develop innovative, data-driven solutions that support small enterprises with grants, technology, and market access. Through this partnership, the Strive initiative aims to empower millions of small businesses across diverse regions, supporting sustainable economic development and closing the digital divide.

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

For the IN Series “Rigoletto” and other operas, the primary objective is to avoid disrupting both the audience’s experience and the performers on stage. We have refined a streamlined filming approach using just two crew members, six cameras, and sound captured through multiple microphones discreetly placed on set pieces so actors never have to wear mics. Because each set is unique, camera placements vary widely—from ceiling mounts to clips on guardrails—making every recording a careful balance to maintain the integrity of the live performance while capturing the production effectively.

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

Planning is everything but flexibility is clutch to a great production. Make sure you know what you and everyone else is doing but be prepared for it all to go sideways.

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

The entire filming for the Caribou Digital collaboration took place in just one day across multiple locations, immediately after flying back on a red-eye from a video conference and with no sleep, demonstrating the team’s commitment and energy. The production captured the spirit of hitting the ground running to showcase the transformative efforts behind the Strive initiative.

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

For the Caribou Digital piece, it was exciting to meet so many small business owners from so many countries and hear their stories.

Complete this sentence: ‘Great video storytelling is…’

… understanding the piece from the audience perspective and the subject’s perspective and being able to enhance both simultaneously.