5 tips for your STORYHIVE Voices journey

As a first time digital content creator, working on my TELUS STORYHIVE Voices series was a huge undertaking and challenge. 

Not only had I not done anything like this before, but now myself and the team behind Eating Edmonton were going to embark on a 12-month journey of planning, editing and producing a 10-episode series about the stories of our community. 

We wanted to tell these stories our way, and the right way. We were nervous and we were also excited. With the support of STORYHIVE, through content creator sessions and also with the help of our Program Manager, Kent Donguines, we were provided with the stepping stones needed to navigate this new landscape. 

We successfully completed our project, a 10-episode series following three friends as they explore Edmonton, Alberta by highlighting its neighbourhoods through conversation with community members and delicious dishes. This was not without acquiring skills that came with learning on the fly and adapting to each new set of challenges. With this new insight, I’d like to share a few of the tips I learned during the process of this project to help keep the inspiration and the momentum going for the next set of STORYHIVE Voices digital content creators.

1. Preparing your timelines

Following the STORYHIVE content creator session, our team sat down and took a look at the submission deadlines. From there, we made a timeline of dates for our required planning. This involved ensuring deadlines were met for connecting with our guests, location scouting, ensuring we had our storyboarding and script ready and acquiring equipment. From there our timeline evolved into planning our shooting days. We planned using a Google Drive and Google Sheets that highlighted each team member and their planned shooting dates. With having three different hosts and multiple locations to shoot at, organization and communication was key to having our timeline visible and accurate for our project to stay on track. Because this was our first time managing a project like this and despite trying to be as prepared as possible, we found ourselves running into a few delays. This included ensuring we used our time to learn the editing software and editing our episodes by their submission dates. Our timelines were also affected by cancellations in interviews, illnesses and minor technical setbacks. This was resolved and improved with revisiting our timelines and being flexible with changes (and a lot of late nights editing)!

2.  Opening up to new connections

When we first started our project, I was afraid that many of the guests on our show would say no to an interview or not allow us to film and showcase their business. I was afraid to make initial cold calls because I was a new content creator with a pitch, who was now asking these businesses and personalities to take time away to share their stories. Why would they say yes to me? Turns out, when it comes to people, places and delicious dishes, people love connecting through community and the stories that are important to them. Yes, there were some people that declined working with us whether it was due to scheduling or a disinterest in our project. There were a few locations I had my heart set on filming that didn’t work out. But hey, that turned into new opportunities to connect with other guests and redirect my storytelling into something even better. Don’t be afraid to ask, and don’t be afraid to share your passion with others. It is likely that they want to reciprocate and help you. The same goes with asking others for help with production. Kent, our Program Manager, was wonderful and gave us much insight to his own production experiences. As well as many other artists who were lovely and willing to share their knowledge and skills with novice creators. I ended up reaching out to a few other Voices creators through the STORYHIVE Slack Creator Workspace advice and support. This really secured a sense of connection with the creator community!

3. There is no such thing as too many notes

During the preproduction phase, we sent out emails to our guests that included pre interviews questions and topics of interest for our episodes. This allowed for each host and producer to come to set with prepared notes for the crew to review if there were any questions for that particular interview (we also had pre-shoot meetings reviewing the notes to ensure there weren’t any questions). But as much as you can plan and storyboard for all of the scenes you will need, sometimes the interview or the dialogue extends and contains more information that will need visual support. Take notes (or have someone on set take notes) of subjects and topics that will require additional scenes and b-roll to take. Review any additional points taken after each scene or dialogue has finished so you can record the content while you are on location. This will save you time from having to come back, and also provide your dialogue with additional visuals to enhance the viewing experience. You can also use these notes to further research information that you can include in your voiceover or next scene to tell a richer story. We learned to do this throughout our film production, but also ended up having to schedule a handful of reshoot days and organizing with businesses for the additional footage to support certain scenes. Your notes will also help with any suggestions with filming, lighting and tips to help your next shoot go smoother as well! (And then you can share them with the rest of the community content creators!)

4. Taking time to review the footage

On one of our first interviews for our first episode unbeknownst to the crew, the cable to the mic popped out of the camera and the sound from the interview was not recorded. When I reviewed the footage that evening my heart sank when I realized there was no sound. This interview took a lot to arrange and I felt terrible having to ask our guest to re-interview. Luckily, they were amazing and were understanding. We finally found some time a week before the episode was due to reshoot the interview. Lesson learned – we now always recheck the footage and listen to the audio with headphones to ensure we have everything we need and that everything looks and sounds clear so this never happens again. You can do this by taking some time at the beginning of the interview to have a quick chat, then stop and check the sound and video. That way you can adjust as needed and see if there are any external noises that may be impacting your sound quality. For the video, this allows you to readjust your auto focus (if you have it on). If you find some unfocused footage during the editing process and finding, you can easily fill blurry scenes with extra b-roll or other quick shots related to your discussed topic. For sound, you can also use a voiceover to fill in for unusable audio. 

5. Look around and take it in!

Have fun. Easier said than done. We were so excited when we started this journey. While we worked on the production we realized how much of a mountain we had to climb. There were moments when we first started our interviews where I was sitting and listening to some of the members of the Edmonton community and it just made my heart so excited. I sat and looked at my crew members thinking, wow we really get to show everyone how wonderful and diverse our city is. These experiences through storytelling make up for the huge load the production team takes on with researching, editing, and taking the time out of their regular jobs to be part of the project. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but remember you have a huge community behind you whether it is your project manager, your team and the other STORYHIVE creators. Take a breather and connect with others for support and motivation. You are surrounded by creativity and passion. You’re doing what you love and we are here for it!

Telling the stories about our city (and eating the food) was a passion project for my team and me. We wouldn’t have learned the skills, banded together and brought out so many guests and businesses if we didn’t think this point of view was important for people to see. Learning about screen media through the creator sessions, our project manager and slack community was a huge help. Bringing this project together through the experience of our production team was an even bigger feat. I am so proud of the work we did with our project Eating Edmonton, and I hope that through these tips you’ll continue to be inspired to continue telling your story. I can’t wait to see it!

Apply now for the STORYHIVE Voices program 

The Voices program is supporting new and emerging digital content creators with $10,000 in production funding, training and a community of support to create a 6-10 episode grassroots series that is reflective of your local community.

From an edutainment series, lifestyle show to a docuseries, we want to hear from you. No experience is required. Applications are now open until March 20, 2025. Learn more at STORYHIVE.com/apply.