Few years ago, Picturelab and our sister company, Transvideo Studios, produced a series of documentaries featuring interesting people, places and businesses that were making an impact in Silicon Valley. We called it Circular Magazine and had a full season featuring eight episodes.
Forces and Trends Impacting Silicon Valley in the 2010s
We covered the food truck boom of the 2010s, the economic and housing crisis that resulted after the Great Recession, and the changes that were affecting the Valley.
We met with booming businesses such as Alexander’s Patisserie and Doppio Zero. We also heard the stories of struggling shopkeepers like Marco Azuele, a shoe repairman who could not keep his downtown store in Mountain View due to the rising costs of real estate. A few weeks after we filmed our documentary, Mr. Azuele was forced to close his store. The vacant space, like many in downtown Mountain View, remained empty for several years.
We also had a chance to interview aspiring Silicon Valley tech workers, who had to bunk together in flophouses because they could not secure affordable housing.
One of our most impactful episodes featured the Downtown Streets Team. The program’s mission was to help the unhoused in San Jose to find work through the city’s public works services. It provided opportunities and a second chance for many people who had been largely forgotten and left behind.
Documentaries Give People and Brands a Voice
Although the magazine survived only one season, we’re still very proud of the work and the stories that were told through them. Documentaries and micro-documentaries can be an effective way to give a voice to those who many not have a platform. They can also help your brand share with the world the work you’re doing to impact society.
Watch all eight episodes here.
Picturelab is a full-service creative video production company that not only specializes in marketing videos, but also micro and full-length documentaries. We have offices in the San Francisco Bay Area (Silicon Valley) and our office in Irvine, CA, covers all of Southern California including Orange County and Los Angeles. To learn more about how we can help tell your stories, contact us here or at info@picturelab.com.