Tribe Pictures

31/03/2025

When I interview corporate leaders, my goal is to capture a glimpse of their true humanity.

I’ll always nail the interview if I start with a list of great questions.

Questions that invite storytelling. Questions that engage a leader’s hobbies and passions beyond the office. Questions that break down the walls of even the most guarded executives.

There’s no perfect list of questions that works the same on every person. It’s a highly tailored process that hones in on the specific need of each project.

The key to a stellar, authentic interview that highlights your subject’s humanity is a list of strategic questions.

25/03/2025

Corporate video shouldn't just inform.
It should build community.

Many companies are afraid to show real emotion in their communications. But emotional connection is the foundation of a relationship. And to establish trust and connection with your audience, you have to reach outside your comfort zone.

What journeys have your people gone through to get them to where they are today?

How can you capture and showcase the unique qualities that make up your workforce?

It’s not enough for companies to just share what they do. To strengthen their community, they have to show who they are and why.

There is a gap between traditional entrepreneurship education and the practical ways in which entrepreneurs actually learn.

21/03/2025

“In 2025, leading without emotion means leading without connection.”

It’s no secret that the last few years have redefined leadership qualities: empathy and transparency are paramount.

Empathy personalizes leadership. Leaders who can put themselves in the shoes of others are capable of making more well-rounded decisions. Businesses are their people, so when leaders take care of employee satisfaction and wellness, it strengthens the whole business.

How well do you understand your team, their emotions, challenges, and aspirations? How well does your business play to their strengths and support their struggles?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2025/01/07/6-behaviors-you-must-unlearn-to-be-a-relevant-leader-in-2025/

17/03/2025

How does your company combat burnout?

MIT approaches that fight with the acronym SMART:

- Stimulating Work - challenges that lead to professional growth
- Mastery - confidence in abilities and their role in the bigger picture
- Autonomy - don’t micromanage!
- Relational Work - the feeling of connection to our work or team
- Tolerable Demands - being realistic so nobody’s plate spills over

Corporate communicators can use their platform to build connection and help employees see how their work fits into the bigger picture.

As you're planning the key messages for your next corporate video, consider if they can help advance any of the SMART principles.

Video is only one tool in the fight against burnout, but, because it can have a company-wide impact, video is a powerful starting point for a larger culture shift.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahwhitmire/2024/12/16/research-backed-ways-to-address-burnout-softbanks-new-us-investment-and-more/

13/03/2025

If it's your first time making a corporate video, avoid these three traps:

1. Underestimating how long your video will take to shoot (especially if interviews with leadership are involved). You'll need more footage than you think.

2. Assuming every production company works the same way. As you narrow down who your creative partner will be, get a thorough understanding of their process.

3. Dictating every decision. Filmmaking is a collaborative process. You know your company's story best, your production partner knows filmmaking. Working as partners will lead to the best end result.

If it's your first time making a corporate video in partnership with a production company, here's 3 things to know before you start shooting.

10/03/2025

We need some humanity to solve one of the greatest problems with AI.

Communications professionals anticipate AI will become an intermediary, “filtering out the vast amount of noise created by ever-easier to develop AI generated content.”

So, what will cut through the noise in the age of AI? The same thing that cuts through the noise today.

- High-value insights from smart people
- Unique approaches to communication that play on an audience's love for novelty
- Great stories that resonate with humans

Algorithms were the gatekeepers of the last decade. AI will be the gatekeeper of this one, but human psychology remains a constant.

The only safe bet for the future of AI is that we’re going to see a lot more of it.

07/03/2025

The magic formula for corporate leadership: decisiveness + humanity = success

Pew Research found that decisiveness, honesty, and the ability to inspire are necessary traits for employees to consider leadership effective.

But possessing these traits isn’t enough. People need to witness those traits in action on a human-to-human level.

Employees want to feel included. It helps connect them to the company’s missions and goals. Leaders can use video for transparent communications and keep everybody, on every level, informed. When leaders establish themselves as trustworthy and authentic, they’ll watch their teams succeed time and time again.

03/03/2025

Last night was The Oscars, the celebration of the movies that moved us this year.

What stood out to you about your favorite films of the year?

Was it the raw honesty of Demi Moore’s performance in The Substance?

Did you connect to the emotional journey of brotherhood in A Real Pain?

Were you enchanted by the nostalgia for Beetlejuice while watching its sequel?

Those core elements that touched you on the big screen can find their way into corporate videos, too.

Many communications experts have a background in film or theatre. Good storytelling is good storytelling, no matter your industry.

20/02/2025

Are you an approachable leader?

How can you prove openness to people?

Talk to them.

For senior leaders, even though you can't schedule a one-on-one with every employee in your organization, you can still show your authenticity through video.

When we film with leaders, our primary goal is to help them send their message clearly. Part of that job is to make them comfortable, and help them show that behind the lens and under the mask, they’re a real person who wants to do right by their company and employees.

When your people know they can trust you, they'll embrace your new initiatives, be open to your big ideas, and work alongside you to accomplish your goals.

13/02/2025

My career began in theater. I was an Off-Broadway director, cutting my way through the jungle of New York theater.

As a director, it was my job to coax honest and believable performances out of actors.

The relationship between a stage performer and a director is collaborative. Everyone comes into the room with different ideas about how to bring a character to life and with unique life experiences that can help inform the performance.

Directors ask their actors to be vulnerable and in return promise to create a supportive environment where mistakes are welcomed and risks are celebrated.

Improv is a dance of give-and-take. A great improv performer understands how to set up their scene partner for the next line. “Yes, and” is the motto, always taking what you’re given and adding more. Improv performers share “affordances”—details or confessions or claims that invite further exploration.

So when I transitioned toward making corporate videos, I took the same approach. How could I draw the best performances out of talent who had never performed before? Is there anyone too shy, too nervous, too boring to put on camera?

Any great interview doesn't just come down to asking the right questions. It's a matter of curating an environment where the interviewee feels comfortable taking off the mask of professionalism and sharing their honest humanity.

Whether I’m on-camera alongside them or an invisible guide off-screen, I reach back.

10/02/2025

Before you begin any project, you need a plan. Video is certainly no exception.

Our method at Tribe starts with asking the right questions.

Who is your audience? How do you plan to reach them? What do you want them to do, think, say, feel, buy, or buy into? What communications challenge does this video solve? How can you show your company’s mission in action? Who are the right storytellers?

Don’t be surprised if your questions elicit answers you didn’t expect. When you begin with questions, you’re putting aside assumptions or expectations.

The curious, open mind is the best problem solver.

06/02/2025

Leaders are often independent thinkers who carve their own path toward success.

But are you open to inviting outside experts in to solve your company’s communications challenges?

It can be as simple as realizing you don’t have to take on huge projects all by yourself.

That’s what corporate communications specialists do—they offer a helping hand to reach your goals.

Rather than delegation, working with a creative partner is more like shared brain power. Together, you can expand on ideas and carve the best path to success.