Capabilities · Colleges and universities

Video for higher education.

Giving days, ballot campaigns, recruiting films and program series for colleges and universities. Columbus State Community College has been a client since 2015. Ohio State's Day of Giving films helped beat donor goals by up to 283%.

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Trusted by teams at

This proposal is for

This page is for advancement, communications, admissions and program teams at colleges and universities. The same institution needs to move donors on a giving day, win a county-wide vote, recruit a 17-year-old and their parents, and explain a grant-funded program to a review board, often in the same semester and from the same small team. That is the work we have done for Ohio institutions since 2015.

Watch · The Ohio State University

Day of Giving: Food Insecurity

One of five student films built for Ohio State's Day of Giving. Each was written from the student's own experience and personalized by donor segment.

What we make

Films for every office on campus.

What	What it includes	Where we've done it
Giving days and donor films	Films built around real students and causes, with versions personalized by donor segment, plus email and social cutdowns.	Ohio State Day of Giving: five films, 283% of the new-donor goal.
Ballot issues and levies	Broadcast :30s that make the case to voters who may never set foot on campus.	Issue 21: three spots, a $300 million bond issue passed.
Recruiting and admissions	The honest version of campus life, told by students, cut for web, social and open-house screens.	Columbus State graduates on camera for Issue 21.
Program and grant-funded series	Multi-video series that document a program for funders, partners and future cohorts, delivered on the grant's schedule.	Columbus State Modern Manufacturing: four films for four audiences.
Campus and facilities	Drone aerials from an FAA-certified pilot, building progress, openings and a shared campus footage library.	Columbus State Modern Manufacturing: drone footage of the program's facilities.
Motion graphics and explainers	Program data, outcomes and processes explained with animation, in your brand.	Ohio State Day of Giving: personalized titles for every donor segment.
Events and internal video	Commencement, galas, town halls and training video, turned around fast.	Event and training work for universities and nonprofits.

Real students, real stakes.

Three campaigns for Ohio institutions, each built on students and graduates telling their own story.

The Ohio State University

Day of Giving

Five student films, each built around a student personally connected to a cause. The campaign beat its new-donor goal by 283%.

Each film centers on a student with a personal stake in a cause: animal welfare, cancer research, food insecurity, veteran support and the opioid epidemic. We pre-interviewed every student and wrote voiceover from their own experience, then carried one look through all five films. Personalized titles for segmented donor lists brought a 42% lift in giving rate.

Role

Pre-interviews, scripts, production, post

Objective

Giving-day films for each donor segment

A veterinary student smiles with a spaniel in her arms

Two students talk outdoors in winter coats

Citizens for Columbus State

Issue 21

Three 30-second broadcast spots built around real graduates and employers. Franklin County voters approved the $300 million bond issue in the March 2020 primary.

We filmed graduates and employers looking straight into the lens, three spots for broadcast and one case to voters. The unofficial county count was 60% yes. Columbus State has been a production partner since 2015, and this is the shape of a levy or bond campaign: real people, 30 seconds, one clear ask.

Role

Concept, production, broadcast finish

Objective

Pass a county-wide bond issue

Timeline

Three spots, one shoot plan

A nursing graduate in blue scrubs smiles in a simulation lab

A culinary graduate in a chef's coat in a kitchen

Columbus State Community College

Modern Manufacturing

An NSF-funded series: four videos from one integrated shoot plan, each speaking to a different audience, from prospective students to manufacturing partners.

Through student interviews, cinematic b-roll, detailed close-ups and drone footage, we built four tailored cuts for the audiences the program needed to reach: prospective students, parents, manufacturing partners and a higher-level program overview. The videos rolled out across web and broadcast to drive enrollment and industry engagement, on a schedule that matched the grant.

Role

Concept, interviews, editing

Objective

NSF-funded program recruitment

Budget

$34,900

Timeline

8 weeks

Students walk past a Columbus State building

The Ohio State University · Day of Giving

What a giving-day film can move.

Results from five student films built for one giving day, with versions personalized by donor segment.

of the new-donor goal

of the current-donor goal

of the lapsed-donor goal

lift in giving rate from personalized video

Watch · Columbus State Community College

Modern Manufacturing: Program Overview

The overview cut from an NSF-funded series: four films from one shoot plan, each speaking to a different audience.

How we work.

Four steps built around the academic calendar and your approval chain. One fixed-fee quote that fits on a single budget line, two rounds of revisions, on deadline.

Pre-interview

We talk with the students, faculty or alumni who'll carry the story before anything is written. Scripts and voiceover come out of those conversations, not a template.

Script and approvals

Scripts, shotlists and a visual treatment are approved by your communications team, and where needed advancement or campaign leadership, before we book crew.

Production on campus

Cinema-grade cameras, purposeful lighting, full sound capture and drone aerials where the campus calls for it. We schedule around classes, events and the people giving us their time.

Post and versions

Editing, color, sound and motion graphics in-house, with the cutdowns and personalized versions your channels need: broadcast, email, social and web.

Filming on a campus

Students come first.

A campus runs on a calendar and an approval chain. We plan every shoot around both.

Approvals built in

Scripts, treatments and cuts route through whoever owns the message on your side: communications, advancement, admissions or a campaign firm. We plan the time for it.

Students as themselves

Release forms for everyone on camera, pre-interviews before the shoot, and time on the day to get comfortable. The honest version outperforms the glossy one.

A footprint that fits

A compact crew when a classroom or lab calls for it, a full crew when a broadcast spot does. Either way we work around classes, events and campus rules.

One look, your brand

Titles, color and graphics follow your brand standards, so a giving-day film, a recruiting cut and a broadcast spot read as one institution.

Production, post and footage

Gear and footage.

Cameras	Cinema cameras, including the ARRI Alexa 35, and real film cameras: the same tools used on commercials and features.
Aerial	Campus and facility aerials, flown by an FAA-certified pilot.
Lighting and sound	A full lighting, grip and sound package on every shoot.
Post	Editing, motion graphics, color and sound, led by our team.
Accessibility	Closed-caption files for every film, so your team can meet its accessibility standards on any platform.

Planned to stretch

With advance planning we can shoot more than one story in a day, which saves on crew and travel. Over a continuing relationship, every shoot adds to a campus footage library your team can pull from for years.

Your footage

Every project uses the same folder structure, with footage organized by date and backed up during production. Finished films and source footage are delivered by cloud transfer.

Rights and usage

Your institution owns the finished films, source footage and project files, and can reuse them for its own communications with no added fees. Licensed music, stock and voiceover follow their own license terms.

The leads on every campaign.

Our core team leads every project, from the first idea to the final cut. When a shoot calls for more hands, we scale up with Columbus production support that works under our direction.

Grant Smucker

Founder and chief creative officer

15+ years as a director and cinematographer. Guides the creative direction and shoots most of the principal photography.

Molly Radigan

Animation lead and illustrator

8+ years in motion graphics and After Effects. Builds the title systems, explainers and data animation on every campaign.

Alex Murell

Producer and editor

Keeps schedules, logistics and communication on track, and cuts most of the final edits.

A sample year

What an academic year could look like.

An example only. The real plan is built around your calendar, campaigns and giving days.

Fall

Discovery, one shared look and a campus library shoot. Recruiting films for the application season.

Winter

Giving-day films, personalized by donor segment, with email and social cutdowns.

Spring

A ballot or levy spot if one is on the calendar. A program or grant-funded series. Commencement.

Summer

Facility progress and aerials. A year-in-review cut. Planning the next year's stories.

What higher education video costs.

Most full-service projects range from $8,000 for a single hero film up to $90,000+ for multi-day, broadcast-finish campaigns, with most landing between $15K and $40K. Every quote is fixed-fee after the kickoff call so it can go into a budget request as a single line.

A single film

From $8K

One hero film, scoped and quoted on its own. Single shoot day, 1–2 deliverables.

One story: a recruiting film, a donor story or a program overview
Pre-interviews and script
A single shoot day on campus
Standard post: editing, color, sound, captions
Platform cutdowns where applicable

Watch a project at this scope

Most common

A campaign or giving day

$15K – $40K

Multi-film or campaign-driven. Where most higher-ed projects land.

2–3 shoot days, multiple locations
Several films from one shoot plan
Personalized versions by donor or audience segment
Motion graphics and title system
Broadcast, email, social and web masters

Watch a project at this scope

A series or multi-day campaign

$40K – $90K+

Broadcast-finish campaigns, multi-location series, or 5+ deliverables on a program's schedule.

4+ shoot days, multi-location
Full broadcast-spec finish
Campus and facility aerials included
Series scheduled to the grant or reporting timeline
Multiple long-form and cutdown variants

Watch a project at this scope

Want the detailed rate sheet?

Itemized labor + equipment rates so you can pressure-test the math against your own scope. We'll send the PDF over.

Common questions, quick answers.

The questions we hear first from advancement, communications and admissions teams.

Which colleges and universities have you worked with?

Columbus State Community College (client since 2015, including the Issue 21 bond campaign and a grant-funded video series), The Ohio State University (Day of Giving campaign films), and Ashland University.

Can you produce a giving day campaign?

Yes. For Ohio State's Day of Giving we produced films built around five students and five causes, with personalized titles for segmented donor lists. The campaign beat its goals for current donors by 205%, lapsed donors by 182%, and new donors by 283%.

Have you done ballot issue or levy campaigns?

Yes. For Issue 21, we produced three 30-second broadcast spots for Citizens for Columbus State. The $300 million bond issue passed in the March 2020 primary.

Do you work with our communications or advancement office, or with an agency?

Either. We've worked directly with institutional communications teams and alongside campaign firms. Approvals run through whoever owns the message on your side.

Can you handle a multi-video series for a grant-funded program?

Yes. We've produced a grant-funded video series for Columbus State. Series are scheduled and quoted as a package so delivery matches the program's reporting timeline.

Do you travel to campuses outside Columbus?

Yes. Columbus is home base and most of our shoots happen outside it, across Ohio and beyond. Travel rolls into the fixed quote.

Got a campaign worth making?

Tell us what's coming up: a giving day, a ballot issue, an admissions push or a program series. We'll come back with a plan and a fixed-fee quote.

Book a 15-min call →Email us · info@doozycrew.com

(614) 682-6413 · Powell, OH

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