#112 - Program Videos That Don’t Feel Like the Marketing - UMaine’s “Life in the Pines” Series
My guests today are Brenn Borror, who leads content strategy at the University of Maine, and Patrick Wine, founder of Story Stroll, the filmmaker behind UMaine's "Life in the Pines" series. We get into how an unscripted, vlog-style student story series came together — and why it's stuck around for three seasons.
Brenn and Patrick walk through how "Life in the Pines" started as a cold-call pitch for a generic campus tour video that they reshaped into something more specific to UMaine, why they insisted on one person, one camera, and no crew for every shoot, and how a rigged-up "snorri cam" — basically a tripod strapped under a student's arms — lets students walk and narrate their own story without feeling guided by the marketing team. We also dig into the unglamorous side of the metrics: why a nearly 40,000-subscriber YouTube channel mostly built on a viral lobster-cooking video and an old extension-office library isn't the same audience watching these student stories, and why that's actually fine.
In this episode:
Why UMaine passed on a polished, teleprompter-style tour video pitch and built something rougher and more specific instead
How the "snorri cam" walk-and-talk format gets genuine, unguided footage out of students
The one-person, one-camera rule and why it matters for getting students to relax on camera
Why calling it "seasons" and "episodes" instead of a playlist changed how people watched it
How a pre-interview process surfaces the small, specific details (like a chocolate bar traded for a bicycle) that make a story worth following
Why low YouTube view counts don't mean the series isn't working, and what they're actually using it for in the funnel
How casting evolved from proactive outreach to an open call, and why they now ask for a 60-second video submission
Why retention, not just recruitment, is a real benefit of this kind of content
Resources mentioned:
Life in the Pines (full series hub): https://umaine.edu/pines/
Life in the Pines, full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue-xo4MsoTs
Life in the Pines, teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1hKbuFXtw8
Life in the Pines, Season 2 full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2axURGS18I
The University of Maine's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUniversityofMaine
Story Stroll Studios (Patrick's production company): storystrollstudios.com
Connect with Brenn:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennborror/
Connect with Patrick:
Story Stroll Studios: storystrollstudios.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmwine/
Connect with John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni
Website: https://unveild.tv
Newsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter