EP32 - Telling BIGGER Stories - How One College Went All In On Their Iconic Coach

My guest today is Jen Porter, Director of Alumni Relations at Rochester University in Michigan. We discuss the full-length documentary film they produced about Garth Pleasant, their former basketball coach

About the Film:

Garth Pleasant coached basketball at RU for over 40 years and is the winningest college basketball coach in Michigan

The film is called "Coach, Make the Big Time Where You're At" and explores Garth's story and impact on RU and the community

It's 36 minutes long and was funded by a donor who wanted to showcase Garth's legacy

Includes interviews with Garth, Oakland University coach Greg Kampe, Milwaukee Bucks alum John Horst who played for Garth, and more

Key Topics In This Episode:

Garth's humble roots and how he built an incredible program with few resources ([00:02:00])

World premiere event at a movie theater and other screening events ([00:12:00])

Behind the scenes of production - coordinating interviews, filming, post-production ([00:27:00])

Measuring return on investment from an emotional storytelling project like this ([00:37:00])

Building a pipeline for finding and telling stories at your institution ([00:41:00])

The value of investing in b-roll footage for future video projects ([00:44:00])

Links:

Connect with Jen: Jporter1@rochester.edu

Watch the trailer for COACH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wwSxKMTa20

Check back in winter 2023 to view the full film: https://rochesteru.edu/coach/

Connect with John on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni/

Learn about UNVEILD’s work: https://unveild.tv

Download:

Video Subscription Pricing Guide: http://pricing.unveild.tv

3-part storytelling framework: http://unveild.tv/studenttestimonials