Case study
GRO Drain Tile
Take Back Your Acres | Gro Drain Tile Brand Film
GRO Drain Tile is a small but high-end agricultural drainage company based in North Dakota, focused on doing work the right way rather than simply chasing the bottom line. While many companies across the state compete on price or sacrifice quality and service, GRO sets itself apart by delivering custom-designed drainage systems tailored to each customer’s exact needs—never cookie-cutter solutions.
As they’ve grown, GRO has remained committed to scaling responsibly to protect their high standards, and as part of that growth, they wanted their brand to be reflected more clearly through elevated photo and video content on social media. To align with their premium positioning and stand out in a crowded market, they knew they needed something different—which is why they reached out to us.
Project Manager:
Timothy Schutz
Director/Photographer:
Andrew Bartlett
Producer:
Micah Versemann
EP/Logistics
Hannah Bartlett
DP/EDITOR:
Jayden Peterman
AD/BTS:
Emily Hayes
Colorist:
John-Clay Burnett
CASE STUDY
01 Introduction
A look behind the scenes
We had an absolute blast working with Ezra, Lexi, and the crew at GRO Drain Tile. Through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, we created a unique brand film and content library that will help GRO stand out from the competition.
Fig. 01: Behind-the-scenes
02 the problem
The Problem
Up to this point, GRO hasn't had much media content or social media presence, which meant that they weren't showing up as well as they'd like online.
03 the goals
The Goals
Positioning GRO as the premium, trusted partner for the next generation of farmers.
Help people feel the excitement and energy behind GRO – creating an evergreen brand film that’s inspiring to watch - and can live on the GRO website, social media, and be used at trade shows and as a calling card for new customers.
Create a Photo library for use on social media and across the brand in print and digital.
Create 6 months of video content to go along with the film - helping to build an audience and reach on social media.
A huge part of creating high-end content? Intentionality. Most people creating content in the blue collar space just show up on site with a camera and a gimbal, run and gun - and then find a way to put it together in editing.
But for us, we like to approach it strategically - starting with in-depth discovery (getting to know our client and their customer) - and then carefully planning content that will best connect them to their customers, communicate their value, and showcase what sets them apart.
Fig. 01: laying out the story on the whiteboard
01 The Story
The most powerful stories are rooted in real people. Like many of our brand film projects, we built this one around interviews with the people doing the work every day. Visually, we focused on telling the story from start to finish - highlighting the process, not just the outcome. Much of what they do best happens long before any equipment arrives on site, so we leaned into showing the full journey and the transformation that results from their work.
Fig. 02: The video animatic
Before we get on set, it's important to us that our client knows exactly what the film will look like. And to help with that, we create an "animatic" - a full-length mockup of the film. By combining music, shot descriptions, and rough sketches, we established the timing, pacing, and flow of the final piece. This gave the client a clear window into what we were building, and it became an invaluable tool for workshopping ideas and securing full buy-in before production began.
02. Production
Overall, we had a crew of 4 people and 5 days of shooting - 4 back-to-back, and one "pickup" day to capture some additional footage of project stages we weren't able to get on the main jobsite days.
Fig. 01: Production Behind The Scenes
Fig. 02: GALLERY - On set Behind The Scenes
01 Editing
Putting the pieces together
The first step in post-production was for our editor, Jayden, to comb through every bit of footage and pull “selects”—the strongest, most usable shots. With those in hand, he began shaping the interviews, which formed the backbone of the story. Everything else—b-roll, graphics, and sound—would be layered on top of that foundation.
Once we had interviews roughed in and a preliminary cut of b-roll, we shared a first draft with the GRO team to gather their feedback on direction and content. From there, we polished, finessed, and iterated until the film felt complete.
Fig. 01: Editing & Review
09 Color
Color Correction & Grading
While we work hard on set to craft the visuals we envision, the final touch comes through expert color grading. John-Clay brought his expertise to this project, taking what we captured and creating a rich, cinematic look that perfectly matched the story’s tone.
Fig. 02: John-Clay Burnett
09 Sound + VFX
Sound Design & Visual Effects
Sound design is one of the most overlooked yet critical elements of filmmaking. Almost every sound you hear in the final film was carefully added in post-production.
Another key part of the post-production process was the visual effects—subtle enhancements designed to be invisible.
Fig. 01: VFX
Having the brand film as a calling card on the website, at trade shows and on social media is a great foundation. But to help continue to grow a presence on social media - that's where a library of video and photo content comes in.
Fig. 01: GRO SOCIAL REELS
Fig. 02: GRO Social Reels
Fig. 03: Photo Deliverables
The film quickly gained traction, earning over 7,000 views and 20 shares in its first week—an impressive result for a page with under 300 followers. Alongside the film, we equipped the GRO team with a straightforward plan for rolling out the additional social content, helping them build on the foundation already in place.
Fig. 01: The Stats
Credits
Project Manager:
Timothy Schutz
DP/EDITOR
Jayden Peterman
Director/Photographer:
Andrew Bartlett
AD/BTS:
Emily Hayes
Producer:
Micah Versemann
Colorist:
John-Clay Burnett
EP/LOGISTICS:
Hannah Bartlett
Contact