Community Health Network Foundation — Giving Gig 2026 "Why We Are Here" Video

Background

The Giving Gig is an annual fundraiser hosted by the Community Health Network Foundation. All money raised go towards the Oncology Patient Assistance Fund, which helps support patients’ access to food, medicine, transportation, and more as they undergo treatment. Beginning in 2025 and continuing into 2026, MKR designed and executed a full suite of materials for Giving Gig, including a new logo and visual identity, on-site signage, promotional ads, photography, video, social media content, and a music video.

As part of the 2026 Giving Gig, I had the privilege of editing “Why We Are Here,” a video played to the 1,000+ donors, guests, and hero patients present at the event. This video explains what the Giving Gig is all about: showing up for and supporting patients receiving treatment from Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center. The oncology patient assistance fund helps provide patients and their families a sense of stability during a time in their lives where everything else feels uncertain. It is the goal of this video to center the patient experience, contextualize the reason for gathering at this event, and communicate the importance of supporting such a meaningful cause.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Oversaw recording of interview and b-roll throughout production, ensuring third-party production team captured all necessary content within the allotted timeframe

  • Coordinated with DP on footage transfer to external hard drive

  • Edited concise, compelling video under guidance of MKR Vice President of Production Sam Hanover and Creative Director Michael Griffith

  • Coordinated approval process with interview subject LaToya Toliver, LCSW, and client, as well as transfer of final file to event team

The Final Product

Wisconsin Homeless Veterans Initiative Production

Background

As Associate Producer at MKR, I was lucky enough to lead a video production for one of our pro bono clients, the Wisconsin Homeless Veterans Initiative (WHVI) in October, 2025. This production was part of a larger rebrand for the organization, which was previously known as the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative (MHVI). The goal of this project was two-fold: 1) to reach a wider audience of veterans across the state who could benefit from the organization’s resources, and 2) to garner additional awareness and support from prospective donors looking to support a meaningful cause.

Pre-Production

Pre-production began with many fruitful conversations with Executive Director of WHVI Debbie Buchanan to align on a common goal and scope for this project. Veteran stories emerged as central to our creative direction and, more specifically, how WHVI changed veterans’ lives for the better. With support from Debbie and her amazing team of social workers, we connected with four veterans who were generous enough to share their time and stories with us: Crystal, Jamira, Charles, and Lee.

Given the sensitive nature of these folks’ stories, it was crucial that our production team intentionally take steps to ensure they felt comfortable from the early stages of pre-production all the way to production wrap. With this in mind, we coordinated brief pre-interviews with each of the veterans in the weeks leading up to production. These pre-interviews allowed us to introduce our team, share interview questions with the veterans, chat through any pertinent production logistics, and above all, set a relaxed tone for the entire production process.

Production

Production for this project was a fast, furious, and fulfilling three days with a small but mighty production team. I served as Producer and B-cam operator, while my colleagues Justin Pyles and Graham Chaney served as Director of Photography and Interviewer, respectively.

Justin and I traveled up to Milwaukee on a Wednesday morning and returned to Indianapolis Friday evening. Our first day was spent driving north, scouting the WHVI headquarters with Graham, and collecting b-roll of the larger Milwaukee area. We spent the following two days capturing interviews and b-roll with Debbie and each of the veterans, plus textural shots of WHVI headquarters. We finished the week with nearly 400 GB of footage and a lot of ideas around how to best share the WHVI story with the wider Wisconsin community. Debbie and her team couldn’t have been lovelier to work with, and it was an honor to hear firsthand accounts of how Jamira, Charles, Crystal, and Lee connected with the wonderful organization that WHVI is.

Post-Production

In addition to producing this video for WHVI, I had the privilege of editing the finished product together. I spent several weeks organizing and getting to know the footage so I could carve out a meaningful story that accomplished all of WHVI’s goals. With guidance from my boss Sam Hanover, Vice President of Production at MKR, and Creative Director Michael Griffith — not to mention final approval from Debbie and her team — we arrived at a video that communicates how WHVI advocates for the local veteran community and why it’s a cause worthy of support.

Behind the Scenes

Community Health Network — 2025 MD Anderson Cancer Center Campaign Production

Background

Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center combines the expertise of MD Anderson with the attentive local care of Community to provide state-of-the-art treatment for oncology patients. Each year, MKR Agency partners with Community MD Anderson to tell real patient stories across video, print, OOH, and digital mediums. Our goal is to communicate that Community’s care team is a consistent source of support and stability for patients and their loved ones when everything else feels uncertain.

Role and Responsibilities

Associate Producer, MKR

  • Coordinated wardrobe, location, and scheduling with patient subjects for all interview and b-roll footage capture

  • Managed location, scheduling, and other production logistics with third-party production company, ensuring we did not go overtime

  • Collaborated with client to schedule footage capture with 30+ caregivers on Community Health Network campus across 5 days

  • Partnered with third-party editor throughout post-production process to ensure timely delivery of assets for multiple rounds of internal and client feedback; and brand voice and quality standards

Janillia’s Story

Byron’s Story

Jessica’s Story

Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center Partnership Story

Community Health Network — 2025 Brand Campaign Production

Role and Responsibilities

Associate Producer, MKR

  • Coordinated wardrobe, location, and scheduling with patient subjects for all interview and b-roll footage capture

  • Managed location, scheduling, and other production logistics with third-party videographer

  • Collaborated with client to schedule footage capture on Community Health Network campus with caregivers

  • Partnered with local composer to create a unique track for this campaign that aligned with brand voice and campaign messaging

  • Scheduled and sat in on live editing sessions with third-party video editor; provided feedback to ensure alignment with client messaging goals

The Final Product

Community Health Network — 2025 Pregnancy Campaign Production

Role and Responsibilities

Associate Producer, MKR

  • Collaborated with Community Health Network team to coordinate pre-interview with patient subject Brittany as a way to introduce our team, familiarize her with the interview questions, and most importantly, ensure her comfortability throughout the production process

  • Coordinated wardrobe, location, and scheduling details with client, patient family, and third-party videographer for all interview and b-roll footage capture

  • Edited video in accordance with client scope and goals, namely: 1) communicating the personalized care with which Community Health Network treats their patients, 2) highlighting Community’s NICU, which is uniquely in the same building as their maternity suites, and 3) helping Brittany to tell her story with the respect and sensitivity it deserves

  • Transformed longform video into several 30- and 15-second cutdowns and resizes optimized for trafficking across social media channels; captioned for accessibility

The Final Product

Community Health Network — 2024 MD Anderson Cancer Center Campaign Production

Background

Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center combines the expertise of MD Anderson with the attentive local care of Community to provide state-of-the-art treatment for oncology patients. Each year, MKR Agency partners with Community MD Anderson to tell real patient stories across video, print, OOH, and digital mediums. Our goal is to communicate that Community’s care team is a consistent source of support and stability for patients and their loved ones when everything else feels uncertain.

Role and Responsibilities

Associate Producer, MKR

  • Coordinated wardrobe, location, and scheduling with patient subjects for all interview and b-roll footage capture

  • Managed location, scheduling, and other production logistics with third-party production company, ensuring we did not go overtime

  • Collaborated with client to schedule footage capture with 30+ caregivers on Community Health Network campus across 5 days

  • Partnered with third-party editor throughout post-production process to ensure timely delivery of assets for multiple rounds of internal and client feedback; and brand voice and quality standards

The Final Product: Sara’s Story

The Final Product: John and Gayle’s Story

Bielinski Homes Built for Life Campaign Production

Role and Responsibilities

Associate Producer, MKR

  • Collaborated with client and MKR team to scout VO and acting talent

  • Coordinated all production logistics — i.e., location, scheduling, tech and location scouts, wardrobe, craft services, etc. — with client, hired talent, and third-party production team

  • Managed timeline throughout day of production to avoid overtime hours

  • Ensured that all deliverables — video, photography, and radio spots — met quality standards set by MKR and expectations set by client

  • Edited two 15-second TV spots — “Built for Foodies” and “Built for Family” — in accordance with client goals and scope of project

Final Product

"60ish Seconds With..." Social Media and YouTube Series

Position: Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School

The Background

The backstory to these videos makes them even more ridiculous than they already seem on the surface. Especially post-pandemic, students, teachers, and families felt extra tired and drained, and who can blame them? In response, my lovely boss Mike Higginbotham was relentless in trying to come up with some sort of silly, lighthearted video series to re-energize our community. So, we did what only the most logical of marketing professionals would do in this situation: we bought a prize wheel off of Amazon, of course!

First came the prize wheel, then came the questions:

  • How on Earth does one incorporate a prize wheel into school-related videos in a way that makes sense?

  • What prizes does one include on a prize wheel?

  • How does one get the Gaming Commission to approve a prize wheel?

I wish I were joking when I say Mike and I spent months trying to get this project off the ground, but that is precisely why they pay us the big bucks! After weeks of very serious meetings between Mike, me, Mike’s boss Jamie, and Brebeuf’s amazing Controller Chloe - who so graciously worked with the Gaming Commission to get us the green light for our crazy idea - we were ready to go!

The Framing

As we started filming these videos, we framed them as a fun way not only to celebrate Brebeuf’s recent 60th anniversary, but also to see what we could learn about Brebeuf faculty and staff members in about a minute's time. That being said, we didn’t want to be limited by a strict 60-second rule, so we slapped an “ish” onto the end of our timer for added flexibility. Thus, the 60ish Seconds With concept was born!

The Interviews

Our goal was to get to know our faculty and staff beyond the walls of the classroom. With this in mind, interviews involved a series of hard-hitting, journalistic questions, including, but certainly not limited to:

  • Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or 1 horse-sized duck?

  • What is the most ridiculous thing you believed as a child?

  • What does your perfect sandwich look like?

And as a way for us to thank each of our interviewees for spending time with us, they had the distinct privilege of spinning the world-renowned, state-of-the-art Brebeuf Jesuit Prize Wheel.

The Outcome

We posted these videos across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, and they turned out to perform best on Instagram reels.

Here’s the interesting part: this series was uniquely effective at engaging an audience that is notoriously difficult to engage: members of the classes of 2017-2022. We routinely received comments and messages from recent graduates sharing how much they loved these videos, how much they missed Brebeuf, and how much they loved Mrs. DeMoss’s or Mr. Mayer’s classes when they were students. It was an unexpected outcome for this series that was really exciting to see!

The Videos

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,927 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 7,864 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 3,850 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,336 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,067 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,236 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 3,688 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 2,954 and counting

Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 3,897 and counting

Villanova University Senior Week Videos

2017

Senior Toast and Picnic 2017

Position: External Marketing Director, Villanova Television (VTV)

Description: Worked with a team to film and edit a video commemorating Villanova Class of 2017's senior toast and picnic.

Moonlight Cruise 2017

Position: External Marketing Director, Villanova Television (VTV)

Description: Worked with a fellow member of Villanova Television to film and edit a video commemorating the Villanova University class of 2017's Moonlight Cruise.

2018

Senior Ball 2018

Position: Vice President of Operations, Villanova Television (VTV)

Description: Worked with Villanova Television President to lead our Executive Board in filming and editing video commemorating Villanova University Class of 2018's Senior Ball.

Moonlight Cruise 2018

Position: Vice President of Operations, Villanova Television (VTV)

Description: Worked with Villanova Television president to film Villanova University Class of 2018's senior cruise on Philadelphia's Spirit. Edited independently using Adobe Premiere.

"Get to Knowva..." Video Project

Get to Knowva is a series of student spotlights that I filmed and edited independently as my final project for the ICE CaPS cohort. I interviewed a couple of different Villanova students to learn about their life experiences on and off campus and shared their stories on the Villanova Television Youtube channel. My goal was to highlight what makes these students unique and to play into the sense of community that Villanova University is known for. I named it "Get to Knowva..."​ because it allows people to get to know Villanova University through its individual students.