In this episode, host Erika Christie is joined by the delightful Mary Meyer as they revisit and break down the fun and dynamic promo video they created for last year's All the Laughs Festival.

This Creator/Shift podcast episode not only recaps a fun-filled filming endeavor, but also serves as an inspiration for creators aiming to meld information with entertainment. If there’s one takeaway from Erika and Mary’s experience, it’s that creativity thrives in a relaxed, joyous environment where spontaneous ideas are celebrated. Stay tuned to Creator/Shift for more behind-the-scenes stories that explore the fascinating worlds of content creation and festival planning!

In this episode you will learn:

      - Background on the "All the Laughs" Festival

      - Need for a promo video

      - Last-minute planning and execution

      - Subverting expectations with Mary's casual sign-off

      - Details on touching up the video to show the new location of the theater

      - Challenges with filming due to police presence

      - Description of the route using various shops as landmarks

      - Discussion on creative solutions for entrance shots

      - Erika's expectations for the video to be lively and engaging

      - Mary's spontaneous dance and running shots

      - Mary's final thoughts on the enjoyable experience

      - Friendly banter and gratitude expressed

Erika Christie: I think it's a really good example of how you do something where it doesn't work the way you think it's going to do. So you just pivot and you made it work.

Feeling the inspiration? Share this slice of creativity with someone who’d appreciate it! 🌟

🔗 Find Mary @MaryMeyerAct

🎧 Catch this inspiring conversation on our Creator/Shift podcast. Available now!

Erika Christie is the host of Creator/Shift and as a Filmmaker/Writer/Producer has worked professionally in many different fields. Erika will be interviewing all types of amazing art-folk and delving into the best ways that artists up skill themselves- meaning, what they do to better themselves and their artwork. We'll also be putting a special focus on transitioning your skills into new artistic mediums and how to best work and collaborate with artists who have very different skill sets from your own. On Tech Tuesdays we will be delving into software, design, and gear reviews as we cover many artistic disciplines.

The Creator/Shift Podcast is both Video and Audio. The Audio portion can be found on Apple Podcasts and all major podcast platforms. Live Streamed interviews, workshops, and gear reviews can be found on YouTube and Twitch.

Some interviews that are highly visual are best seen in their video form and may not appear in the audio-only portion of the podcast.

I’ve linked here some of the gear, cameras, and software I use to produce this podcast and various other live and filmed productions.You can also find a large amount of gear and software reviews on my YouTube Channel @ImagineAlleyX

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Erika Christie is the host of Creator/Shift and as a Filmmaker/Writer/Producer has worked professionally in many different fields. Erika will be interviewing all types of amazing art-folk and delving into the best ways that artists up skill themselves- meaning, what they do to better themselves and their artwork. We'll also be putting a special focus on transitioning your skills into new artistic mediums and how to best work and collaborate with artists who have very different skill sets from your own.

The Creator/Shift Podcast is both Video and Audio. The Audio portion can be found on Apple Podcasts and all major podcast platforms. Live Streamed interviews, workshops, and gear reviews can be found on YouTube and Twitch.

Some interviews that are highly visual are best seen in their video form and may not appear in the audio-only portion of the podcast.

TRANSCRIPT

Erika Christie:

Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us here today at creator Shift. I am talking to the amazing Mary Meyer. Mary, how are you doing?

Mary Meyer:

I'm doing great.

Erika Christie:

Fantastic.

Mary Meyer:

I see your face again.

Erika Christie:

You have suddenly moved away from Atlanta, what, a year and a half after I moved to Atlanta, so hurt my feelings a little bit.

Mary Meyer:

But yeah, yeah, you're doing so much better.

Erika Christie:

So I'm super happy about that. So yes, we are going to do a quick little breakdown of the promo video that we did last year for all the laughs. Festival. I originally did this video. Like, I originally kind of conceived of it as something that Dominic was going to do. Our good friend Dominic Ricano, who is the founder of the festival and the reason that I came up with it, one, we really needed a promo video. Like, we didn't have anything yet for the festival. It was what, three weeks maybe? Before the festival we hadn't done any promo videos and so I need a promo video.

Erika Christie:

And secondly, the theater location moved. It was that ponce, what is it called, Mary? Ponce City market. It was that the theater used to be at one side of Ponce and it had moved to the other side of Ponce. So we needed people to know physically, like where the theater space was. So I just, I bullet pointed a whole bunch of topics and it looked long in text form, but I knew the video was only going to be two and a half, three minutes. And I originally was going to have Dominic do it. But one, Dominic is chaotic all the time and he's especially chaotic right before the festival. And I occasionally call him Mister Grumpy pants because he sometimes gets a little grumpy.

Erika Christie:

And I was like, I don't want to do it with Dominic. And I said, can I do it with Mary? And he goes, yeah, great. And he didn't ask me anything. I didn't tell him what the video was. I didn't tell him the point of it. I was like, I just want to do a video with Mary. I contacted you, you said yes. And like three days later we met and just went to Ponce.

Erika Christie:

Like it. We just literally just sort of threw the whole thing together here. I'm going to go ahead and play. Since the video is only three minutes, I'm just going to go ahead and play the whole video. And then we're going to have a little chat about it. Just kind of going through and talking about the ideas, how we came up with that, that sort of thing. So let's do our screen share and I'm just going to play our three minute video.

Mary Meyer:

Hey, everybody, this is Mary Meyer, with all the last festival coming to you from Haunt City Market, we're going to show you how to navigate here to help you find us and whatever else you need while you're here.

Erika Christie:

So professional.

Mary Meyer:

Parking here is quite interesting. There is some parking right here in front of the building, but probably you'll need to go in the parking garages, which is our underneath ponds. There's one over there, one over there, kind of around the building. Another option might be to just do rideshare. There is a Marta stop for a bus that is near here, a hot air balloon drop. Maybe you ride with a friend, maybe you bicycle, maybe you ride your horse. I mean, I don't know, but like, it's hard to park.

Mary Meyer:

That's all we're trying to say.

Mary Meyer:

So real call theater has moved. The last couple years it's been over there by pancakesocial, but this year it's actually if you go this way over here by J. Crew and just keep. It's right over there. It's that building. Don't go in the front of J. Crew, but walk behind it. And then there's kind of a walkway behind it, kind of over that direction.

Mary Meyer:

Go that way to the alley, to the alley with you.

Mary Meyer:

We're coming in from Quant Daily on Avenue. What you're going to do is end up walking through these shops in the food court. And you'll take a right right over here by the Albert's and just go through that section right there. If you come in from North Avenue, then follow us here for the J. Crew. Go down this direction until you see that awning over there and go behind the J. Crew west passage right through here. And this is.

Mary Meyer:

It's a little bit creepy, I'm not gonna lie. So if you need to walk fast, that's fine.

Erika Christie:

You said that every tank, that it was creepy.

Mary Meyer:

So as soon as you come out of roll call theater, you're gonna take a right, and that's gonna take us to our nook. Let's go. We might talk, chill, watch the movie.

Erika Christie:

To have a drink.

Mary Meyer:

And we're gonna be hanging right here in this space. If you want to dance, I don't care. We shall be very dramatic, but only if we're funny about it, okay? Because this is comedy.

Erika Christie:

Oh, my gosh.

Mary Meyer:

The fun nook. The groovy Grotto Grotto Grotto Grotto. Fun Town. Dominick's nook . Eh chalet. Dine and shine. Jazz hands..

Mary Meyer:

Jazz hands.

Mary Meyer:

The Pond City market futile does have a lot of great options for dining. You can also go on the belt line and just walk down. There's some things there. It's a lot of good places to eat nearby. Join us on October 6, 7th and 8th for all the laugh festivals. Make sure that you follow us on the socials. And go ahead and leave a comment about anything that you'd like to see happen. Also, bring a friend.

Mary Meyer:

The ticket link is below, so can't wait to see you at all the laughs.

Mary Meyer:

That's so fun.

Erika Christie:

Fantastic.

Erika Christie:

All right, can I get a round of applause for Mary, please? Come on. Come on, everybody. Everybody for Mary. For Mary. All right. Yeah. I think my overarching goal, I would say, for the video, was movement.

Erika Christie:

I wanted it to feel active. I didn't want it to be a. Hey, Mary, just stand there and talk at the camera. Like, that is the opposite of what I wanted. I wanted it to feel like movement. I want it to be active. I wanted people to see it and make them want to find out more about the festival, even if they don't want buy tickets. It would just kind of spur them on into action to want to do something.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, yeah.

Mary Meyer:

And I love that aspect that captures attention.

Erika Christie:

And I would say, I think we were filming for, what, an hour, Mary. I don't think it was maybe an hour and a half. It wasn't very long.

Mary Meyer:

No, it was long enough to get my water bottle stolen, unfortunately. But it wasn't that long.

Erika Christie:

Yes, yes. Some creepy people who stole your water bottle when we were around the corner, I felt terrible, but, yes, I mean, obviously I wanted the information to get out the new location, the days of the festival, the fact that there's a food court where the theater was. So all that I wanted. But I really wanted your personality to shine, which I think worked. And, yeah, just very much movement. So let's start back at the beginning and we'll stop it. Just a little bit of opening shots. Actually, let me turn down the volume a little bit so we can kind of talk over it just a little bit.

Erika Christie:

Awesome. Oh, that's too low.

Mary Meyer:

Isn't it great? Great drone shot, too.

Erika Christie:

I think that's a better one. All right.

Mary Meyer:

Hey, everybody. This is Mary Meyer. With all the last festival coming to you from Haunt city market. We're going to show you how this.

Erika Christie:

Was actually a difficult. If you remember, Mary, I made you do this, like, four or five times. I think this is the only one we did a bunch of times, is because I was trying to get a really good ponce over your right shoulder, and all sorts of stuff was happening. There was police vehicles everywhere. We tried it on the sidewalk. I think we tried it up on the stairs. We tried it with you on the other side. Like, I think this is the only shot we did multiple times.

Erika Christie:

And I was. I was hoping that you weren't gonna get annoyed that we were gonna do every single take, like, five or six times, because we didn't. I think this is the only one. I made you do multiple dives.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah.

Erika Christie:

But, yeah, I really, really wanted to get the ponds, like, over your shoulder right there. Awesome.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah, that's a great shot.

Mary Meyer:

So parking at fauns is a little interesting. There is some parking right here in front of the building, but probably you'll.

Erika Christie:

Need to go this one. I know we did exactly twice because I remember we did it the first time, and I was like, you pretty much nailed it, but I wanted to do it a second time just to make sure we got it. And I think my favorite part is the. Is the end part.

Mary Meyer:

Of stop for a bus that is near here. Hot air for wind drop. Maybe you ride with a friend. Maybe you bicycle. Maybe you ride your park.

Erika Christie:

The reason, because I remember brainstorming, I was like, I don't just want to say, you know, rideshare or the Marda. Like, I was like, I was like, there needs to be layers. And I think I said horse. I think you said one or two. I was like, there just needs to be a layer, you know, layers of it, and you need to sort of fall off the edge. Like, it needs to not make sense at the end. And then I remember the first time you did the. I don't care.

Erika Christie:

You just walked off. And my thought was, I don't. I don't know if that quite works. It's like, I can't. I can't think why it is that I don't like it. And then you did it again the second time. And I thought, you know what? I am absolutely keeping it in. And it's because this is an informational promo video.

Erika Christie:

You should be excited and happy. And the fact that you're just like, I just. I don't care. And you just walk off, shot it, subverts expectations because you're supposed to be helpful and cheery, and you're just like, yeah, I don't fucking care. And you just walk off frame, and I'm like, it makes people, like, it catches their attention and they watch more because you're subverting everything that you think they're doing. Did you make that choice deliberately?

Mary Meyer:

Probably. I don't know. I think, you know, the thing I think. You think when you caught my. You caught my personality. Like, I think we were having so much fun that I just really was just being goofy. So, yeah, I do think I.

Mary Meyer:

You.

Mary Meyer:

Know, the opposite of expectation is kind of where comedy lays a lot of times. So, you know, I don't know. I promise you I didn't overthink it.

Erika Christie:

So what you're saying is that you're naturally just brilliant. It just kind of, I guess. Yeah, yeah, that's. That's what I assumed you were bragging about. All right, all right.

Mary Meyer:

Finally, someone who understands me.

Erika Christie:

And then I enjoyed this shot, too, because to your left here, when this whole. When this whole thing here, hands to the right. See, there's more police here. Like I said, there was police everywhere. There was police here. There's police cars on the other side. There was police. They were everywhere.

Erika Christie:

And I was concerned while we were filming that at some point somebody was gonna walk up and be like, why are you guys here? So I think we only did this two or three times, and I was concerned about the police stopping us. I don't know if you were worried about that, but I was concerned with the. The amount of them. And especially with Atlanta over the last, what, 1015 years, the film industry has blossomed. And the bigger the film industry gets, the more the police and people crack down on people filming, because it's, where's my money if you're going to film gear type of thing.

Mary Meyer:

Right.

Erika Christie:

Yeah.

Mary Meyer:

I feel like someone did stop us at one point. I feel like one of the police officers did talk to me.

Erika Christie:

Yeah. I mean, obviously they didn't stop us filming, but I sort of. I feel like there was a conversation with somebody at some point. And I did know that I wanted to do something weird with this. I didn't fully have this part conceptualized with the arrows, but I think this part here with the. It's over. Like, the awkwardness. I think I had you do that part maybe three times.

Erika Christie:

And I did know that I wanted to put in the edit, splice them together so that they didn't quite work. So that part I got. I think I thought of the arrows afterwards and just sort of awkward standing at the camera. Yeah. I think for me, it was more of just subverting expectations. The fact that you just sort of stand there awkwardly looking at the camera, like, why? Why are you still filming me? Like, I.

Mary Meyer:

Right.

Mary Meyer:

I just. All these little.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah.

Erika Christie:

Oh, my gosh. Oh, gosh.

Mary Meyer:

It's like, why is it so funny? But it is.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, it is. Well, it is to me. I don't know if anybody else thinks it's funny. I think it's funny and, you know, well, it's amusing.

Mary Meyer:

Makes you kind of captures your attention or whatever, like you said.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, that's all I was hoping for, is that people would kind of pay attention. This is actually the only tech issue we had. I brought one of my really small, light microphones, not one of my big heavy ones. And because of it, your voice cracks just a little bit at the beginning of this year, and it's because you were on the other side with that little brick wall there. And I was so annoyed because I wanted you originally, like, where it says food hall right here. I was gonna have you start way back there and walk all the way forward, and you were just three 4ft past me and the microphone was cutting out, so I had to stop and have you start up here. That was the only tech issues I think we had. Do you remember any other tech problems?

Mary Meyer:

No, but I don't know that I was paying attention to them the way you are either.

Erika Christie:

So, yeah, so, yeah, that was the only part that annoyed me. Was that your voice cut out just a little bit because of all the brick. But, yeah, your poor little water bottle was right here, wasn't it?

Mary Meyer:

I think so. Maybe is that girl right now, or.

Erika Christie:

Maybe on the other side of this thing. Yeah. Naughty, naughty people stealing your water bottle. How rude of them.

Mary Meyer:

North Avenue, then follow us here for the day crew. Go down this direction until you see that awning over there and go behind the J.

Mary Meyer:

Crew.

Erika Christie:

You know, I still had multiple people ask me how to get to the theater, and I very, very politely asked them, did you guys see the video? And they went, yeah. And I went, did you go past the J. Crew? And they went, what J. Crew? And I was like, mary put, like, sweat and tears into starring in this video. And you watched it and you don't. How do you not know where anything is? I was polite about it, but it made me question a couple of people. I have no idea why you ran during this segment.

Mary Meyer:

I don't know either.

Mary Meyer:

It just seemed like a really long stretch to just be watching. So I wanted to go faster because it's like, it's like fast forwarding, only I actually ran it. I did the fast forward for you.

Erika Christie:

I don't think I directed you to run, did I? I think you just did that.

Mary Meyer:

I don't know. I think probably just did it.

Erika Christie:

I think you just did it. And I know that we did this part twice because I've got. I've got. Once I'm on the right side of you and once I'm on the left side of you. So I know we did it twice. A. I remember the first time you did it and I thought, oh, fuck, she's running. And I had to, like, up to you because you were supposed to be talking to the camera as you were running.

Erika Christie:

And I was like, mary's like, totally running right now. Yeah, you really caught me off guard when you started to run.

Mary Meyer:

No heels, too.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, yeah.

Mary Meyer:

Like, I'm like, okay, whatever.

Erika Christie:

Wedges. Look at you.

Mary Meyer:

I know wedges are comfortable, though. They're very good running heels.

Erika Christie:

Yeah. And I. And I was like. I was like, we need to do something with the sign as you pass it. And I was like, I'm not quite sure what. And then you came up with this. And I really liked it. I really like that you got that.

Erika Christie:

And this whole part here was weird because the theater was closed. Like, we could not get in the doors because they weren't there. And I got. And there's. I think the doors are supposed to be open because I wanted to. I wanted to do the actual open the doors and have you come in and then cut it with you opening the doors and coming out, and we couldn't do that at all. So this whole little part here is edited. Yeah, I mean.

Erika Christie:

I mean, that's. That's what I came up with. I don't know if I like it, but I mean, I just kind of liked the opening just to kind of make it feel a little bit like doors.

Mary Meyer:

But I think it's a really good example of how you, you know, you do something where it doesn't work the way you think it's going to do. So you just pivot and you made it work. I think it looked really. I mean, I like the transition.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, yeah. Then we came out and then this. You actually ran this one even faster because I think I made you do it three times running in Atlanta heat in the summer. I made you do it three times because the first two times you ran so fast. You ran out of the shot, and I couldn't catch up to you. So I think I actually told you on the third time you had to run slower because I'm holding a camera and a gimbal and running backwards and trying not to hit people and keep you in the shot. And I was like, mary, you run way too fast. I'm not smart enough to do this that fast.

Erika Christie:

I need you to slow down. So, yeah, I think I made you do this one three times because you were running way too fast for me. Yeah. Swing around you and get in front of you.

Mary Meyer:

Watch the movies, have a drink.

Erika Christie:

And I like that part, too. Hearing your voice come in on the next part while you were still running, I just thought it was a fun transition.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah.

Erika Christie:

And I definitely did not tell you to dance and hear. That's also more of Mary's and personality popping out. That was all you. That was. That was 100% you. There's nothing I want you to do in there. All right, what do you remember about the.

Mary Meyer:

You put me in a happy mood. That's good.

Erika Christie:

That's what I'm trying to do. I like dudes to be fun. I don't like them to be stressful. I don't like them to be rushed. I just want to have fun. So that's what I was going for. Hopefully I accomplished this. Yeah, you did this part.

Erika Christie:

Because I remember when we first talked about it, I think the word nook came up that we were going to call it the nook, but I was like, I don't know if I like the word nook. And I had a listen of all different kinds of things that we call it. And this part, I did conceive of this part as we were standing there, I was like, why don't you do all of them? And, like, in my head, I was thinking of, like, you know, sometimes when you're doing a narrative project and you try, you know, you do four takes of something and you do them different every time. And I always hated the fact that you just go with the one, even if the other three takes were good. And I thought, well, what if we do a montage and we do all of them? And I was like, I just need Mary to do all of them in a different style. So I remember having all of them down and just kind of throwing out ideas of how you could do them all different. And I did think I could do graphics, like some kind of graphic with the name on all of them. So that part did pop into my head while we were doing that.

Erika Christie:

Do you remember coming up with the way that you were going to say them or did you kind of do the first thing that came to your head? I don't know if I remember that part.

Mary Meyer:

That was probably improv. A little improv training. I think we did a little. We did do a little back and forth on some of them. I remember you had some of the ideas.

Erika Christie:

I wanted to do one that was an awkward close up. I was like, I don't know if it's going to be flattering because, and I was in a super wide lens and I'm like, I'm going to do let's see it again.

Mary Meyer:

Doesn't matter. It's funny.

Erika Christie:

After you did that, I pulled out like that 6 seconds and I said that to multiple people on my phone. I was like, look at Mary Justin. I did. I said that to multiple people.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah. The famous Dominic laugh.

Erika Christie:

Yeah. Yeah. I think it's still in my phone. I think it's still in my phone somewhere.

Mary Meyer:

Else.

Mary Meyer:

Dine and shine is fun.

Erika Christie:

I like the fact that it's, it's actually difficult as an actor. It's difficult to make something look awkward, like deliberately like. Because sometimes when someone's trying to do something awkward, it just looks stupid. But I thought you nailed it. You trying to, you know, fan a white something and sort of feeling it like. Like I thought you did a really good job of making it look awkward rather than a bad actor not quite knowing how to do it.

Mary Meyer:

Dime thank you.

Mary Meyer:

But none of my IMDb.

Erika Christie:

You weren't Mary.

Mary Meyer:

She can look for real awkward. Not like she's trying to be awkward, but she really looks awkward.

Mary Meyer:

7Th and 8th for all the laugh festivals. Make sure you follow us on the socials. And go ahead and leave a comment about.

Erika Christie:

I did laugh at the fact that you always said all the laugh festivals instead of all the Laugh festival. I think you said it wrong every single time.

Mary Meyer:

Did I say it wrong every time? Because I like the redoing. I'm like, oh, I said that wrong.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, I did use it all the laughs festivals every time instead of all the Laughs festival. I believe it was every take.

Mary Meyer:

We're allowed one laugh per festival, no more.

Mary Meyer:

Make sure that you follow us on the social. Go ahead and leave a comment about anything you'd like to see happen. Also, bring a friend. The ticket link is below, so can't wait to see you.

Mary Meyer:

I'm just cracking up at all the laugh festivals.

Erika Christie:

Yeah, yeah.

Mary Meyer:

One laugh, you get one.

Mary Meyer:

Use it wisely.

Erika Christie:

But we can't. Such an amazing laugh that you're still gonna use the word all. All the laugh. And that was a lot of exposition for that last little bit there. And you got all of that out. Like, that was. That was just a full info dump at the end. And I thought you did a great, great job of getting that one out.

Mary Meyer:

Thank you. Oh, I love it. This is such a fun shoot to recap, too. I thought you did. So like, to me, it's like, oh, my gosh, you're the best producer ever. Because you wrote that, you came up with the idea, you put it all together and made it work, communicated it to me effectively. So.

Erika Christie:

And you were a very willing victim, which I appreciated.

Mary Meyer:

So, you know, I enjoy. I enjoy pain. So.

Erika Christie:

Other than the theft of your water bottle, I hope there wasn't a lot of other besides that.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah, yeah.

Erika Christie:

But, yeah, I found it.

Mary Meyer:

I replaced that with the same one with orange. I was wearing orange, that video. And I'm like, I got orange. I got orange. I replaced my orange water bottle.

Erika Christie:

Oh, my gosh. That's so funny. But yeah. Thank you very much, Mary. I just wanted to do a quick breakdown of that. Like you said, took us hour, less than an hour and a half, I believe. Just kind of chopped out that promo video. Accomplished everything I wanted.

Erika Christie:

Got to spend a couple hours with you, driving there, doing it, driving back. Overall, I just had a really great time.

Mary Meyer:

Yeah, me too.

Mary Meyer:

That was so much fun.

Erika Christie:

Yeah.

Mary Meyer:

So much fun to recap. Yeah.

Erika Christie:

Awesome. All right. Thank you so much, Mary.

Mary Meyer:

Thanks, Erika.