What types of video does Soda City Films produce?

Soda City Films produces brand films, TV commercials, corporate video, event video, and nonprofit films for businesses across South Carolina and the Southeast. We handle the full process — creative, scripting, scouting, filming, editing, and delivery.

How long does video production take?

A typical project runs 4–6 weeks from kickoff to delivery: 1–2 weeks of pre-production (planning, scripting, scouting), 1–2 days of filming, and 2–3 weeks of editing and revisions. Timeline varies based on project scope.

What is the difference between a brand film and a TV commercial?

A brand film tells your company's story — it's longer, emotion-driven, and built to live on your website, social channels, and pitches for years. A TV commercial drives a specific action in 30 or 60 seconds and is built around a campaign. Both are powerful; the right choice depends on your goal.

Does Soda City Films work outside of Columbia, SC?

Yes. We regularly work throughout South Carolina and across the Southeast, including Charlotte, Charleston, Greenville, and beyond. If your project is compelling, we'll go where the story is.

How do I get started on a video project with Soda City Films?

Just reach out through our contact form at sodacityfilms.com/contact. Tell us what you're trying to accomplish and we'll respond quickly. Getting started is easy — we'll help figure out the right scope, approach, and budget for your goals.

What does the video production process look like?

Our process has three phases: Planning (pre-production — creative development, scripting, location scouting, scheduling), Production (the actual shoot, by land or at your event), and Editing/Delivery (post-production, revisions, and final file delivery). We can also help with ad placement and video marketing strategy after delivery.

Can Soda City Films help with video marketing after the video is delivered?

Yes. Beyond delivering your finished video, we can help with ad placements — getting your video in front of the right audience on the right platforms — and help build out your broader video marketing strategy.

How much does a brand film cost?

Project costs vary based on scope, shoot days, locations, crew size, and post-production complexity. We work with businesses at a range of budgets and structure each project around your goals. Contact us for a free quote — we're happy to talk through what's possible at your budget.

"When People Start Living in Community, They Have Purpose": A McGuinn Homes Brand Film

Jonathan Palance
Oct 6, 2023
4 min read

Updated: May 24

"When people start living in community, they have purpose." That's a line from Wade McGuinn, founder of McGuinn Homes, said about halfway through a sit-down interview. We knew the second he said it that we had the spine of the film. The rest of the cut bent toward it. (Fun bit of foreshadowing: McGuinn Homes' current company tagline is *"Homes built with purpose since 1985."* Wade has been saying the quiet part out loud for forty years.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOMFScaaC_U

What McGuinn Homes Actually Builds

Quick context. McGuinn Homes is a 40-year, family-run home builder headquartered in West Columbia, with active communities across Columbia, Aiken/Augusta, Greenville, and Savannah/Hilton Head. The company's whole pitch is exceptional style, quality, and value at a price that actually works for buyers — neighborhoods in good locations, value-engineered designs, and a hands-on customer experience from layout selection through closing day.

Every home McGuinn builds is now Hybrid Certified — meaning the energy-efficiency upgrades are concentrated where they actually move the needle, without overbuilding the parts that don't. Smart and efficient. The hybrid model used to be a brand name. Now it's a stamp on the back of every home that leaves the build floor.

Wade McGuinn is a South Carolina Certified Master Builder, the company is currently ranked the 136th largest builder in the country by Zonda, and they're in year two of a multi-year plan to roughly quadruple annual closings. Which is to say: this is not somebody's side hustle. This is one of the largest privately held builders in this part of the country.

Why a Home Builder Needs a Brand Film

Here's the unusual thing about marketing for a home builder: the buying decision is the biggest one most people will ever make, and it takes forever. The average new construction buyer spends 200+ days between the first time they touch a builder's website and the day they sign a contract. They visit the site multiple times. They compare neighborhoods. They show their spouse, their kids, their parents, sometimes their accountant. They walk model homes. They drive the neighborhoods at night to see what the lights look like. They overthink it, and they should — it's their largest purchase.

A brand film does something a floor plan and a price sheet can't. It tells a prospect what kind of company they'd be building with. The cabinets and the square footage will be on every spec sheet on the internet. The character of the company will not. That's the gap a good brand film fills.

The Data on Video for New Home Buyers

The numbers on this are not subtle. Video is doing real work in the new-construction buyer journey:

43% of buyers start their home search online and 51% find the home they buy through an online search — the front door of your sales funnel is your website (NAR 2024 Profile of Home Buyers).
Buyers who watch a video tour spend roughly 3x longer on a listing and are significantly more likely to book an in-person appointment (Audience Town). Time on page is the single best predictor of whether a buyer takes the next step.
98% of buyers engage with interactive floor plans, 96% with 3D tours, and video walkthroughs consistently outperform photos for emotional commitment to a home that doesn't physically exist yet (Audience Town).
69% of buyers use mobile or tablet devices during their search. Whatever you put on your homepage has to read on a phone first, a desktop second (NAR 2024, via Audience Town).

Translation: a brand film is one of the highest-leverage things a builder can put at the top of their homepage. It does the trust work that paid ads, MLS photos, and price comparisons cannot do, and it does it in the 90 seconds you have before a tab gets closed.

Why Wade's Quote Stuck With Us

There's a version of this film where it's all hammer drops and aerial shots of new neighborhoods at golden hour. Every home builder film for the last twenty years has done that. We did some of that too. But the heart of the piece is Wade saying that line about community and purpose, because it's the actual product. You can buy a house from anybody. A neighborhood that turns into a community — with kids on bikes and neighbors borrowing tools and the same families showing up to the same backyard parties year after year — that takes a builder who's been around long enough to plan for it. McGuinn has been doing that here for four decades. The film just lets him say so in his own voice.

Working With Builders

Big thanks to Wade and the team at McGuinn Homes for an easy day on a job site and a genuinely great interview. If you're a home builder, developer, or real estate group in the Midlands thinking about a brand film, neighborhood showcase, or model-home walkthrough, we'd love to talk. The story is already in your communities. We just help you tell it. #McGuinnHomes #BuiltWithPurpose #ColumbiaSCHomes #NewConstruction #HomeBuilder #BrandFilm #VideoProduction #ColumbiaSC#SodaCity #SodaCityFilms #MidlandsSC #RealEstateMarketing #BuilderMarketing #SouthCarolinaHomes #WestColumbia