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.

Recruiting Teachers in an 8-Second World: Inside the Choose Lex 2 Brand Film

Jonathan Palance
May 25
4 min read

Lexington School District Two needed a recruitment brand film to attract teachers in a competitive hiring market. Soda City Films handled production through agency partner Flock & Rally: two shoot days, three locations, eleven on-camera interviews. The three-minute result is built to do what recruitment video does best, which is make a prospective employee stop scrolling and think about making a change.

Most recruitment videos are boring. 33% of viewers click out of them by the 30-second mark. Lexington School District Two didn't want that. They wanted something that would make a teacher, maybe someone already employed, maybe comfortable, maybe just a little restless, stop scrolling and think "that's where I want to be."

The Brief: Recruit the Teacher, Not the Student

The goal of the Choose Lex 2 brand film was different from most school district marketing. Rather than selling parents on a school or students on a program, Lex 2 wanted to recruit teachers to come work there. That's a fundamentally change. You're not selling a product, you're selling a workplace. You aren't competing for "butts in seats", but rather for the people to teach the kids.

Some numbers (from the internet): with 74% of U.S. school districts reporting difficulty filling teaching vacancies for the 2024–25 school year and 62% citing "too few candidates applying" as their top challenge, the districts that get creative about recruitment are the ones that win. Phew. Ok, back to storytelling.

Two Days, Three Locations, Eleven Interviews

We shot the project over two days. Day one was Brookland-Cayce High School. Day two took us to the Lexington Two Innovation Center and an elementary school. Ok, I don't quite remember which shool and when, if I'm being honest. This is written years later... BUT: we filmed 11 interviews over the two day shoot. It was bonkers. Our clients at Flock & Rally planned it down to the minute so we could get it done.

Eleven interviews in two days is not a normal pace. Most productions do two per day, maybe three if everything is clicking (for this length video, 2-4 is ideal). But this was a marathon, and all the interviews looked fantastic! The whole shoot felt like a turning point for us: a project where we committed to doing things the right way, with proper lighting and intentionality to "get it right".

Well. Mostly.

The Dr. Hafner Problem (And How It Worked Out)

The keystone interview of the entire film was with Dr. Brenda Hafner. She walked into the foyer of the school during lunch (as we stuffed our faces with Grouchos sandwiches), smiled, and said something along the lines of: "Oh, no rush, just finish up lunch— I have about 20 minutes." She wasn't being funny or pointed. She had 20 minutes.

Folks have no idea what the business takes. A well-lit interview typically takes 30 minutes to set up. Minimum. So, we threw down our sandwiches, flew everything across the room, up the stairs, and into position. Did I mention it was upstairs? Fortunately, the media center had gorgeous natural light streaming in from giant windows on one side. We diffused it, bounced a bit onto the other side, got the mic in place, dialed in the cameras — and it looked stunning.

That's the thing about constraints: sometimes they force you to see what was already there. Great light doesn't need to be manufactured all the time. It just needs to be recognized and shaped.

https://vimeo.com/931589655

Three Minutes in an Eight-Second World

Here's the uncomfortable truth about recruitment videos: the average online attention span is about 8 seconds. That's eight. Forty-five percent of viewers drop off after the first minute. Engagement falls sharply for anything over two minutes. Think about your own video viewing, and I'm sure you'll agree, unless you are engaged. We'll tackle that in another post.

So what are we doing making a three-minute film?

We're earning it.

Some more numbers: There's a difference between videos people tolerate and videos people choose to watch. Job postings with embedded video get 800% more engagement than those without. As long as you're telling a real story and not just talking at a camera, the bar for "worth three minutes" isn't as high as you'd think. Candidates who watch a recruitment video are 64% more likely to apply for the position. (ok no more numbers, nerds)

The Choose Lex 2 film works because eleven different voices, across two days, across three locations, tell a coherent story about what it actually feels like to work there. The word "family" kept coming up over and over and over again. We didn't prompt them to say that.

What This Means for Your Organization

If you're in talent acquisition, whether you're recruiting teachers, healthcare workers, engineers, or anyone in between, a brand film isn't a luxury. It's infrastructure. It's the first real answer to the question: why here? We like to call them "video business cards". The who, what, where, when, why, how and feel to boot.

Lexington Two was asking that question and formulating the answer on screen, one interview at a time. We'd love to help you do the same. Reach out to Soda City Films and let's talk about what your next recruitment film could look like. And a line for the search engines: Soda City Films is a Gold ADDY-winning video production company in Columbia, SC, with over 15 years of experience across education, nonprofit, and corporate clients. Just saying.