Windsong Productions

03/13/2024

08/18/2023

FINAL VS RAW - What a difference a good color grade makes!

When a project is in the final stages of post-production, we hand over the locked edit to our in-house colorist, Jeremiah Belt, to give it a cohesive color story.

When finishing the branded film “The cows running their own farm,” for Genero and BBC StoryWorks, director Joshua Krause requested for Jeremiah to lean into the dirt and rust colors seen around the farm. “The grade, along with a Kodak film emulation process, helped to give an earthy feel to this story of energy renewal,” Belt recalled.

We love how this spot turned out. To see the full film, check out our Instagram reels ()!

This branded film was produced for Bloom Energy by BBC StoryWorks, the commercial content division of BBC Studios. ✨✨

08/04/2023

Earlier in the year, our team traveled across the country to capture a gorgeous Manhattan hotel.

As a Genero and , we loved capturing the energy of Hilton’s Curio Collection property, Martinique New York on Broadway. Located steps from the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden, this effortlessly chic hotel boasts a rich 125-year history and features an art deco-inspired interior.

It’s safe to say there was no shortage of inspiration for our crew.

Brand: Hilton, Martinique New York on Broadway
Agency: Genero
Art Director: Sara Bourbeau
Producer: Joann Mercado Hicks
Photographer: Mariano Friginal
Lighting Assistant: Cody Fletcher
HMU: Amber Medina
Models: Edward Aguallo, Noriko Daido, Natasha Frater, Don Hood

05/31/2023

We’re pretty thrilled to announce that Windsong Productions is the recipient of 6 Telly Awards:

BBC StoryWorks: Shape of Water received:
• Gold Telly Winner in Online - Social Impact
• Silver Telly Winner in Online - Directing
• Bronze Telly Winner in Online - Documentary:
Short Form (Under 40 Minutes)
• Silver Telly Winner in Online - Fitness, Health & Wellness

Fresno Chaffee Zoo: The Work of Awe received:
• Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content - Social Responsibility
• Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content - Pets and Animals

These accolades are undoubtedly thanks to our incredible team and clients at Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Genero, and BBC StoryWorks.

It is an honor to see the skills of our crew recognized in the same breath as Airbnb, Audible, BET Networks/BET Digital, BritBox, Disney, FEMA, Gaumont, Golden State Warriors, NASA, National Geographic Society, Netflix, Paramount, PBS Digital Studios and more.

Continuing to share this wild journey we’ve been on these past 11 years brings us immense joy. Cheers to continuous growth and creativity!

BBC StoryWorks: Shape of Water
Client: BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions
Director/Editor: Joshua Krause
Producers: Joann Mercado Hicks
DP: Christopher Neely
Sound Recordist: David Werner
Color: Jeremiah Belt
Assistant Editor: Vince Cosentino
Special Thanks: Genero, Olson Kundig + The Center for Wooden Boats

Fresno Chaffee Zoo: The Work of Awe
Client: Fresno Chaffee Zoo
ECD/Director: Byron Watkins
Producers: Joshua Krause, Sara Bourbeau & Joann Mercado Hicks
Associate Producer: Carolina De La Torre
Production Design: Max Martinez
Editor: Joshua A. Krause
Cinematographers: Andree Brown & Justin Cummings
G+E Swing: Ian McAleece
MUHA: Amber Medina
Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
AE: Vince Cosentino
Production Assistant: Maximiliano Salazar
Lead Talents: Santino De La Cruz, The Blair Family, The Brazzell Family

05/26/2023

Our crew is looking for a warehouse location for a fitness commercial filming on 5/31 or 6/1 for up to 5 hours.

If you're familiar with one in the Fresno area, let us know!

03/01/2023

Location missing a front facing window? No problem. We’ll make one! 💪

02/02/2023

Here’s a little in-studio to light up your Thursday! ⚡️

12/18/2022

For years we have been fortunate to film and document the . It is always extra special during the holidays.

• 2022 Ontario 5K Reindeer Run at Downtown Ontario •

Photo credit: Mariano Friginal

12/02/2022

We’re very excited to announce that our very own Sara Bourbeau is a member of the “40 Under 40” class of 2022!

As a two-time Emmy Award-winning Producer and a leader of a full-time staff of 16, Sara acts as both Windsong’s head of production and executive producer. Sara is masterful in building projects from the ground up and crafting campaigns that deliver meaningful messages. Her planning prowess keeps us on schedule and within budget.

On top of running Windsong Productions, she is currently a Governor for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Northern California chapter.

Oh, you thought her excellence stopped there? Wrong. Sara is known around the office for her incredible taste in art, decor, food, travel recommendations, and literature. And while Sara prefers to stay behind-the-scenes, we’re very happy to see her in the spotlight for her incredible work ethic, drive, and passion for our industry and crew.

Huzzah to Sara!

10/21/2022

10/21/2022

Windsong has a female-led producing team. So, when the opportunity arose to help promote a female-owned tech business, we jumped in, both feet.

RAW Artists has over a decade of international boots-on-the-ground experience curating large-scale global events for visual artists, designers, musicians, and more to showcase their talents.

Founder Heidi Luerra challenged us to help the brand come up with a spot that encapsulates its rich history and the development of its new entrepreneurship tool, Platform by RAW Artists — all while pushing the creative limits in a 45 seconds spot for Hulu.

We gathered dozens of extras, choreographed a single-take scene, brought in an aerialist, and built three sets across our studio space, (we even put together our own little faux RAW Show!)

What a brilliant challenge this was. Check it out!

Client: RAW Artists / Heidi Luerra
ECD/Director: Byron Watkins
Producers: Sara Bourbeau & Joann Mercado Hicks
Assistant Producer: Chelsea Gue
Associate Producer: Carolina De La Torre
Production Design: Max Martinez
Creative Producer/Editor: Marianna Pang
DP: Justin McAleece
1st AC: Andree Brown
Gaffer: Ian McAleece
Key Grip: Cody Fletcher
G&E: Leonard McLeod, Daniel Zuniga
MUHA: Amber Medina
Asst. MUHA: Anthony Menchaca
Editor/Sound Design: Joshua A. Krause
Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
VFX: Austin Newell
AE: Vince Cosentino
Studio Manager: Joe Ellis
BTS: Mariano Friginal, Andree Brown, Maximiliano Salazar
Production Assistants: Maximiliano Salazar, Nicole Spate, Abel Raya, Daniel De La O, Jorge Ramirez
Lead Talents: Heidi Luerra, Jessica Riley Jones, Audia Dixon, Jose Padilla, Jessica F.
Special Thanks: Aerial Fresno, Chance James, Francisco Rodriguez

09/29/2022

Check out this sneak peek at the groovy spot we created with our friends at Jeffrey Scott Agency for Rogers Jewelry. We loved how much fun this was to produce. From the improvisational moments the actors gifted us, to the retro production design, our crew had so many laughs on set! Thanks for including us on this one, JSA! See the full spot next week. 🪩

Director: Byron Watkins
Executive Producer: Sara Bourbeau
Producer: Joann Mercado Hicks
Associate Producer: Carolina De La Torre
Cinematographer: Chris Neely
Gaffer: Ian McAleece
G&E: Cody Fletcher
Sound: Keith Little
HMUA: Amber Medina & Anthony Menchaca
Production Designer: Max Martinez & Joe Ellis
Lead Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
Editors: Vince Cosentino & Anthony J. Bennett
VFX: Austin Newell
Talent: Aaron Caponigro, Scott Davis, Kelsey Deroian, Nick Haas, April Blair, Shirley Davidson, Ana G. Roybal, Eric Galvan, Kristen Katchado, Jeremiah Munoz

09/28/2022

How does “new hire” sound on our boy Cody? That’s right. Please welcome Cody Fletcher as our newest Creative Producer | Writer. We’ve worked along side Cody for many years now. On-set, his work ethic, hunger to learn and collaborative spirit are second to none.

We’re pumped to see his genius in action. Send him a big congrats, will ya?

Photo: Mariano Friginal

08/01/2022

That Groovy national content. 🪩

Agency: Genero
Brand: Bud Light Seltzer
Director: Byron Watkins
Photographer: Mariano Friginal
Executive Producer: Sara Bourbeau
Producer: Joann Mercado Hicks
Assistant Producer: Carolina De La Torre
Production Designer: Max Martinez
G&E: Cody Fletcher + Joe Ellis

07/31/2022

Happy Birthday to our Head of Production, Sara! She is the brains behind this wild band of creators. Thanks for keeping us focused and inspiring us with new, creative challenges. 💚

Fun Fact: It might be July but it’s worth noting that Sara is a very skilled Secret Santa. She is the queen of thoughtful, personalized gift giving. And her gift wrapping— second to none. 🤌 🤌🤌

07/28/2022

Niidor was looking for a young-spirited, simple and confident vibe for their new commercial. Our team took that vision and ran with it. From the personal touches in propping to the character development of our hero’s off-screen date, Ricky—they nailed it. Enjoy the director’s cut of this fun, upbeat spot.✨

Agency: Genero + Amazon
Brand: niidor
Director: Byron Watkins
EP: Sara Bourbeau
Prod/Talent Dir: Carolina De La Torre
Creative Producer: Marianna Pang
Cinematographer: Jordan Pulmano
Editor: Joshua A. Krause
VFX: Austin Newell
Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
Assistant Editor: Vince Cosentino
G&E: Joe Ellis
Art DPT: Max Martinez
H/MU: Amber Medina
PA/Ricky: Maximiliano Salazar
Lead Talent: Penny; SIRENZ Model Agency

07/22/2022

Lots of big news to share. 🤌
Can't wait to tell you about this one.

Photo by: Mariano Friginal
Insanely gorgeous haze by: Ian McAleece + Cody Fletcher + Leonard McLeod

07/15/2022

Our post team DID WORK on this graphic, multi-media animation for The City of Ontario’s: State of The City 2022. This spot welcomed guests into the event and gave a visual overview of what the city offers its residents and visitors.

From a production standpoint, a large part of this project was staying organized and efficient with the sheer number of assets that were used to create it. Austin, our Visual Effects Artist, created a spreadsheet to track every asset needed for every scene. Years of archival footage was scoured by Vince, our Digital Asset Manager/Assistant Editor. Hundreds of stills were distilled into cutouts by literal-jack-of-all-trades, our Production Designer, Max. All while our Lead Colorist & Motion Graphics Artist, Jeremiah, was placing said assets within the animation itself. The team worked ahead of the scenes that Jeremiah was working on so that when he finished the layout/animation of one scene, he could move to the next with all the assets at his disposal. Proving yet again that teamwork really does make the dream work. Huzzah!! 🤌

Executive Creative Director: Byron Watkins
Producer: Joann Mercado Hicks
Creative Producer/Editor: Marianna Pang
VFX: Jeremiah Belt
Visual Effects Artist: Austin Newell
Digital Asset Manager/Assistant Editor: Vince Cosentino
Production Designer: Max Martinez

07/13/2022

Hello, yes, we lived in a Nicholas Sparks novel for a week.

Photographer: Mariano Friginal
Director: Sara Bourbeau
Producer: Joann Mercado Hicks
Associate Producer: Carolina De La Torre
Key Grip: Cody Fletcher
Talent: Indira Soodeen, James A. Pierce

06/29/2022

We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for this now EMMY WINNING campaign. Every bit of recognition goes to Gary Janzen of Janzen Brands Agency, his creative team, and Central California Blood Center for trusting us to bring this incredibly fun idea to life. And to all the cast, film crew, and post-production team, thanks for bringing your critical eye and expertise to the table. We would be nowhere without your creativity and innovation.

Now, Go Donate Blood!

Emmy for Outstanding Achievement: Commercial
“Amazing What You Can Do”
abc30 KFSN/Windsong Productions

Producers: Sara Bourbeau, Joann Mercado Hicks
Director: Byron Watkins
Editors: Anthony J. Bennett, Marianna Pang
VFX/Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
VFX: Austin Newell

06/15/2022

You know that delicious pretzel or churro you just gotta have at the game? Or that frozen beverage on a hot summer day? The folks at J&J Snack Foods and ICEE are the masterminds behind many of your favorite treats. And, our team spent a few days capturing new content for these iconic brands.

05/28/2022

** Important Update **

05/20/2022

A little for your Friday. 🔥

05/18/2022

Marketing Plus came to Windsong Productions to promote what makes Well-Pict berries so delicious — better size, color, shine, and flavor! We were challenged with highlighting their top-notch quality standards and reminding berry lovers that smaller farms mean more attention to detail. We had a blast bringing this tongue-in-cheek spot to life. From a miniature berry see-saw to an on-location party — our Production Designer, Max Martinez, nailed it on this one. We are honored to officially call ourselves “berry snobs.”

Agency: Marketing Plus
Production: Windsong Productions
Director: Byron Watkins
Producers: Sara Bourbeau, Joann Mercado Hicks
AP: Carolina De La Torre
Production Designer: Max Martinez
Editor: Marianna Pang
Assistant Editor: Vince Cosentino
VFX: Austin Newell
Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
Talent: Ted Nunes, Cheryl Carlson, Itzel, Brent Yoshida

05/12/2022

Don’t you wish you were here today? We do. 🌊

Photographer: Mariano Friginal
Director: Byron Watkins | Sara Bourbeau
Producer: Carolina De La Torre
Key Grip: Cody Fletcher

05/12/2022

This morning we learned our team was nominated for an Emmy® Award for the 'Amazing What You Can Do' Commercial Campaign. Congratulations to our crew, cast, Central California Blood Center, and Janzen Brands for championing this creative concept. Cheers!

“Amazing What You Can Do”
ABC30 KFSN/Windsong Productions
Producers: Sara Bourbeau, Joann Mercado Hicks
Director: Byron Watkins
Editors: Anthony J. Bennett, Marianna Pang
VFX/Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
VFX: Austin Newell
Brand: Central California Blood Center
Agency: Janzen Brands

03/29/2022

From what was captured in-camera to those sultry colors captured in the final cut, our colorist visually broke down his process to enhance the grading on our project with Tencel.

”For Tencel we wanted a very moody and dreamy tone that's yet set in reality. One that will draw the eye to the textures of the fabric and not distract away. Although this piece was shot on RED I decided to do a full film emulation process on our log based digital intermediates in Davinci Resolve. I used a transform to Cineon Film Log gamma with a P3 DCI color space. This way a traditional film processing path could be followed. In this case a Kodak 2383 D65 LUT was used to process it back out of log to a linear REC709 space. All this done down stream and then the grade and balancing happening pre those transforms in 32bit float so we weren't compounding the processing on top and hampering the image quality. In the end achieving a ‘meaty’ gamma curve with a lot of weighted color.” -Jeremiah Belt

Colorist: Jeremiah Belt
Talent: Mariana Perin

03/23/2022