RabbitView is a video production and distribution company based in Calgary, Alberta Canada. We specialize in producing cost-effective videos for all digital platforms. We streamline our scripting and production process, enabling our clients to have on-going, professional, broadcast quality 4K videos with a quick turnaround.

For over the past decade, RabbitView has produced documentaries for The Documentary Channel and CTV, TV commercials, a weekly TV Real Estate series for Corus Customs Network, and a national ad campaign for Le Chateau.  Over the past several years we have produced over 80 documentaries for  international distribution – in 2017 we were selected by The Calgary Film Centre for their inaugural production grant for a documentary series showcasing the behind-the-scenes antics of a comedy club.  We have produced over 1000 corporate videos for a wide variety of clients.

RabbitView has also had the opportunity to produce video content for many large organizations including, The City of Calgary, The Documentary Channel, Alberta Health Services, CTV, Husky Energy, CrossFit Inc., The Calgary Real Estate Board, The Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, Encana, DMG World Media, Re/Max, EFW Radiology, World Health, Maclin Ford and Royal Lepage.

• View ‘The Comic Strip Docu-series” website

The Comic Strip is an unscripted series that mixes a character reminiscent of Larry David with the comedy club elements of Seinfeld and the behind-the-scenes fun of The Larry Sanders Show.   The setting for the series will be the comedy clubs owned by industry icon Rick Bronson in Edmonton, Phoenix, Minneapolis and New Jersey. With full and unrestricted access, the series provides an unfiltered glimpse behind-the-scenes of some of the leading comedy clubs in North America.  We’ll see the day to day operations of this crazy business Rick runs with his madcap family, as well as the challenges and victories they face as Rick tries to add more clubs and become a comedy mogul.  And of course, there are the comedians.  From the famed names audiences know and love, to the talented openers trying to become the next big star, the series will be filled with comedians continually jockeying to top each other with the most creative zingers.

Rick is now consumed with propelling The Comic Strip to the “next level” and establishing himself as a king of comedy.   He’s also on a constant quest to discover the next new talent – a diamond in the rough he can polish towards stardom. 

Handling headliners with Hollywood egos, dealing with desperate open mic’ers clamoring for stage time, and managing the eccentric and idiosyncratic veteran comics, who all walk through the club’s doors with their varied baggage, sordid tales, and quirky demands is more than a full time job, but he has help.  Working directly alongside Rick is his strong-willed wife, Tammy, a former model who now books the clubs’ talent.  Rick’s also trying to groom his disinterested son Noah to one day take over the family empire, but Noah invites more one-liners than applause from his dad.

Audiences will enjoy seeing comedians offstage, prepping for shows, greenroom interactions, and a variety of additional behind-the-scenes antics reflecting comedians’ daily rituals and interpersonal interactions.   Hilarious banter among comedians in their down time, travel to and from airports, looking for meals, hanging out at the hotel bar, visiting local spots, running errands, talking shop, trading tales, ribbing each other and complaining, the mundaneness of the road, dealing with local media obligations, and crafting their set, will all be showcased.

“We comedians are generally an insufferable, self-absorbed lot, filled with a mix of self-loathing, neurosis, insecurities, ego, narcissism, jealously, moodiness, irritability, anxiety, laziness, bitterness, and insecurity … who can’t get with that? Getting to see what makes us tick, following our diverse journeys, and examining why we are compelled to make people laugh will be a combination of hilarity and horror.”  – Rick Bronson

For these humorists, the comedy club is a sanctuary, a place where they can hone their craft, ply their trade, commiserate, work out material, and test whether their observations and insights ring true. Most importantly, the club is a refuge where comedians can garner laughter and audience appreciation.  The Comic Strip will reveal this compelling nocturnal world centering on the comedy club and illuminate the captivating comedic characters, journeys, and stories that colour this setting.

In a previous blog, we talked about the ability to employ video to archive events and create an on-going record.  In addition to merely documenting occasions though, video has a unique ability to capture the emotion and energy of an event.

We all know certain film semiotics – slow moving images accompanied with orchestral music, connotes dramatic moments while quickly cut images complemented by face-paced music, implies action and excitement.   Aside from employing these sorts of post-production editing techniques that highlight the energy of an event, video is also able to capture things like a person’s tone and the various sights and sounds that make any occasion unique.

Recently we had the opportunity to film The Mcmahon Stadium gig by local Calgary band Early on Sunday.  The event took place on Canada Day – the band played for tailgaters prior to the game as well as the half-time show.  It was a raucous atmosphere with fantastic energy from the band and the crowd.  The setting of McMahon Stadium and the Canada Day football game provided a fantastic setting with a plethora of energized images.

A great writer might be able to provide additional insight and highlight some of the performance with creative use of adjectives and a great photographer might be able to capture a specific moment in time by producing isolated stills from the day but a video was undoubtedly the best way to capture the band’s invigorated performance combining sights, sounds and continuous imagery.

When it comes to a concert, recital, sporting event, ceremony, grand opening, or any special occasion, nothing will replace being there but for those that not only want to record such events but capture the energy, video is definitely the way to go. Having a web video enables those who might not have been at an event to still share in it, and those who were there to relive some of those moments.

RabbitView has also had the opportunity to produce video content for many large organizations including, The City of Calgary, The Documentary Channel, Alberta Health Services, CTV, Husky Energy, CrossFit Inc., The Calgary Real Estate Board, The Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, Encana, DMG World Media, Re/Max, EFW Radiology, World Health, Maclin Ford and Royal Lepage.

Regardless of the size of your organization, we pride ourselves on creating clear channels of communication so we can deliver video content that matches your organization’s particular tone, style, and message.

The streamlined ability of video producers to be mobile and the ability to quickly shoot, edit and broadcast material have enabled us to go to environments and get the context of events that traditionally we have not had access to or would have taken too much time, effort, or expense. Highlighting the context of an event as opposed to merely filming an event is a concept that dates back all the way to the early 1960’s with college football and the notion of “Taking the sports fan to the game.” This is a model that has not only been applied to sports, but the vast myriad of topics, events, people and places that can be video subjects. Furthermore, because of technological advances in video filming and editing as well as the ease in getting material broadcast (i.e. the Internet), this process no longer has to be big budget exercise involving vast crews and endless planning.

Roon Arledge, the American sports and news broadcasting pioneer behind programs such as Monday Night Football, Nightline, ABC World News, 20/20 and Wide World of Sports came up with idea of bringing the fan to the game as opposed to bringing the game to the fan. Instead of merely showing the game and only focusing on the game itself, Arledge proposed that highlighting interesting things about the location, the surrounding characters, and the lead up to the game would encourage an increased interest from a wider audience. He was absolutely right and eventually this changed how sports and ultimately all news events got covered.

The advent of smaller broadcast quality digital cameras and easy access to portable sound gear has changed the landscape even more. Most importantly, one-man crews adept at storytelling, filming and quick editing, has enabled us to be a “fan” in more worlds than ever. No longer do we have to wait for a major network to broadcast a large event that is aimed at the masses. Now even the most specific of niches can have behind-the-scenes coverage. These one-man crews can capture the essence of an event and use video to not only tell the story but also highlight the spirit of the event by capturing the peripheral elements.

The development of the one-person crew is significant for a few reasons. First and foremost it means that the production process is streamlined – the filming process is inconspicuous and the filmer can capture an event with minimal effect on the authenticity of the subject matter. If, for example, you film a non-actor and add elements such as numerous crew members in charge of lighting, make-up and sound, as well as intermediaries in charge of direction, production, and content, they will undoubtedly become less natural in their delivery and the process will become agonizingly time-consuming. A second important point is the more people you add to the crew, the larger your budget will be. Minimizing the crew and streamlining the filming process enables clients to keep costs down and dedicate more of their resources to filming more elements of their event and film their events more regularly.

More comprehensive and on-going coverage of a particular community or event enables that group greater opportunity to generate interest among potential new viewers as well as strengthen existing bonds within their respective group. In addition, as video producers, the more opportunities we get to film, edit and broadcast, the better we become at telling your story and taking viewers “to the game”.

When we are commissioned to produce a documentary, we want to find the elements that make an individual or topic compelling and focus and creating a strong story arc.  In this particular case, we found intrigue in the the contrast of the bright lights that Nick experienced in the UFC ring with his humble existence living in the basement of a property he rents out.  Additionally, Nick is a very private person and although he enjoys the thrill of martial arts, he normally does not do a lot of media so we had a sort of exclusive access.

We were also able to capture several eye-opening elements.  The casual fight fan might assume that winning UFC fighters are set for life from their fight purses.  In Nick’s case we see him cleaning toilets and dusting off shelves for a home he preps for potential renters – it is becomes apparent that being a successful, well-known fighter does not necessarily mean a financial windfall.

Finally, we had a steam-lined budget for this production and were afforded only one day of filming with Nick and also had very limited time/budget for pre-production planning.  While this undoubtedly posed many challenges when producing a 22 minute broadcast piece for television, it demanded that we be extremely efficient with our shooting schedule and diligent with our preparation.  We had to draw upon our experience to optimize our time and develop a filming strategy that enabled us to maintain an elevated professional standard.   Regardless of the scope of the project we are always focused on telling an intriguing story with compelling visuals.