Koi-Fly Blog
The Morning Cast #1 | Molly, First Year Nurse
COVID-19 Through the Eyes of a First-Year Nurse As a first-year nurse in the intensive care unit, Molly never would’ve guessed she’d be in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. She cares for the most critically ill in her unit. But, with underlying conditions...
5 Content Ideas Realtors Need NOW
If you’re involved with corporate or residential real estate, I don’t have to tell you it’s been a little tougher remaining visible and viable during quarantine. With today’s challenges, realtors have had to get creative to maintain the trust and business from...
Zoom Tips and Tricks
‘I’m gonna Zoom Zoom Zoom-a Zoom…” Anyone old enough to remember that theme song from an old PBS show called Zoom? Well today it would be completely apropo! Because everyone is Zooming. Everywhere you look there’s a Zoom meeting. In fact, I predict that soon the...
How to Promote Your Message of Leadership Today and Every Day
As a leader, you need to have a platform. It is important to get your messages of hope and support to your community. How do you get them out there when you can't gather your group in person? When it is your responsibility to bolster your customers, stakeholders,...
16 Books to Get Lost In
Reading reduces stress, motivates and inspires, and allows your mind to drift into a different reality. Pour yourself a cup of tea, curl up on the couch, and check out the Koi-Fly team's diverse book list! 1. A Walk in The Woods - Bill Bryson Bill Bryson walked the...
From Independent Living to Childhood Bedroom in One Pandemic
The day finally came. Your first job secured, a new city to explore, an apartment to make your own, and no more worrying about college exams. The start of your next chapter called Independence has finally arrived. I’ve always been an extrovert who loves surrounding...
How Content is Changing Forever
These are undeniably weird times. In a matter of two weeks, life as we knew it changed. While the world is adjusting to an unsettling new “normal,” we’re also witnessing a new era of human resilience; an era that fosters community and creativity in unexpected...
Don’t Cancel Your Event – Broadcast Live
You spent weeks working to create an amazing workshop or town hall. You’ve spent months perfecting an event to launch a product and get important messaging out to your customers. All that hard work, and now it’s hard to say when you’ll be able to get to all those...
Koi-Fly Live Stream Is Here!
In light of increased travel restrictions and social distancing, many folks are quickly pivoting from in-person experiences to online events — some for the very first time. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to produce a virtual event that hooks an...
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Remote Working
Hi, it’s me, Dave. I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been a fan of working remotely. It’s possible that this is because, until recently, it was never really an option for me. I worked for years in the Film and Television industry where the thought of even taking a...
The Binge List: 15 Movies and Shows to Watch
Being quarantined for a few weeks during the coronavirus pandemic has its ups and downs. Let's focus on the good things today - like bingeing any show or movie you want. We've been recommending movies and shows to each other here on the Koi-Fly team, and we want to...
Using Optimism to Manage Change
Just three weeks ago everything seemed fairly normal. Some people thought stories of a rampantly spreading, contagious virus arriving here from China was just a scheme by the media with a political agenda. I heard from trusted sources with deep medical experience...
Your Business During the Coronavirus: Get Ready, Stay Ready
Our world is buzzing with ever changing news about coronavirus. With updates by the hour, businesses are looking for ways to thrive and even prosper despite suspicions of a global pandemic. According to a survey from Veem, 27% of businesses expect the coronavirus...
Winter vs. Summer Video Production: What to Expect
We’ve taught you the intricacies of keeping your crew happy and healthy on set (refer to *this Dash*). Now, it’s time to talk a bit about the differences between shooting in the winter versus summer, and how to continue to keep that positivity flowing with your...
Super Bowl Commercials 2020: Favs and Fumbles
Top Trending There are always a few Super Bowl ads that catch our eye. Some because of the pure creativity, and others because it gives us all the feels. Check out our top Super Bowl commercials of 2020. Rocket Mortgage: Comfortable This year's Rocket...
2019: Looking Back to Move Forward
For the team at Koi-Fly Creative, 2019 was full of growth and gratitude. As we sat down and reflected on the past year (and decade!), we realized how proud we should be of all of our accomplishments and thankful for the individuals who helped us get there. Check...
What to Expect From a Rough Cut
Sometimes our clients aren’t sure what to expect when they receive a rough cut. They can be overwhelmed with information, thoughts, questions, or ideas. We hear ya! And we want to make sure that the process of reviewing a rough cut is easy, as well as informative...
Behind The Project: Vertical Video X Live Life Nice
Hey! Morgan here, Editor at Koi-Fly Creative. I'm here to talk to you about the newest, biggest trend in content creation - vertical video - and how I edited a recent project for Christian Crosby, In-Arena Host for the Philadelphia 76ers and creator of the Live...
My Night on the Street
On November 21, 2019 Koi-Fly CEO Stacey Grant participated in Covenant House's Annual Sleep Out on the streets of Philadelphia. This is her experience. ------------ The Night Before I was in tears. It was just twelve hours before I’d be spending the night in a...
Holiday Recipes: Cocktails
Ring in the new year with your favorite new cocktail. Scroll down to see how to make some of our favorites! If you give any of these a spin, take a photo and tag us so we can see your beautiful creation! Need a warm baked good to pair with your cocktail? Here are...
Holiday Recipes: Cookies
No matter what you celebrate this holiday season, baking cookies is a beautiful way to spend time with family and friends. Check out our favorite cookie, brownie, and bar recipes from us to you! Need a fun drink to pair with your baked treats? Here are our cocktail...
Why I’m Proud to Work for a Woman Owned Business
There are many things I’m grateful for in life: my supportive husband, a sturdy roof over my head and a bed to sleep in every night, to name a few. But there’s one element in my life that I am truly grateful for but, for some reason, don’t vocalize as much as I...
Koi-Fly Creative Launches Fresh Filmmakers
KOI-FLY CREATIVE LAUNCHES FRESH FILMMAKERS Acclaimed production company partners with Chester County Futures and Covenant House to empower and inspire the next generation of filmmakers WEST CHESTER, PA (November 18, 2019) - Koi-Fly Creative (Koi-Fly) is...
Koi-Fly News: CEO Wins Business Owner Award
STACEY GRANT WINS NAWBO’S 2019 WOMEN BUSINESS OWNER AWARD The founder and CEO of acclaimed production agency, Koi-Fly Creative, receives the Woman Business Owner award from NAWBO Philadelphia Center for Advancing Entrepreneurs for her entrepreneurial spirit and...
STEM vs. STEAM: Where does Marketing and Production Fit?
Happy National STEM/STEAM Day! The STEM to STEAM movement has been building roots in our education system for the past few years and is showing to be a positive campaign to shift education for the needs of the 21st-century economy. In the beginning, many proclaimed...
Mastering the Art of Visual Storytelling Recap
Since the rise of Instagram and its hyper-visual scrolling feeds, visual media has become vital in a brand’s marketing strategy. Navigating the content funnel from ideation to amplification can be a big undertaking for many companies. So we decided to invite our...
An Open-Concept Office: Pros and Cons
Open-concept offices are... tricky. Startup culture has become a phenomenon to be emulated. With the rise of millennials and Gen Z entering the workplace, companies have felt the pressure to add ping pong tables and remove rigid schedules to make everyone happy. I...
Trend Better: October 2019 Trends
Happy October! Every month we research what’s going to be trending in the media and in our industry so we can brainstorm new and engaging content. Why? If you jump in and create content related to what’s trending, your posts are more likely to get more views,...
A Sit Down With The CEO
We sat down with our founder and CEO Stacey Grant to give you the inside scoop on her story, what she has learned, and things she wished she knew before becoming an entrepreneur. KF: Thank you so much for doing this with us! I want to start off with your...
How to Work From Home During Quarantine
As we're into week five of quarantine, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this working remotely 24/7 thing. I looked back at a blog article I wrote recently about working from home, and realized these tips (with a couple enhancements) are more relevant now...
The Top 3 Ingredients to a Happy Crew on Set
The atmosphere on set can make or break a production. Scroll down to skip the text and watch the video! An unhappy crew or a bad attitude can lead to unrest and lack of productivity. So much so, the way people act on set is often evident in the final product....
Branding With Purpose
Every company grounds itself in a core purpose, but many lose their way when they become too focused on short term revenue goals and too concerned with long term opportunities to scale. They forget about their key investment, finding the right customers and keeping...
World Entrepreneurs’ Day 2019
How to Channel Your Inner Entrepreneur: Celebrating World Entrepreneur Day Koi-Fly Creative Founder and CEO Stacey Grant approaches every single day with energy, enthusiasm and empathy. She cares deeply for her clients and channels her passion for production into...
Five Takeaways from the Content Marketing Forum
A couple Koi-Flyers recently attended the Content Marketing Forum, sponsored by Digiday and The Foundry, in New York City. They listened in on panels and conversed with content marketers from all over the country. Here are our top five takeaways from the forum....
Summer Internship Project Reveal | 2019
Every summer, our team invites a group of talented and deserving college students into the Koi-Fly Creative internship program. Since its inception a few years ago, the program has evolved into a highly intentional and curated ecosystem that allows for a mutually...
Congratulations to our Partners The Motherchic and Hungry Pigeon for Receiving Best of Philly
As our local readers are probably already aware, Philadelphia Magazine just debuted its annual Best of Philly list for 2019 and we’re thrilled to see our immensely talented Koi-Fly Creative partners among the celebrated bunch. Help us congratulate our 👍🏻 'd clients...
The Ultimate Lollapalooza 2019 Playlist
Missing Lollapalooza this year? Don't worry, the Koi-Fly music junkies are back with another playlist with all the artists from the lineup to make you feel like you're right in front of the stage. Apple Music or SoundCloud fans, we have you covered. Below...
Rustic Retail Photoshoot
In 2014, Meg Veno and her husband renovated a historic bank barn that was originally used as a dairy barn into what is now Life's Patina at Willowbrook Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Here one can find artistically displayed vignettes combining antiques, one...
Trend Better: August 2019 Trends
Happy August! Every month we research what’s going to be trending in the media and in our industry so we can brainstorm new and engaging content. Why? If you jump in and create content related to what’s trending, your posts are more likely to get more views,...
What Happens Behind The Scenes
Last summer the Koi-Fly team went to Okehocking Preserve in Chester County, PA, to film a national commercial, Aubio: You Are Not Alone. Organized Chaos With 40 extras and 20 crew members, coordinating everyone's availability to shoot on the same day was...
What Not to Wear on Camera
You have a photoshoot or video production coming up and it’s your first time in front of a camera. What do you wear? Dressing for an on-camera appearance can be tricky. Camera sensors work differently from the human eye; what works well in-person for makeup or...
Why I Hate The Word ‘Disrupt’
Have you played the ‘corporate speak’ game around the table with your family or friends yet? If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, it’s when everyone goes around and blurts out that one phrase that you sometimes hear on a corporate conference call that makes...
Trend Better: July 2019 Trends
Happy July!Every month we research what’s going to be trending in the media and in our industry so we can brainstorm new and engaging content. Why? If you jump in and create content related to what’s trending, your posts are more likely to get more views, likes,...
Koi-Fly Creative Welcomes Erin Versaggi, Associate Producer
As a recent graduate from Temple University, Erin Versaggi has always had a passion for storytelling. She has a love for both writing and filmmaking, which she expanded on by enrolling in Temple’s Screenwriting Program: the perfect combination. In those classes,...
The Ultimate Firefly 2019 Playlist
The Koi-Fly music junkies are back at it with another music festival playlist to keep you in that summer groove. This time around we are taking you to Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware. Although the festival takes place this weekend, we want you to be able...
The Ultimate Bonnaroo 2019 Playlist
Some music junkies at Koi-Fly decided to put together a playlist to get you into that warm, summer mood. What better way to celebrate the summer feeling than the latest music festival favorites playing in your ears? Even if you can’t make it to Bonnaroo this...
YouTube Marketing 101
Uploading videos to your brand’s YouTube page is more than just, well, uploading videos. Try to think of YouTube as a search engine and not just a place to keep video, since after all, it is the second largest search engine in the world next to Google. If you use...
Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? For the longest time, it seemed like academic excellence and business savvy were musts. However, there's been an interesting flip in the influencer and media rhetoric highlighting entrepreneurs...
Harnessing The Power of Digital Media Panel Recap
We all learned new, intriguing details from the expert panel at the Harnessing the Power of Digital Media Panel. The diverse perspectives and deep, unparalleled digital media experience of the panelists allowed moderator and Founder + CEO of Koi-Fly Creative,...
What Game of Thrones Taught Me About Leadership
"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." —Cersei Lannister *This post contains spoilers for all 8 seasons of Game of Thrones so read at your own risk. The leadership decisions made by the characters in Game of Thrones...
How to Create a Professional Self Gen Video
How to make your self generated video look not so self generated It’s a time old debate: do you create self gen videos to save some money, or don’t you because it will hurt the look of your brand? Let’s answer this for you - Do them! AND keep your...
Video Lighting 101
Lighting is by far one of the most important aspects of cinematography and needs to be learned and practiced so you can get that perfect shot. Here are some tips and insight about video lighting. Using Only Natural Light When Setting Up An Interview When you want...
Everything You Need to Know About Video Budgets
One thing we find with clients looking for video is that many are in the dark as to how to price it out. The general rule is: the higher the budget, the better you can make the final product look. Why is that, you ask? Say you come to us with a script and vision of...
5 Questions to Ask Before Drafting a Content Marketing Strategy
Creating a content marketing strategy for your company can be really in depth and it takes a lot of resources. Make sure you’re prepared by asking yourself these five questions. If you want to skip through this text, scroll down to watch the video! 1. What are your...
A Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing
When a friend and I were catching up last week about work, I mentioned that I was writing a blog post about online marketing. She smiled and nodded her head for a moment that felt like an eternity before she finally squared up to ask, “So...what actually is online...
Meet the Avengers Koi-Flyers
Just like Nick Fury, Koi-Fly's CEO Stacey Grant found and compiled a team with incredibly diverse strengths. It takes deep collaboration between our Avengers core team and our army from Wakanda of freelancers to defeat Thanos output the content we create and care...
Q+A with a Koi-Flyer: Shelly Maxwell
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I'm the Lead Marketing Strategist at Koi-Fly. My main role is to create marketing and content strategies, plan tactics, and produce content for Koi-Fly and our Clients. What’s your greatest moment — whether in work,...
Benefits of Hiring a Licensed Drone Pilot
Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more and more popular by the day for both recreational and commercial purposes. Many people are realizing the great opportunity for drones to be used in many different commercial markets. However, it’s...
How to Use IGTV to Market Your Business
Social media platforms update their products with new and exciting features frequently in order to stay on top of the latest digital trends. In an industry where novelty is the name of the game, these platforms are doing anything but wait for their users to catch...
Q+A With a Koi-Flyer: Leslie Schmidt
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I'm the Director of Content and take some sweet photos from time to time. What’s your greatest moment — whether in work, school, business, production/marketing — so far? At Koi-Fly: Hands down seeing the Infiniti pieces come to...
Marketing Internship: Koi-Fly Says a Big Thanks to Lisa Fendrick
As I am about to finish the final semester of my college career, I am sadly coming to terms with the fact that my days as a Koi-Fly Creative intern are behind me. To be perfectly honest, I am not too sure how I ended up at Koi-Fly. I am a management major at a...
The Three Stages of Production
Lazy humans want nothing more than to be able to digest new information quickly. The most effortless way to do this is by watching a video, which is why marketing companies should invest in video production services in order to deliver unique and impactful messages...
Koi-Fly Creative Welcomes Morgan Kruczek, Assistant Editor
Morgan is a graduate of Temple University where she gained her degree in Journalism. Originally, she had her heart set on a career in news and television, until she landed an internship at ASR Media Productions. Here is where she got introduced to the world of...
Which Social Media Platform is the Most Popular in the US in 2019?
Generational Considerations When considering social media trends across the United States, it’s fascinating to acknowledge that “social media” is still a relatively new concept and term. It only became a thing on the internet in 1997 with the launch of the social...
Craft Services: Dos and Don’ts for Feeding Your Crew On Set
Food. It’s the one thing that brings everyone together. And on a production set - it can make or break the whole day. The Craft Services Production Assistant is arguably the most important person on set. To make sure everything goes smoothly on your production...
How to Shatter the Glass Ceiling
A woman’s career path can often be a bumpy road and a long journey. From pay inequality to imposter syndrome, the glass ceiling continues to be an obstacle to career advancement for so many of us. We’re represented in the workforce more than ever and hold a higher...
7 Things to Learn from the Egg That Beat Kylie Jenner on Instagram
In its first photo on Instagram, the world record egg (@world_record_egg) looked so smooth that you might have accused it of using Facetune, the airbrushing app that celebrities, influencers, and “normal people” rely on to perfect their photos. This egg could have...
Digital Marketing in 2019
In the past, you and your team might have tried affiliate marketing programs, impact marketing, proximity marketing, or even search marketing. Whether you’re working with outside marketing companies or focusing your marketing in-house there is only one...
The Touchdowns and Penalties of Super Bowl 53 Commercials
Relive the Best and Worst Game Day Ads with us. Since the best part of the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever was Adam Levine’s bare chest, we decided to concentrate on consuming lots of wings and nachos and analyzing the Super Bowl commercials. We circled up the crew...
Koi-Fly Creative: A Look Back. A Path Forward.
With so much coming up for Koi-Fly Creative in 2019, looking back at 2018 feels really weird. But we’re excited to show how we’ve grown, share our new client adventures and humble brag just a little bit about the bigger moonshots we hoped for and hit. We Heard You....
How to Use White Space in your Photography
Negative space, also known as white space, in an extremely powerful tool that can be used in photography and filmmaking for marketing purposes. You may ask, “What is white space?” White space is the area surrounding your main subject of a particular shot; while its...
The Ins and Outs of Storyboarding
At Koi-Fly, storyboards are an important tool in our production process. We utilize storyboards as a visual reference for the shots needed for a commercial or web video. Before the shoot, the Director and DP can use these drawings in order to help design the...
3 Tips to Build a Team of Superstars [Learned While Riding in Cars with Dad]
When I was a kid, I’d tag along with my Dad, and watch him work while driving on many long journeys together. He was a busy entrepreneur. Everyone called him “The Whirling Dervish." When Dad would catch up on phone calls and close deals in the car, he’d be all...
How Video Can Change Your Game
We like to work with innovative companies. Brand Stewards who are brave enough to think outside the box to build brand awareness. Marketers looking for new ways to increase conversions and rally new advocates. Every day, we look for new opportunities for helping...
How to Survive the Family Interview Get Together
Thanksgiving is the most traveled season of the year, which means some of your favorite, yet potentially opinionated, family members are coming into town. We all know nothing ruins a Thanksgiving dinner more than Uncle John’s political opinions or Aunt Betty’s...
5 Tips to Get High Clicks on your Facebook Ad
Google Ads are uniform in nature and easy to place, track, and optimize. With Facebook ads, varying size templates sometimes make it more challenging to juggle headline, image, text, and options for a Call to Action. There are different placements and different...
Q+A With A Koi-Flyer: Morgan Kruczek
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? Assistant Editor What’s your greatest moment — whether in work, school, business, production/marketing — so far? Getting into Temple and living on my own in Philly for those 4 years Who do you love to follow on...
Q+A with a Koi-Flyer: Dave Bisson
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I am Director of Production at Koi-Fly Creative. I supervise budgets/Logistics for our shoots. I also occasionally draw storyboards. What’s your greatest moment — whether in work, school, business, production/marketing —...
Make A Connection with Custom Content
It’s time to treat our consumers like people, not like Sims characters. It’s important we think about a customer’s daily journey and essential needs and what we can do to make them feel special, and heard. When companies use terms like users and avatars to describe...
Ride the Email Wave But Don’t Let it Drag You Under
What happened to the good old days, when we actually got up and talked to each other? Used the telephone? Wrote letters to people with pens in our hands? Recently, I polled the team at Koi-Fly Creative on our email use. We spend 5 hours every day reading and...
Q + A with a Koi-Flyer: Stacey Grant
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I am the head cheerleader here. I make sure the plants are watered and the pillows are fluffed. And I hustle as much as I can to bring in business for us to sink our creative teeth into. I also love, love to decorate a set....
Learning from the Best
A Koi-Fly Intern Interview with Chris Logan Harley, DP As an intern at Koi-Fly Creative, I’ve had the opportunity to assist with all aspects of production. This internship has allowed me to grow both creatively and professionally, with mentors encouraging me to...
Branded Content Done Right, Feels Right
It’s often hard to let go of that laser-focused content marketing mindset, the one where you agonize over a specific segment of your target audience and evaluate all of the pain points you could alleviate if they just considered an interaction with your brand. By...
How Influencers Can Talk Your Talk
We used to turn to friends or family for everything. From researching vacation ideas to the latest fashion trends for spring, we’d look to others for recommendations and trust an endorsement from our inner circle more than anything. But these days, we’ve come to...
Spreading The Word Through Viral Content
When planning out a content strategy for the year, a marketer looks for ways to drive interest in their brand, and hopes for opportunities to make an impact that can drive reach, frequency, and impressions. If that content is shareable, then all the better. Viral...
10 Tips for Targeting Gen Z
Millennials, move aside. Gen Z’ers are coming in HOT. You can call them Generation Z, Plurals, or iGen, and their power is undeniable. Those born from the mid-‘90s through 2010 or so (no one can agree on this stuff) are incredibly competent, self-aware, and in tune...
10 Things Marketers Can Learn from Recipe Videos
Facebook called. Recipe videos are still a thing. This is particularly interesting because the popularity of recipe videos (specifically Buzzfeed Tasty) peaked over 3 years ago (that’s like 300 internet years). Even today, Tasty videos typically get over 1 billion...
3 Huge Secrets to Food Styling
Ice Cream I scream, you scream, we all scream when a client wants us to film frozen products for video or tv commercials. How the heck will we be able to keep ice cream frozen and looking fresh for a grueling 10-12 hour shoot? And for everyday use – how can you...
Favs + Fumbles of Super Bowl 52
Relive the Best and Worst Game Day Ads This may or may not have been the first year the majority of our native Philadelphians in the office watched the Super Bowl for more than just the commercials. And we couldn’t be happier. But since we’re a content studio...
The Power of Koi Fish
June is here. Finally. The smell of fresh cut grass. The birds chirping. The sun shining. It’s bliss. Also with June comes Father’s Day, an opportunity to celebrate all the dads who have helped to shape our lives. And a sad day for those of us who miss that guy,...
How to Connect to Your Newest Customers: Gen-Z
Millennials turning old school When we hear the word “millennial,” plenty of images come to mind. There’s Mark Zuckerberg, running one of the biggest companies in the world, in his hoodie, with his first billion dollars in his pocket by age 23. There’s Miley Cyrus,...
World Emoji Day and the Power of Tiny Pictures
The beautiful thing about stories is they can be told in multiple ways. Whether it’s by written word, by mouth, or even by pictures, stories have a way of bringing people together. In this digital and technological age, stories can even be told through emojis!...
Aerial Video Takes Brands to New Heights
Any company can enhance their appeal by using aerial video to connect with customers. Content from new heights is always eye-catching and attention-grabbing and provides us with an ability to connect with people through a birds-eye lens that’s often unparalleled....
Top List of Binge-Worthy Drone Videos
For all you drone nerds out there… we hear you. Bingeing drone videos to avoid tasks that have been on your to-do list for weeks is normal. And we want to support you in any way we can. Enjoy. Beautiful sweeping views and sound design. Be ready to be mesmerized by...
Why Working Moms Are Always a Bit Nauseous.
By Stacey Grant, President and Executive Producer My routine is waking up between 4:30 and 5am each morning and sneaking downstairs before anyone else is awake in the house. I start the coffee, click on the TV news and sit at the kitchen island. I crack open my...
S**t Gets Real: Top 5 Takeaways from Real Screen 2016
Pax Tandon, Talent & Business Development 1. Pitch a strike In a dog-eat-dog world where traditional television and multi-channel networks (organizations that work with digital platforms and their stars to help them monetize in exchange for a share of revenue)...
5 Key Takeaways from Intelligent Content Conference
Shelly Maxwell, Project Manager & Communication Strategist When you come back from a conference, you spend a lot of time talking with your co-workers about the sessions you attended, the network you made, and how good the food was. It’s really easy to...
Mind Games: Mindfulness as Part of a Company’s Foundation
Pax Tandon, Talent & Business Development Mindfulness is like gaming; it requires dedicated hours of practice to reach new levels of achievement. And once you taste the sweetness of the prize, you keep coming back for more. Think of it as a craft of the mind...
The 5 Principles to ‘Start-Up’ A Legacy
Koi-Fly was conceived in the memory of two men who were thinkers, drivers and successful business people. My dad, Wally Grant, was born into a lower middle-class family on the North Shore of Massachusetts. His hobby was running to school, books on his back, timing...
How Online Buyers Are Moved to Buy
Hi. Meet me, Amy. Hard Worker, Online Shopper, and Mother of 4 rambunctious girls between the ages of 16 and 5. I am from Generation X. That means I have skills. I know how to use the Dewey Decimal system to look up a book and then rapidly download said book to my...
The Morning Cast #1 | Molly, First Year Nurse
COVID-19 Through the Eyes of a First-Year Nurse As a first-year nurse in the intensive care unit, Molly never would’ve guessed she’d be in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. She cares for the...
5 Content Ideas Realtors Need NOW
If you’re involved with corporate or residential real estate, I don’t have to tell you it’s been a little tougher remaining visible and viable during quarantine. With today’s challenges, realtors...
Zoom Tips and Tricks
‘I’m gonna Zoom Zoom Zoom-a Zoom…” Anyone old enough to remember that theme song from an old PBS show called Zoom? Well today it would be completely apropo! Because everyone is Zooming....
How to Promote Your Message of Leadership Today and Every Day
As a leader, you need to have a platform. It is important to get your messages of hope and support to your community. How do you get them out there when you can't gather your group in person?...
16 Books to Get Lost In
Reading reduces stress, motivates and inspires, and allows your mind to drift into a different reality. Pour yourself a cup of tea, curl up on the couch, and check out the Koi-Fly team's diverse...
From Independent Living to Childhood Bedroom in One Pandemic
The day finally came. Your first job secured, a new city to explore, an apartment to make your own, and no more worrying about college exams. The start of your next chapter called Independence...
How Content is Changing Forever
These are undeniably weird times. In a matter of two weeks, life as we knew it changed. While the world is adjusting to an unsettling new “normal,” we’re also witnessing a new era of human...
Don’t Cancel Your Event – Broadcast Live
You spent weeks working to create an amazing workshop or town hall. You’ve spent months perfecting an event to launch a product and get important messaging out to your customers. All that hard...
Koi-Fly Live Stream Is Here!
In light of increased travel restrictions and social distancing, many folks are quickly pivoting from in-person experiences to online events — some for the very first time. We’ve been getting a...
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Remote Working
Hi, it’s me, Dave. I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been a fan of working remotely. It’s possible that this is because, until recently, it was never really an option for me. I worked for years in...
The Binge List: 15 Movies and Shows to Watch
Being quarantined for a few weeks during the coronavirus pandemic has its ups and downs. Let's focus on the good things today - like bingeing any show or movie you want. We've been recommending...
Using Optimism to Manage Change
Just three weeks ago everything seemed fairly normal. Some people thought stories of a rampantly spreading, contagious virus arriving here from China was just a scheme by the media with a...
Your Business During the Coronavirus: Get Ready, Stay Ready
Our world is buzzing with ever changing news about coronavirus. With updates by the hour, businesses are looking for ways to thrive and even prosper despite suspicions of a global pandemic....
Winter vs. Summer Video Production: What to Expect
We’ve taught you the intricacies of keeping your crew happy and healthy on set (refer to *this Dash*). Now, it’s time to talk a bit about the differences between shooting in the winter versus...
Super Bowl Commercials 2020: Favs and Fumbles
Top Trending There are always a few Super Bowl ads that catch our eye. Some because of the pure creativity, and others because it gives us all the feels. Check out our top Super Bowl commercials...
2019: Looking Back to Move Forward
For the team at Koi-Fly Creative, 2019 was full of growth and gratitude. As we sat down and reflected on the past year (and decade!), we realized how proud we should be of all of our...
What to Expect From a Rough Cut
Sometimes our clients aren’t sure what to expect when they receive a rough cut. They can be overwhelmed with information, thoughts, questions, or ideas. We hear ya! And we want to make sure that...
Behind The Project: Vertical Video X Live Life Nice
Hey! Morgan here, Editor at Koi-Fly Creative. I'm here to talk to you about the newest, biggest trend in content creation - vertical video - and how I edited a recent project for Christian...
My Night on the Street
On November 21, 2019 Koi-Fly CEO Stacey Grant participated in Covenant House's Annual Sleep Out on the streets of Philadelphia. This is her experience. ------------ The Night Before I was in...
Holiday Recipes: Cocktails
Ring in the new year with your favorite new cocktail. Scroll down to see how to make some of our favorites! If you give any of these a spin, take a photo and tag us so we can see your beautiful...
Holiday Recipes: Cookies
No matter what you celebrate this holiday season, baking cookies is a beautiful way to spend time with family and friends. Check out our favorite cookie, brownie, and bar recipes from us to you!...
Why I’m Proud to Work for a Woman Owned Business
There are many things I’m grateful for in life: my supportive husband, a sturdy roof over my head and a bed to sleep in every night, to name a few. But there’s one element in my life that I am...
Koi-Fly Creative Launches Fresh Filmmakers
KOI-FLY CREATIVE LAUNCHES FRESH FILMMAKERS Acclaimed production company partners with Chester County Futures and Covenant House to empower and inspire the next generation of filmmakers WEST...
Koi-Fly News: CEO Wins Business Owner Award
STACEY GRANT WINS NAWBO’S 2019 WOMEN BUSINESS OWNER AWARD The founder and CEO of acclaimed production agency, Koi-Fly Creative, receives the Woman Business Owner award from NAWBO Philadelphia...
STEM vs. STEAM: Where does Marketing and Production Fit?
Happy National STEM/STEAM Day! The STEM to STEAM movement has been building roots in our education system for the past few years and is showing to be a positive campaign to shift education for...
Mastering the Art of Visual Storytelling Recap
Since the rise of Instagram and its hyper-visual scrolling feeds, visual media has become vital in a brand’s marketing strategy. Navigating the content funnel from ideation to amplification can...
An Open-Concept Office: Pros and Cons
Open-concept offices are... tricky. Startup culture has become a phenomenon to be emulated. With the rise of millennials and Gen Z entering the workplace, companies have felt the pressure to add...
Trend Better: October 2019 Trends
Happy October! Every month we research what’s going to be trending in the media and in our industry so we can brainstorm new and engaging content. Why? If you jump in and create content related...
A Sit Down With The CEO
We sat down with our founder and CEO Stacey Grant to give you the inside scoop on her story, what she has learned, and things she wished she knew before becoming an entrepreneur. KF: Thank...
How to Work From Home During Quarantine
As we're into week five of quarantine, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this working remotely 24/7 thing. I looked back at a blog article I wrote recently about working from home, and...
The Top 3 Ingredients to a Happy Crew on Set
The atmosphere on set can make or break a production. Scroll down to skip the text and watch the video! An unhappy crew or a bad attitude can lead to unrest and lack of productivity. So much so,...
Branding With Purpose
Every company grounds itself in a core purpose, but many lose their way when they become too focused on short term revenue goals and too concerned with long term opportunities to scale. They...
World Entrepreneurs’ Day 2019
How to Channel Your Inner Entrepreneur: Celebrating World Entrepreneur Day Koi-Fly Creative Founder and CEO Stacey Grant approaches every single day with energy, enthusiasm and empathy. She cares...
Five Takeaways from the Content Marketing Forum
A couple Koi-Flyers recently attended the Content Marketing Forum, sponsored by Digiday and The Foundry, in New York City. They listened in on panels and conversed with content marketers from all...
Summer Internship Project Reveal | 2019
Every summer, our team invites a group of talented and deserving college students into the Koi-Fly Creative internship program. Since its inception a few years ago, the program has evolved into a...
Congratulations to our Partners The Motherchic and Hungry Pigeon for Receiving Best of Philly
As our local readers are probably already aware, Philadelphia Magazine just debuted its annual Best of Philly list for 2019 and we’re thrilled to see our immensely talented Koi-Fly Creative...
The Ultimate Lollapalooza 2019 Playlist
Missing Lollapalooza this year? Don't worry, the Koi-Fly music junkies are back with another playlist with all the artists from the lineup to make you feel like you're right in front of the...
Rustic Retail Photoshoot
In 2014, Meg Veno and her husband renovated a historic bank barn that was originally used as a dairy barn into what is now Life's Patina at Willowbrook Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Here...
Trend Better: August 2019 Trends
Happy August! Every month we research what’s going to be trending in the media and in our industry so we can brainstorm new and engaging content. Why? If you jump in and create content related...
What Happens Behind The Scenes
Last summer the Koi-Fly team went to Okehocking Preserve in Chester County, PA, to film a national commercial, Aubio: You Are Not Alone. Organized Chaos With 40 extras and 20 crew members,...
What Not to Wear on Camera
You have a photoshoot or video production coming up and it’s your first time in front of a camera. What do you wear? Dressing for an on-camera appearance can be tricky. Camera sensors work...
Why I Hate The Word ‘Disrupt’
Have you played the ‘corporate speak’ game around the table with your family or friends yet? If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, it’s when everyone goes around and blurts out that one...
Trend Better: July 2019 Trends
Happy July!Every month we research what’s going to be trending in the media and in our industry so we can brainstorm new and engaging content. Why? If you jump in and create content related to...
Koi-Fly Creative Welcomes Erin Versaggi, Associate Producer
As a recent graduate from Temple University, Erin Versaggi has always had a passion for storytelling. She has a love for both writing and filmmaking, which she expanded on by enrolling in...
The Ultimate Firefly 2019 Playlist
The Koi-Fly music junkies are back at it with another music festival playlist to keep you in that summer groove. This time around we are taking you to Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware....
The Ultimate Bonnaroo 2019 Playlist
Some music junkies at Koi-Fly decided to put together a playlist to get you into that warm, summer mood. What better way to celebrate the summer feeling than the latest music festival favorites...
YouTube Marketing 101
Uploading videos to your brand’s YouTube page is more than just, well, uploading videos. Try to think of YouTube as a search engine and not just a place to keep video, since after all, it is the...
Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? For the longest time, it seemed like academic excellence and business savvy were musts. However, there's been an interesting...
Harnessing The Power of Digital Media Panel Recap
We all learned new, intriguing details from the expert panel at the Harnessing the Power of Digital Media Panel. The diverse perspectives and deep, unparalleled digital media experience of the...
What Game of Thrones Taught Me About Leadership
"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." —Cersei Lannister *This post contains spoilers for all 8 seasons of Game of Thrones so read at your own risk....
How to Create a Professional Self Gen Video
How to make your self generated video look not so self generated It’s a time old debate: do you create self gen videos to save some money, or don’t you because it will hurt the look of...
Video Lighting 101
Lighting is by far one of the most important aspects of cinematography and needs to be learned and practiced so you can get that perfect shot. Here are some tips and insight about video lighting....
Everything You Need to Know About Video Budgets
One thing we find with clients looking for video is that many are in the dark as to how to price it out. The general rule is: the higher the budget, the better you can make the final product...
5 Questions to Ask Before Drafting a Content Marketing Strategy
Creating a content marketing strategy for your company can be really in depth and it takes a lot of resources. Make sure you’re prepared by asking yourself these five questions. If you want to...
A Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing
When a friend and I were catching up last week about work, I mentioned that I was writing a blog post about online marketing. She smiled and nodded her head for a moment that felt like an...
Meet the Avengers Koi-Flyers
Just like Nick Fury, Koi-Fly's CEO Stacey Grant found and compiled a team with incredibly diverse strengths. It takes deep collaboration between our Avengers core team and our army from Wakanda ...
Q+A with a Koi-Flyer: Shelly Maxwell
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I'm the Lead Marketing Strategist at Koi-Fly. My main role is to create marketing and content strategies, plan tactics, and produce content for Koi-Fly and our...
Benefits of Hiring a Licensed Drone Pilot
Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more and more popular by the day for both recreational and commercial purposes. Many people are realizing the great opportunity for drones...
How to Use IGTV to Market Your Business
Social media platforms update their products with new and exciting features frequently in order to stay on top of the latest digital trends. In an industry where novelty is the name of the game,...
Q+A With a Koi-Flyer: Leslie Schmidt
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I'm the Director of Content and take some sweet photos from time to time. What’s your greatest moment — whether in work, school, business, production/marketing...
Marketing Internship: Koi-Fly Says a Big Thanks to Lisa Fendrick
As I am about to finish the final semester of my college career, I am sadly coming to terms with the fact that my days as a Koi-Fly Creative intern are behind me. To be perfectly honest, I am not...
The Three Stages of Production
Lazy humans want nothing more than to be able to digest new information quickly. The most effortless way to do this is by watching a video, which is why marketing companies should invest in video...
Koi-Fly Creative Welcomes Morgan Kruczek, Assistant Editor
Morgan is a graduate of Temple University where she gained her degree in Journalism. Originally, she had her heart set on a career in news and television, until she landed an internship at ASR...
Which Social Media Platform is the Most Popular in the US in 2019?
Generational Considerations When considering social media trends across the United States, it’s fascinating to acknowledge that “social media” is still a relatively new concept and term. It only...
Craft Services: Dos and Don’ts for Feeding Your Crew On Set
Food. It’s the one thing that brings everyone together. And on a production set - it can make or break the whole day. The Craft Services Production Assistant is arguably the most important person...
How to Shatter the Glass Ceiling
A woman’s career path can often be a bumpy road and a long journey. From pay inequality to imposter syndrome, the glass ceiling continues to be an obstacle to career advancement for so many of...
7 Things to Learn from the Egg That Beat Kylie Jenner on Instagram
In its first photo on Instagram, the world record egg (@world_record_egg) looked so smooth that you might have accused it of using Facetune, the airbrushing app that celebrities, influencers, and...
Digital Marketing in 2019
In the past, you and your team might have tried affiliate marketing programs, impact marketing, proximity marketing, or even search marketing. Whether you’re working with outside marketing...
The Touchdowns and Penalties of Super Bowl 53 Commercials
Relive the Best and Worst Game Day Ads with us. Since the best part of the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever was Adam Levine’s bare chest, we decided to concentrate on consuming lots of wings and...
Koi-Fly Creative: A Look Back. A Path Forward.
With so much coming up for Koi-Fly Creative in 2019, looking back at 2018 feels really weird. But we’re excited to show how we’ve grown, share our new client adventures and humble brag just a...
How to Use White Space in your Photography
Negative space, also known as white space, in an extremely powerful tool that can be used in photography and filmmaking for marketing purposes. You may ask, “What is white space?” White space is...
The Ins and Outs of Storyboarding
At Koi-Fly, storyboards are an important tool in our production process. We utilize storyboards as a visual reference for the shots needed for a commercial or web video. Before the shoot, the...
3 Tips to Build a Team of Superstars [Learned While Riding in Cars with Dad]
When I was a kid, I’d tag along with my Dad, and watch him work while driving on many long journeys together. He was a busy entrepreneur. Everyone called him “The Whirling Dervish." When Dad...
How Video Can Change Your Game
We like to work with innovative companies. Brand Stewards who are brave enough to think outside the box to build brand awareness. Marketers looking for new ways to increase conversions and rally...
How to Survive the Family Interview Get Together
Thanksgiving is the most traveled season of the year, which means some of your favorite, yet potentially opinionated, family members are coming into town. We all know nothing ruins a Thanksgiving...
5 Tips to Get High Clicks on your Facebook Ad
Google Ads are uniform in nature and easy to place, track, and optimize. With Facebook ads, varying size templates sometimes make it more challenging to juggle headline, image, text, and options...
Q+A With A Koi-Flyer: Morgan Kruczek
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? Assistant Editor What’s your greatest moment — whether in work, school, business, production/marketing — so far? Getting into Temple and living on my...
Q+A with a Koi-Flyer: Dave Bisson
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I am Director of Production at Koi-Fly Creative. I supervise budgets/Logistics for our shoots. I also occasionally draw storyboards. What’s your...
Make A Connection with Custom Content
It’s time to treat our consumers like people, not like Sims characters. It’s important we think about a customer’s daily journey and essential needs and what we can do to make them feel special,...
Ride the Email Wave But Don’t Let it Drag You Under
What happened to the good old days, when we actually got up and talked to each other? Used the telephone? Wrote letters to people with pens in our hands? Recently, I polled the team at Koi-Fly...
Q + A with a Koi-Flyer: Stacey Grant
What do you do at Koi-Fly Creative? I am the head cheerleader here. I make sure the plants are watered and the pillows are fluffed. And I hustle as much as I can to bring in business for us to...
Learning from the Best
A Koi-Fly Intern Interview with Chris Logan Harley, DP As an intern at Koi-Fly Creative, I’ve had the opportunity to assist with all aspects of production. This internship has allowed me to grow...
Branded Content Done Right, Feels Right
It’s often hard to let go of that laser-focused content marketing mindset, the one where you agonize over a specific segment of your target audience and evaluate all of the pain points you could...
How Influencers Can Talk Your Talk
We used to turn to friends or family for everything. From researching vacation ideas to the latest fashion trends for spring, we’d look to others for recommendations and trust an endorsement from...
Spreading The Word Through Viral Content
When planning out a content strategy for the year, a marketer looks for ways to drive interest in their brand, and hopes for opportunities to make an impact that can drive reach, frequency, and...
10 Tips for Targeting Gen Z
Millennials, move aside. Gen Z’ers are coming in HOT. You can call them Generation Z, Plurals, or iGen, and their power is undeniable. Those born from the mid-‘90s through 2010 or so (no one can...
10 Things Marketers Can Learn from Recipe Videos
Facebook called. Recipe videos are still a thing. This is particularly interesting because the popularity of recipe videos (specifically Buzzfeed Tasty) peaked over 3 years ago (that’s like 300...
3 Huge Secrets to Food Styling
Ice Cream I scream, you scream, we all scream when a client wants us to film frozen products for video or tv commercials. How the heck will we be able to keep ice cream frozen and looking fresh...
Favs + Fumbles of Super Bowl 52
Relive the Best and Worst Game Day Ads This may or may not have been the first year the majority of our native Philadelphians in the office watched the Super Bowl for more than just the...
The Power of Koi Fish
June is here. Finally. The smell of fresh cut grass. The birds chirping. The sun shining. It’s bliss. Also with June comes Father’s Day, an opportunity to celebrate all the dads who have helped...
How to Connect to Your Newest Customers: Gen-Z
Millennials turning old school When we hear the word “millennial,” plenty of images come to mind. There’s Mark Zuckerberg, running one of the biggest companies in the world, in his hoodie, with...
World Emoji Day and the Power of Tiny Pictures
The beautiful thing about stories is they can be told in multiple ways. Whether it’s by written word, by mouth, or even by pictures, stories have a way of bringing people together. In this...
Aerial Video Takes Brands to New Heights
Any company can enhance their appeal by using aerial video to connect with customers. Content from new heights is always eye-catching and attention-grabbing and provides us with an ability to...
Top List of Binge-Worthy Drone Videos
For all you drone nerds out there… we hear you. Bingeing drone videos to avoid tasks that have been on your to-do list for weeks is normal. And we want to support you in any way we can. Enjoy....
Why Working Moms Are Always a Bit Nauseous.
By Stacey Grant, President and Executive Producer My routine is waking up between 4:30 and 5am each morning and sneaking downstairs before anyone else is awake in the house. I start the coffee,...
S**t Gets Real: Top 5 Takeaways from Real Screen 2016
Pax Tandon, Talent & Business Development 1. Pitch a strike In a dog-eat-dog world where traditional television and multi-channel networks (organizations that work with digital platforms and...
5 Key Takeaways from Intelligent Content Conference
Shelly Maxwell, Project Manager & Communication Strategist When you come back from a conference, you spend a lot of time talking with your co-workers about the sessions you attended,...
Mind Games: Mindfulness as Part of a Company’s Foundation
Pax Tandon, Talent & Business Development Mindfulness is like gaming; it requires dedicated hours of practice to reach new levels of achievement. And once you taste the sweetness of the...
The 5 Principles to ‘Start-Up’ A Legacy
Koi-Fly was conceived in the memory of two men who were thinkers, drivers and successful business people. My dad, Wally Grant, was born into a lower middle-class family on the North Shore of...
How Online Buyers Are Moved to Buy
Hi. Meet me, Amy. Hard Worker, Online Shopper, and Mother of 4 rambunctious girls between the ages of 16 and 5. I am from Generation X. That means I have skills. I know how to use the Dewey...