{
CURRENT YEAR
} Annual Report
DAILY BATTLE AGAINST POOR VISUALS KEVIN BRUSIE PHOTOGRAPHY
Let the battle begin
"These are not just a bunch of pretty colors, lines and patterns, but instrumental custom printer marks designed to show how precise the CMYK inks are printing. If these things don’t line up perfectly, then all these beautiful images that you are about to see will look like crap. Something the designer and photographer are sweating bullets over. And, if you can actually read this mouse type you have either super-human eyesight or are under the age of forty. Kudos. Blurb, don’t let me down." — The Designer
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CONTENTS The Beginning
Assignment Highlights
Art + Personal Work
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President’s Letter
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Company History
The Trust for Public Land Knights Pond
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IDEXX Animals + Humans BioResearch + Science
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MaineHealth
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Maine Tourism
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Corporate
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Editorial
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Deflating Objects
100 B&W Street Photos 110
Film Festivals
Giving Back
Past, Present + Future
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126 The Numbers
The Cathedral School
120 Cancer Community Center
130 Board of Directors 131
Executive Committee
133 Strategy for Growth "Next Year"
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President’s Letter
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Company History
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T B G N
THE BEGINNING 7
The President’s Letter Thank you for taking the time to review our Current Year Annual Report. The management team & staff here at Kevin Brusie Photography are committed to the joint goals of shareholder Return On Investment, with generous dividends, as well as the Daily Battle Against Poor Visuals . What does that really mean? We will make great photos & videos for your business, in return for fair compensation, so our dog can eat organic kibble, while we continue to drop sinful amounts of money on digital gadgets that become obsolete 42 seconds after the final payment has cleared. TM
Let me address an important detail about this publication to keep my email box from being inundated by our many astute readers who will, undoubtedly, notice that this Annual Report, is in fact, not dated. Our dearest shareholder... is it not in your best interest to keep ancillary costs to a minimum, thus providing the highest possible ROI? And as all good Twenty First Century Bean Counters will readily acknowledge, advertising and marketing are the folly of fools. Therefore, by simply titling this high cost glossy overly adorned publication [Why isn’t this on newsprint? Single color? Hello? And all these photos?!? Someone call the Production Manager] the (Current Year) annual report, whenever you happen to pick it up, will indeed, be current! We are very proud to be spearheading the (Current Year) movement in financial reporting. It may just be the best idea since the Pet Rock. Luckily, we don’t have to answer to the SEC. We would also like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks and gratitude for the many long standing clients, as well as new ones, and hey, even folks we haven’t seen in a while and we would love to work with again (you know who you are...) For all of you: We are SO grateful for the trust you place in us to create beautiful and functional still & motion images. We love what we do, and we trust our passion will transfer to the work we provide for you. You may be asking: what is this "Royal We"? Many of you who work with Kevin Brusie Photography know of just one human... Kevin Brusie. Well, when the scale of the production increases, there is a correlating increase in the # of we. It may be my life & business partner Sharyn Paul Brusie, who is often involved in the motion side as director and/or editor. It may be one or more of the
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reliable and talented freelance specialist that are brought to task as the scope increases: assistants; stylists; graphics professionals; animators; musicians; sound techs; grips; gaffers; second camera; producers... etc... and often one person will be alongside wearing at least two to three of those hats. Finally, congratulations if you are still reading and made your way down here. Or maybe you just skimmed the whole page and settled in on the word finally, thinking "Finally, this guy has stopped yapping..." No. Such. Luck. May the AR yapping continue...
All the Best,
Kevin Brusie EVP, CFO, DoP, Producer, CIO, IT...
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Company History Back in 1973, I was introduced to the ‘darkroom’ by my then girlfriend. It was her older brother’s, and we quickly realized we could use the need for darkness to our hormone fueled advantage. It was there and then I became enthralled with the magic of the darkroom. Photography was interesting to me too, to a lesser degree. In 1976, while in High School in Brooklyn, NY, I had the transitional moment. I printed a photograph I had taken, and when I viewed it... I felt. Emotions. Wow. A photograph could become an outlet for emotions? It could serve as a way to share these emotions with others? The hook was set. Fast forward to... November of 1990, and I hung up my cheap pinstripe suit, leaving behind the relative stability of my [accidental] career in international banking. The cameras which had been my hobby for so many years, where now asked to provide joy AND income. So now, many, many, shutter clicks later, the darkroom is a fond memory. Silver Halide is history. The workstation rules. Picture elements (Pixels!) are the alphabet of imagery. Image creation, both still & motion, has been a great friend and companion. Over the course of all these 25+ years, I learned quickly to never try to lead the journey. The process of creating leads me. As I write this out now, I can only predict what the next few assignments on the books will look like. Wait, no, I can’t. I have a notion of what I will create. And occasionally, my pre-visualization is spot on. Most of the time, the results of any photographic outing are exploratory and educational, resulting in some wonderful new image I never could have imagined from the cocoon of the preproduction meeting. The magic of watching the image appear on the blank paper as it floats in the red glow of the safelight is still present. It manifests differently, the nuances more subtle. The emotions evoked from a 2 dimensional image still amaze & motivate me. The motivation of this Annual Report? Not the SEC, gratefully, but my never ending desire to share my images. Lucky you.
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The Trust for Public Land Knights Pond
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IDEXX Animals + Humans BioResearch + Science
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MaineHealth
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Maine Tourism
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Corporate
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Editorial
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A S M H L
ASSIGNMENT HIGHLIGHTS 13
The Trust For Public Land, San Francisco — "The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. We work to ensure that everyone has access to nature within a 10-minute walk from home." That’s off their website. Cool concept. Great mission. I was asked to photograph a parcel of land in Cumberland Maine which was a joint project of TPL, and local groups. The idea was not just to show the beauty of this small parcel of land, located in an area rapidly being populated with housing developments, but the local residents enjoying it. After 4 hours or so of me, my camera, and a group of volunteer models, I created a great library of images for them. These are a couple of my favorites.
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“Go ahead, kiss him!”
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IDEXX Laboratories — They have been a long standing client. The work has ranged from stills for Annual Reports, advertising & collateral to training videos, HR videos, corporate videos... And, I was honored to have the work I produced for them win Gold Stevie Awards in... 2012, 2013 & 2015. I’m pretty sure there were some Silver and Bronze awards over the years too, but I can’t keep track. I just have the gold (plated) statues in my office to keep score.
This first selection of images is based on their corporate mission statement, which wraps with "...enhancing the health and well-being of pets, people, and livestock." With that being said, I photograph a shitload of... you guessed it — pets, people, and livestock. Moo.
Not sure what that means? Go check out www.stevieawards.com
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“They call me Kitty Red Claws but that’s all in the past”
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IDEXX, Part Deux — The next grouping is more of the science side of the client. BioResearch, Columbia Missouri.... Mice — stills and video, tight timeframe, shooting during the day, processing at night to send out for a trade show booth being constructed for use in Germany the next week. A Reference Lab in Memphis, where most of the important work happens at 3 a.m. We get the shots wherever & whenever we need.
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“Blinking is for rookies”
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MaineHealth — Another long standing client, is MaineHealth. Each year, in early summer, I set out on a road trip to cover the dozen or so member organizations around the state of Maine, and a bit of New Hampshire. The objective is to photograph a story that represents the ways the organization provides a benefit to the community, beyond the obvious ‘my insurance paid for it’ medical care. The book is called the Community Benefit Report. These are not your typical healthcare photo shoots. The stories take place in small rural clinics or homes of those who are in financial need. Perhaps in the office of a diabetes councilor or a community dental clinic. We are not talking (usually) about shooting in the newest brightly lit medical facility, so these can be challenging given the environment.
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The flip side is that the subjects are always grateful. If it is those giving the care, they are grateful to be recognized, and having their story told, in the hopes it might help even one other person. For the recipients, they are usually on the up side of some health crisis, and are deeply appreciative for the assistance and care they have received. The careful attention to the color balance of these lights, along with the best in fast prime glass on the latest digital SLR, enables me to come away with beautiful imagery in these often gloomy surroundings.
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“It’s never just a walk in the woods”
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Maine Tourism — Serving in roles from DoP (video) to still photographer, to executive producer, and all of the aforementioned at once [insert SF/X of head exploding here], this was a wonderful project. Collaborating with BVK out of Milwaukee, who created extraordinary materials from the visuals, the project focused on one geographic area & a "Maine Insider" for each shoot. Long shoot days, starting before the sun till after it set by an hour or two, then off to download and review the footage. We were working with a great crew, joyous cooperative subjects, and the best scenery in the world. There’s a reason this Brooklyn Boy is living in self-imposed exile in Maine.
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Washburn
Wallagrass
Game Warden Skiing Lumberjack Dead River Climate Change Kingfield Canadian Quartz Islands Outlook LimerickMulch Chesterville Salmon Spruce Willow Valley alley Lodge Lumber License Global Warming Heaven Littleton Eustis Spring Campfire Protection Morning Dew Cape Elizabeth Trout The Co Moosehead Lake
Picturesq Boots
New England Covered Bridge aldoboro estport Postcard
Rangeley
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“Enter at the risk of being wrong”
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tixE“ ksir eht ta gnieb fo ”t h g i r
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Corporate — This is a catch all category, for all sorts of stuff. Law Firms, Financial Management, Banks, Insurance Companies, etc... folks nicely dressed, sitting in offices & cubicles, partaking in meetings discussing subjects of much gravitas. The Chief of Something, conveying a sense of confidence & approachability in the executive portrait. For a long time this has been my specialty. I have seen the needs of my clients change over the years, from the highly lit & produced executive portrait (which still has its place) to the loose and more productive ‘corporate journalism’ style. My secret is to listen to the client needs, and customize the approach to maximize their investment. Wow. That almost sounds like legitimate Annual Report language. Forgive me.
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WARNING AS YOU WILL SEE THE FOLLOWING IMAGES AND SPREADS HAVE BEEN ROTATED 90 DEGREES TO ACCOMMODATE THE SUBJECT MATTER AND LEVERAGE VISUAL COMPOSITION AS RECOMMENDED BY THE DESIGNER ON THIS PROJECT. THERE WAS MUCH DEBATE AND FESTIVE DISCUSSIONS OVER THE VALUE OF A VERTICAL VS. HORIZONTAL ORIENTATION WITH THE EXECUTIVE TEAM, MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION, R&D, OPERATIONS, IT, HR AND THE CEO’S 8-YEAR OLD DOG. PLEASE ROTATE THESE PAGES FOR OPTIMAL VIEWING — THANK YOU.
90°
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DUE TO CLIENT PERSUASION, INDECISION AND THE SIMPLE FACT THE CORPORATE LEGAL TEAM THREATENED TO TAKE ACTION, THE CREATIVE TEAM HAS DECIDED TO *#@&!/? REVERT BACK TO A MORE TRADITIONAL VERTICAL FORMAT — AS YOU WERE.
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Editorial — Yes, magazines. They still exist, or so I’m told by the folks who hire me. I read most of mine on that glass slab called an iPad. While these assignments are typically at the low end of the pay spectrum, have no fear trusty shareholder, they have payoffs in more ways than the bottom line. First, I can usually set the schedule, within reason. So when my corporate clients come calling, they can get priority. Second, I have creative freedom to do what I like, again, within reason. The most common request: "PLEASE leave me room for my copy block!" Words? Really? Well, if you insist... Most of the time there is no client on set, just me and the subject, and a van full of gear. Assistants are always desirable, but often not feasible due to budget limitations.
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“What say’st thou to me now? Speak once again.”
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"I am so happy that this image made it. Why you ask? Because I love lobster, but more importantly I needed 2 additional pages at the last minute in final production to make sure the page count was divisible by 4. Once we broke 84 pages, I lost track." — The Designer
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This photo shoot is unique for me due to the timing. I had been at my father’s funeral in NYC, and that evening drove up to Gilford, NH for this sunrise shoot at Gunstock Mountain. The client was Brand USA, which bills itself as a public private partnership with the mission of promoting international travel to the U.S. I was to spend the day following a group of U.K. Travel Agents who were getting introduced to the Natural Northeast. First stop: ziplining from the summit of Gunstock Mountain Ski Resort to the base lodge. Total distance: 1.6 miles. Top speed 70+ mph. Oh, and I have to do it with one hand. You see, I have to ‘zip’ parallel to a selected guest so I can keep her in frame as we fly down the mountain. Did I mention I couldn’t find a Starbucks that morning? Gratefully, the last stop of the day was the Von Trapp Family Lodge & Brewery in Stowe Vermont. Beer.
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ELEVATION: 2,267 feet above sea level LONGEST ZIPLINE: 3,981 feet TOTAL LENGTH: 1.6 miles (3 lines) TOP SPEED: 70 mph
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Deflating Objects
100 B&W Street Photos 110
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Film Festivals
ART+ PERSONAL WORK 95
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Art & Personal Work — Art? Let’s just call it ‘play time’. Like when putting my snow tires on for the season, I see the tire shop has a plastic jar overflowing with metal objects they have extracted from vehicle tires. After the weird looks that followed my question "Can I borrow that?" I proceeded to create the Deflating Objects series. This is a classic case of pre-visualization. Seeing all those objects crammed into the plastic jar, I could imagine them as the floating, textured objects you see here. I loved the challenge of creating the final result — a combination of old fashioned camera tricks and post-production. I have the entire portfolio printed out on aluminum hanging in my office. I love the look. Photography for the art of it. Isn’t that special.
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I Love NY — The flip side to me tinkering for endless hours over small objects, next we have me wandering around the streets of my old home with my camera. I took this series while in NYC for a corporate shoot [otherwise boring by comparison].
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“Code 40: Fire hydrant obstruction”
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DEVELOP SHOT LIST
WEB GALLERY
THE SHOOT FIRST CALL ABOUT SHOOT
PROJECT ESTIMATE CONFIRM DETAILS WITH CREATIVE
SUBSEQUENT EMAILS
EDIT PRE PRO MEETINGS
COORDINATE CREW
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CLIENT SELECTS
PHOTOSHOP
PHOTOSHOP
FINAL OUTPUT
PHOTOSHOP
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Film Festivals — In 2009, while scouting for a video AR I was shooting, I was introduced to Liz. My wife Sharyn, was looking for a meaningful documentary project. I introduced the two, and the rest is history. Liz was a troubled young woman, with many demons, who was on the road to self-destruction. She found her way, with the help of the Portland Boxing Club, and is on an amazing journey of redemption. This film has been in multiple festivals, in the US and Canada. It has won awards. It always gets an amazing response. It will be airing on a PBS station soon. Watch my blog for details. My role was co-producer, and camera work. Sharyn directed & edited. Beautifully edited, I might add. Email me and I’ll send you the super-secret link to the film on the web. 27 minutes long, and rated "PG" [by us], I guarantee you will enjoy the film.
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The Cathedral School
120 Cancer Community Center
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G I B
GIVING BACK 113
The Cathedral School — My formative years were spent in the humble neighborhood of Canarsie, Brooklyn, NYC. I reluctantly attended a Catholic school, complete with the obligatory scary nuns. Having survived that, I attempted to return so many years later with my camera to record the same location in current day. Well, being NYC access was difficult, and the school had been through some turmoil so they were not eager for a camera to be present. Coincidently, I was contacted by a designer in Portland Maine who was doing some "nearly Pro Bono" work for the local version of my school
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— The Cathedral School. So I was provided access, and a meager budget to cover film costs. Yes, this was in 1998, when we were still using celluloid. That one project turned into a more than decade long personal project where I returned every 2 years or so to spend a day running through the school with my camera. No lights, no assistant — just me and a few choice pieces of glass. It was like running a photographic marathon.
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Cancer Community Center — Professional photography cost money. We realize it can be expensive. After all, not only does the photographer’s fee need to cover cameras, lenses, computers, hard drives, software, insurance, employees, lighting, vehicles, office, high speed data lines, web sites, accountants fees, education, maintenance etc... it also needs to cover the financial reporting cost, which dear reader, include this very Annual Report you hold in your hands. So, we therefore give back. Pro bono publico. There are some causes that are in need of professional images, and just don’t have the budget.
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126 The Numbers 130 Board of Directors 131
Executive Committee
132 Strategy for Growth "Next Year"
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P P E F T
PAST PRESENT+ FUTURE
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THE NUMBERS
Revenue Growth
Operating Costs vs. Revenue
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%
LAST YEAR
SOME PERIOD OF TIME
Investment in Technology
MEGA PIXELS
COMPUTER STORAGE
RAM
3-YEAR PERIOD
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Communication Mix
Nutrition Facts
BEER
CLIENT MEETINGS PHONE
31,018
8,760 OUNCES
4,380 EMAIL
INTERACTIONS
OUNCES OF CAFE MOCHA
H2O
TEXTS
18,250 OUNCES SQUIRRELS + SHINY OBJECTS
OTHER
58 CHIPOTLE BURRITOS
Miles Traveled Last Year
Visited
23 21,015
19,815
1,095
34*
*Yes, Sled Dog. Really cold too.
STATES* * Includes the State of Confusion
Weekly Sleep Variance
3-YEAR PERIOD: AVG. 6.98 HOURS / DAY
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COLLATERAL
PRODUCT LAUNCH
WEB / BLOG
LEARNING VIDEOS
DIRECT MAIL
ADVERTISING
CO. RE-BRAND ADVERTISING
TESTIMONIALS
Client ROI Metrics
MOT IO N
S T ILLS
Top-5 Client Activity Mix
EIGHTY-SIX HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN SMILES CAPTURED
Number of Files Created
11,890,250 3-YEAR PERIOD (CR2, PSD, TIF, JPG, MP4, WAV)
Value of Business Equipment LENS
COMPUTER
CAMERA
STORAGE
LIGHTING
AMAZON STOCK
48-MONTHS
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R&D Investment
27
$
THOUSAND
Relationship Model
NEW
EXISTING
NUMBER OF YEARS:
5
10
15+
Stills vs. Motion Hours
STILL
MOTION
48-MONTHS
The preceding financial statements were independently audited and verified to be true and accurate by the independent audit & consulting firm of Mignosi & Cohen, LLC. While many of you in the financial world may not have heard of our official auditors, be assured they are world renowned for their integrity. Well, at least neighborhood renowned. You see, due to budget constraints, and the fact that each and every number just presented was fully fabricated by the designer (with the sole exception of the dog sled miles, which, astoundingly, he guessed at and was absolutely correct, within 10%) the verification process took place via a bottle of wine, and my friends Vito Mignosi and Steve Cohen. During commercial breaks of our Breaking Bad second time around binge watch, I said "Yo, Vito, Stevie, these numbers look real to you?"
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Board of Directors
Mya Keyboardia Chief Information Officer
Color M. Eter
Joe F. Pressman
Mabel Phone
Compliance Officer
Director of Motivation
Director of Communications
George P. Seeker Strategy Officer
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Executive Committee
Jack Brusie Chairman of the Board (aka Top Dog)
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STRATEGY FOR GROWTH While some may say our strategy for growth involves a few too many cannolis, it is the economic growth we speak of, not the waistline. As for the corporate growth strategy, here’s the plan: maintain our valuable current clients and add a few more select high quality clients. The basis of that strategy is an 18 month analysis provided by the world renowned consulting firm of Scheister, Farmisht, Gonef & Dreck. After their exhaustive detailed exploratory work, they reached the profound conclusion that, in a direct quote from founding partner, Mr. Owen Scheister: "Bubbeleh, you don’t want to work with everyone, just the right one." Insight like that, so unique, so profound, is worth every shekel we paid for it. So with those words of wisdom in mind, we continually (ok, truly, we occasionally) set off to locate like-minded organizations and individuals. Sometimes we even find like-minded individuals working for like-minded organizations. We find these astute orga-viduals and try to lure them into our web of high quality image creation via slick, comical, lengthy, maybe even verbose, publications which pretend to be some document of great import, while truly being a cleverly disguised, yet attractively designed marketing & sales piece for our business. Once captured by the mystique of our mesmerizing marketing efforts, we then show them the
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full scope of our capabilities, using such radically innovative techniques as print paper portfolios delivered in person, possibly even accompanied by donuts and coffee. We have even been known to show up with organic coffee & gluten free donuts. As a last resort, we even will engage our secret weapon, the little known binary network which goes by the name of the interwebs using our code name www.kevinbrusie.com. The most important part of this entire rambling section, created more to fill up the big copy block the designer allotted to the page then to say anything truly revolutionary, is that we are quietly searching for just a few more of the type of client we have enjoyed collaborating with for the last 25+ years: creative, resourceful, imaginative, innovative folks who don’t take themselves too seriously. We join together to create compelling visuals to accompany their brilliant designs in pulp & pixels, to successfully communicate an idea. Simple (occasionally). Easy (we make it look that way). Fun (always).
5W (Who we want to work with)
Mr. Ed the Talking Horse
Ms. Opposite
You, silly.
Really? Who wouldn’t want to work with a talking horse? Our "Behind The Scenes" video would surely go viral.
Ok — the point we are trying to make here is we don’t want to work with... well, persons with gruff exteriors, those who can be more than a little prickly, perhaps? Even when the going gets rough, we keep cool heads and work our way through it. More like a Labrador Retriever than a porcupine.
If you hold your digital device just right, or angle your monitor screen into the light, you just might see your smiling face looking back from the above black box. Then again, if you made it this far, through all 133 pages, that face may be just a little weary. Regardless, we thank you for your perseverance. And we would love the opportunity to discuss how we might collaborate. On an Annual Report, perhaps?
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KEVIN BRUSIE PHOTOGRAPHY
PRODUCTION NOTES
Still & Motion Imagery Portland, ME & NYC
This little (hah!) booklet was a true labor of love. It was an idea I have had for years. I have photographed many dozens of annual reports, both still and video forms, and always thought this would be fun. All photos are copyrighted and property of Kevin Brusie Photography. Printing: HP Indigo Press. Paper: 80# matte velvet with UV-coating and semi-gloss finish on cover.
207.761.8113 kevin@kevinbrusie.com kevinbrusie.com wonderdogfilms.com blog.kevinbrusie.com
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Travis Goulder Design Wizard is his title. He brought this whole crazy concept to life. Gratis.* In his spare time. When not leading a design team for a major organization, or hanging in his home with his beautiful family, Travis can be found doing the same thing the "Top Dog", Jack Brusie does: chasing yellow balls around at great speed. He does it with significantly more finesse, though he does use a racquet, and not his jaws. *[I haven’t really agreed to that yet. Just sayin’. — TG]
Heather Colleen Noonan-Kelly (of Italian descent) Production Manager & Photoshop Wizard. Heather is the engine that kept the machine moving forward. She pushed me to create the needed new photos. She chained me to my desk until I completed the copy. She executed much of the Photoshop work, and offered excellent design input. [Heather? Can I leave my desk now. We’re done. — KB]
Until next time