When you are promoting your production, you have hundreds of competitors all vying for their share of audience. The most reliable way to get prospective audience members’ attention is eye-catching imagery that distinguishes you from the other posters on the wall, images in their feed, or pages in a festival brochure. Our superpower is collaborating with you to create effective branding, capturing interest and drawing people in to your production.
One thing to remember when you are working on imagery and photography for your production – your images are your brand. Your hero image will be everywhere: social media, posters, postcards, festival brochures, traditional media – and it will live on for quite a long time. Our responsibility is making sure your imagery is super effective, and we take that responsibility very seriously.
For all of our branding work, we are going to want to spend time talking with you (or chatting online, hey, it’s the future) about your production, the vibe, the audience you’re trying to reach, and the formats you need. Establishing a good brief is vital to ensure you get the best outcome, and we want to get in to your head to really understand your production.
What do we deliver from a branding session?
Hero image – the one image that captures the vibe + narrative of your show, resonates with the target audience, and will stand the test of time. Usually the hero image is the top priority for a branding session – one image that will be in posters, flyers, programmes, print media, and online. It needs to be something you’re proud of for years.
Secondary images – Images that compliment the hero image. These are often used to drip-feed content on social media. These could be portraits of the main cast, or tableaus representing moments from your production.
Headshots – We will often photograph an entire cast along with directors and other important folks, for programmes or to promote the show on social media. These are much, much faster than our normal headshot sessions; we allow 3-4 minutes per person, and deliver one selection each with minimal retouching. (We often make those headshots available to cast members for a small fee.)
Branding sessions can be in the studio or on-location, and nearly always involve off-camera lighting to lift the performers out of the background and make them pop. Some branding sessions require only minimal post-production; some require lots of post-production to bring the image to life. After you choose from the candidates in your on-line proof gallery, we’ll work to the agreement and deliver edited images, in a variety of print- and web-ready formats, including resolutions optimised for Facebook (posts, profile pictures, and cover photos) and Instagram.
Want to get started? First thing we do is have a consultation call for 30-45 minutes, to discuss your requirements and work out location and logistics, and to understand your budget so we can create something that ticks all the boxes. We often prototype images with sketches to help with communicating ideas clearly.
Look, it’s a big call to bring in a creative for something like this. You have to have faith that they’ll be able to connect with you, interpret your needs, and deliver something amazing. You have a budget and you need to know that you’re going to get a good outcome for your investment. Take a look at some of the testimonials below to read about some other people’s experiences; they’ve been where you are now, and now they have spectacular hero shots and supporting material. And check out the branding case studies below too.
Case Studies
Sometimes it can be difficult to visualise how the branding process works; it’s different every time, based on what the client wants and the nature of the show. Here are some case studies that will give you an idea of the steps that we go through when we are doing branding for a client.
Testimonials
“It’s always a joy to create with Kris Anderson. Kris is so inventive when planning, theming and styling shoots. His extensive background in theatre means he knows the shorthand to what productions require for marketing and promotion, and what actors and performers need to shine in front of the lens.
Kris relishes challenges, and can take threads of ideas and spin them into creative concepts you might never think of yourself. It goes without saying he’s professional at all stages of a shoot, and I have never been anything less than thrilled at his final delivered works.
And despite the incredibly high standard Kris holds himself to, he is always the nicest guy in the room.”
–Natalie Bochenski, Producer, Act/React
“Kris has done multiple shoots for PIP Theatre, and every time, he’s been an absolute dream to work with. His bright and positive energy makes every shoot a joy, creating a relaxed and supportive space where actors feel confident and at ease. Beyond the shoot, Kris goes above and beyond in post-production, bringing even the wildest creative ideas to life with enthusiasm and care. I cannot recommend Kris enough!”
–Jenna Todd, Marketing Director, PIP Theatre
“Kris Anderson is exceptionally skilled, ridiculously generous and one of the nicest human beings you’ll ever meet. He is an expert at cultivating a welcoming, collaborative space where you feel safe to try things and experiment until you find that perfect image. Even people who are shy in front of the camera feel utterly encouraged and supported in Kris’ studio.
He has such a genuine love for what he does that he just keeps offering suggestions, communicating openly and chasing that perfect hero shot; he wants to find it just as much as you do!
If you’re looking for someone to create idiosyncratic, eye-catching, professional images that will not only market your product but remain treasured for many years, look no further. Kris is the best in the business.”
–Bianca Butler-Reynolds, Co-Artistic Director, Minola Theatre
“Kris Anderson never fails to deliver outstanding images and he has been fantastic to work with. Kris is always attentive, supportive and pumps so much energy, passion and fun into each session. He has an amazing ability to see the potential in our half-formed ideas and transform them into wonderful eye-catching images that communicate our style and shows perfectly. It really shows that he has worked with the arts and comedy for a long time and knows the ropes!
If you want a photographer who will dive in and get what your work is about, who will listen and work tirelessly to deliver then look no further than Kris.”
“Kris Anderson has provided ImproMafia with promotional photography for several years. His approach is imaginative and theatrical, and we can always rely on the images he creates to indicate exactly what an individual show is all about. In fact, his knack for unique, creative approaches has given us a reputation for excellent promotional imagery!
Kris is helpful, easy to work with and genuinely enthusiastic about creating striking, unusual images. It’s my belief that his extensive experience in the performing arts allows him to easily grasp what we’re trying to get across. I’m known to comment after every promotional shoot with Kris that he’s reached his peak and will never be able to top this set of images – and every time, he does. I cannot recommend Kris highly enough.”
–Amy Currie, Artistic Director, ImproMafia
“Creating an image that is funny, exciting and arresting is no easy task, but Kris Anderson has mastered it. The Sexy Detectives have worked with Kris numerous times, and we’ve always found him to be a true creative collaborator.
Kris draws on a wealth of experience, ideas and talent to make sure that every image really pops. Many of our favourite shots originated not from our brief but from Kris’ imagination. He’s blessed with an illustrator’s eye and a lively theatrical sense – qualities that have made him the ideal partner for our comedic weirdness.
It’s pretty easy for The Sexy Detectives to recommend Kris, no matter what the project.”
–David Massingham, The Sexy Detectives
“Kris is an complete professional who really knows performance and comedy.
Kris listened to us and understood what us and our show were about and worked tirelessly to nail the vibe and our excitement. Having limited experience with photoshoots before we didn’t know what to expect, but Kris made us feel very relaxed, confident and supported. It ended up being an incredibly fun time!
His images are really high quality and eye catching, which is exactly what we needed to stand out from hundreds of other shows in the festival. His work helped us shine through and we can’t thank him enough!”
–Taylor Edwards, BangNation
A selection of client-commissioned branding pieces
