Kamelot Productions believes collaboration helps interior designs create dynamic visions of their work
By Lindsay Field Penticuff
For Kamelot Productions co-founders Arthur Kade and Joe DeCandido, as well as producers of DSA’s Life by Design podcast series, collaboration is key when it comes to helping ensure an interior designer’s vision is translated effectively into video, capturing the essence of their work.
“It’s how Joe and I have built a successful company,” Kade says. “We collaborate with each other, and we collaborate with our employees, team members and the outside professionals we bring in.”
Founded in 2018, Kamelot Productions is full-service production company. Kade and DeCandido work with clients across all industries, from hotels and hospitality, technology and construction to real estate, fitness, health and wellness.
“It’s a privilege to be able to work with so many companies and so many industries and be able to bring their stories and their visual identity to life,” Kade says. “We are incredibly proud of our content being innovative, very forward-thinking and standing out from a very crowded market.”
Collaboration is important in each and every one of these industries, but with interior design, it specifically helps this group of artistic professionals visually share what they expect to see in a video about their work and business.
“Joe and I are ‘people people,’ so it’s really all about understanding who we are working with and essentially customizing the best process to get them from point A to point B, with point A being the start and point B being creating fantastic content in the most powerful and best way possible,” Kade adds.
We were excited to sit down with Kade and DeCandido recently for an interview. Learn more about their experience and expertise in the Q&A below:
How do you believe video content can enhance the presentation of interior design projects, providing a more immersive experience for potential clients?
Kade: The word immersive is the key word here, because as we know, interior design is a very visual media. It’s about taking something and making it something else, so the beauty of content and us living in the digital age is that we have the capabilities to really bring visuality to life and to be able to showcase the world in a unique and immersive fashion. With interior design, it’s about showing what’s been done, the aesthetic, the style, the pageantry, the design; and there’s no better medium that allows someone to do that—and to be able to tell a story around all those elements.
In a world where virtual communication is prevalent, how does Kamelot Productions go beyond to create unique and engaging visual experiences for interior designers? Can you highlight some innovative approaches you’ve taken in your projects?
Kade: Our process is unique:
Process and customer service model: The first thing we really want to understand in working with an interior designer is who they are and what they do. Being an interior designer is like being an artist … it’s really about how they see the world, and then bringing that world to life through their art. Interior designers in my mind are the same. It’s so important for an interior designer to be able to create content that speaks that to the client, so that the client understands that this is not only why they are doing what they are doing, but understands the true aesthetic, style and philosophy that the interior designer has in order to bring that to life. So, when we work with an interior designer through our process, it’s almost psychologically and artistically understanding who that designer is, where they came from and why they do what they do in order to create the product that they create.
From a client service side: We are second to none! Joe and I are excellent communicators. We make each and every business professional and large corporation feel like they are the most important people in the world when working with them. We take the same approach with the interior designers who we work with, helping them understand that we want their story, philosophies and beliefs to be at the forefront so that when this content is released, they are going to feel like they are expressing themselves through this medium to the people they are trying to express themselves to.
From a technology standpoint: We incorporate something called FPV (first-person view), using a drone. We have an in-house operator who wears virtual reality goggles and we have a whole fleet of mini drones, where we are able to fly interiors and exteriors through the smallest of spaces. For an interior designer, being able to fly a drone inside a space they’ve designed and give people an almost 360 “bird flying through a room” perspective is unlike anything else being done out there right now, and we are able to incorporate an FPV drone throughout all the industries we’ve been able to work with. That FPV drone capability really sets us apart from the competition and allows interior designers to show their product and aesthetic in a way that they normally wouldn’t have been able to show it even five years ago. … It’s an incredible “here’s what to expect” look that can build buzz, generate presales or create any future ROI for a client that they are looking to create.
Interior design often tells a story about a space. How do you leverage the power of storytelling through video to convey the narrative behind a design and create a deeper connection with the audience?
Kade: The key to doing something like is to be able to hear it directly from the designer’s mouth, so being able to sit down with the designer or walk through the space with the designer and actually have them talking about their aesthetic, why they are doing what they are doing, the redesign, etc., and the putting the stunning and powerful visuals over that audio is a very powerful storytelling technique that we’ve used. It’s a concept we call The Guided Tour. We kind of compare it to a two- to three-minute Travel Channel package that we create for a designer to help showcase the story behind the aesthetic and what it has become or will become.
What’s the secret to helping clients feel at ease if they aren’t used to being in front of a camera?
Kade: 99% of people are not comfortable being on camera, so you have to already walk into the experience believing that they are going to be uncomfortable on camera or there’s a lack of media training. What separates Joe and I is our backgrounds. Joe is a marketing aficionado, having spent more than a decade running his own marketing company before founding Kamelot Productions, and I was a television host for 12 years, interviewing celebrities on the red carpet. We are able to take our extensive skillsets and create a comfort level with people so that they understand we are only going to make them look great.
We create a very comfortable environment by coaching them through the process, making them feel safe, heard, seen and, ultimately, editing them at their best, so that when they see the finished product, they think, “Wow, I really do look great!” Our goal is to never make anyone look worse than 100% of the best they can look like, and we do a fantastic job doing that. We always put people at ease, saying that the process is going to be seamless and that we are going to make you feel comfortable, and we show them examples and they trust that they are working with excellent professionals who are going to make the process a win for them.
Video has the potential to captivate and engage audiences. How can interior designers leverage Kamelot Productions’ expertise to create videos that effectively communicate their unique style, attracting and retaining clients in a competitive market?
Kade: It’s about asking the right questions. Through the prep work and our process, and getting to know the designer, we have a pre-production meeting, and we ask a certain amount of questions, almost like a therapy session, where we want to understand the internal workings of the designer, what their training was, what they believe, what their likes are, how they approach creating the aesthetic they are approaching. We really get to know then as individuals, as well as artists. From there, when we are putting them on video—and because we have all that pre-knowledge—we are able to ask the right questions and bring the best out of them to gain the best knowledge necessary to showcase all the elements we named in a video.
What kind of response have you gotten from organization/individuals when you’ve been able to bring this pretty unique technology (like FPV) to the table for them to help illustrate their story in a more unique way?
Kade: The response is overwhelmingly positive. Most people think we’re going to bring in a camera crew and interview them, and it’s just going to be a couple of camera people in there. But when they see us in there, almost like we’re staging a movie scene, staging people in scenes and flying the drone around people and through them, and flying it around the office like a bird, there’s an overwhelming cool factor that plays into that. People think it’s so cool and say they never realized a drone can be used this way.
Then, when they see the mobility of the drone and the flexibility of how we’re able to fly through the smallest of spaces, circle people, fly through them as they are talking or working out, then they see the finished product, people are absolutely blown away. And because of that, it’s one of the many factors that has helped us expand our company at such an exponential pace, because they feel like we are cutting-edge.
In a competitive market, standing out is crucial. How can Kamelot Productions assist interior designers in crafting videos that not only showcase their talent but also help them differentiate themselves from others in this rapidly growing industry?
Kade: It’s the same way an interior designer creates something different inside someone’s house. We have a unique aesthetic and style, and the ability to bring different types of visuals and storytelling to life. … We want to create video that is going to showcase their story, their aesthetic, their history, their experiences, their philosophies, all the things that make them who they are in the most cinematic and powerful vehicle possible.
As video production experts, what trends do you anticipate in the future of design-related video content?
Kade: As far as technology that’s around the corner, it all starts with AI. It’s changing the world. When it comes to what we are doing with content, I think the next three, five, 10 years with everything happening in AI, we are going to see advancements in how to create content, how to utilize content and how to best place content to get the maximum viewership, and it’s our job as professionals in this business to stay on top of those trends so that our clients are getting the best content and in the best ways to use it possible.
How do interior designers leverage these trends?
Kade: Following us Instagram—@kamelotproductions—is a great start, because we continue to evolve and they’ll see everything we are doing. … By following our Instagram account, it gives interior designers a chance to see different styles, different types of filming, different graphics; anything we are doing.
Are video production services like Kamelot Productions’ feasible for all interior designers—even those who just started their businesses?
DeCandido: Sometimes, people will look at their business or the size of their projects and not think their business is big enough for this, but I would encourage anyone to reach out to us and have a conversation. We will talk to anyone about their content needs, wherever they are in the country or world. We work with businesses and professionals of all sizes, and we try our very best to be mindful of the cost and not make it prohibitive to work with us. We’d love to set up an exploratory conversation. Mention DSA membership to receive a discount advantage. https://kamelotproductions.com/
101 Walnut Penthouse Tour from Kamelot Productions on Vimeo.
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Hotel + Event Venues Reel – Kamelot Productions from Kamelot Productions on Vimeo.
