Stephen Sadis didn’t get into video production for the glory.
“We’re not really awards people around here,” said Sadis of the Seattle-based Sadis & Vaughn production house. “There are all kinds of corporate awards out there that you can go after, but it’s just not our thing.”
Sometimes, however, a little recognition is nice.
In October, Sadis & Vaughn’s “JFS Clients in Their Own Words,” a 10-minute video chronicling the stories of seven Jewish Family Service clients, was announced as a recipient of the Award of Special Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Non-Profit Video Production from the Academy of Religious Broadcasting Awards of Excellence.
“We knew going into it that we had a really great piece to put forward. But I had no idea that [JFS] was even going to apply for an award. It was a surprise,” Sadis said.
The Academy of Religious Broadcasting Awards of Excellence is a program of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. “JFS Clients in Their Own Words” was one of 18 locally produced pieces to receive recognition.
The short film debuted at JFS’s Community of Caring luncheon on May 17. Richard Rosenwald, director of marketing for JFS, said he was more than pleased with the way the video turned out.
“The goal of the video is to put a face and a voice to both the agency and its clients, and Stephen definitely succeeded in doing that,” Rosenwald said.
The stories told in the JFS video include domestic abuse, eviction, disability, aging, personal safety concerns and poverty.
The video opens with the story of Dave, a former windsurfing enthusiast who suffered a traumatic brain injury in his early 20s as the result of a car accident.
“Dave is someone who needs a certain amount of structure,” explains his brother, Robert, as footage is shown of a JFS case manager helping Dave fill out a weekly calendar. “Once he came to this apartment and started working with JFS, all the structure started coming together and he felt like he knew exactly where to be when.”
With the ongoing assistance he receives from JFS’s Independent Living Program for disabled adults, Dave is able to live on his own and hold down a job.
The video also tells the story of Caroline, a survivor of domestic violence; Jewel, a victim of sexual assault; Anne, who narrowly escaped homelessness after being evicted from her apartment; and several other clients — all in less than 10 minutes.
Sadis was assisted in the creation of “JFS Clients in Their Own Words,” by Sadis & Vaughn associate editor Kyle Kegley. Sadis worked with JFS to develop the concept for the video and conducted the interviews while Kegley filmed. Kegley then took over responsibility for the film’s post-production.
According to Kegley, the most difficult part of the video’s creation was editing each client’s interview down to only the essential information.
“The challenge was just keeping everything concise. We had a lot of stories that we wanted to tell more about, but couldn’t. It was a matter of just pinpointing the need and how JFS helped and just keeping it simple,” Kegley said.
“JFS Clients in Their Own Words,” is Sadis & Vaughn’s sixth video for JFS. They produce one each year to be shown at JFS’s annual fundraising luncheon. After the screening at the May event, Sadis said he could see right away that those in attendance had been moved by the piece.
“People definitely teared up,” Sadis said.
Sadis said that he always enjoys working with JFS, but that he also has a personal interest in supporting the non-profit.
A board member at Kol HaNeshamah, a Reform synagogue in West Seattle, Sadis said he feels drawn to JFS as a Jewish organization.
“More than just wanting to spread the word about the variety of services JFS provides, it makes me feel good that I can contribute, just because of my background,” Sadis said.
Sadis has been making films for the past 20 years, working in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Sadis joined Jeri Vaughn in 1998 to form Sadis & Vaughn, headquartered by the Pike Place Market and specializing in corporate, non-profit, commercial and documentary productions. They recently produced a piece about the history of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle for the organization’s 75th anniversary.
Although he has spent almost half of his life as a filmmaker, Sadis said that he never gets bored with listening to people tell their stories.
“There’s something about having a camera turned on you that allows you to speak more openly,” Sadis said. “You’re always surprised at what people bring out during an interview.”
It is this sensitivity that keeps Rosenwald coming back to Sadis & Vaughn year after year.
“They really do bring out the emotion in each story and that has a lot to do with the way Stephen does his interviews,” Rosenwald said. “He’s a miracle worker, a very talented individual.”
Rosenwald said he looks forward to seeing what Sadis comes up with for future JFS films. Work has already begun on next year’s video.
To watch “JFS Clients in Their Own Words” online, visit www.jfsseattle.org/video.html.