New York, New York, January 15, 2013 — Sisters Jessica (Creator/Producer/Writer) and Alicia (Executive Producer/Director/Editor) Arinella have set out to prove that you can change the world – in one minute – with their highly successful series “What You Can Do.” To date, through their company, On the Leesh Productions, they have created over 300 episodes of compelling stories of people and organizations making a difference. Each episode is supported with unique Shutterstock footage.
“When we began the series, we knew stock footage would be crucial to support our range of stories,” says Alicia Arinella. “When I discovered Shutterstock, I immediately wished I’d known about it for other projects. They simply have the best selection. The cost, customer service and terms of use are the best available – hands down.
“The range of images are key to our use,” she adds. “In the beginning, I would tag team with my sister. We would have an idea that we wanted to tackle wildlife so, we would go to www.shutterstock.com and look for, say, gorilla footage or find great ocean footage of turtles and sharks. We would then gear our writing to these images.”
Eventually, the team became confident that Shutterstock would have everything they needed, and putting together each story was easy. “There are so many examples of how Shutterstock has really come through for us,” Alicia says.
“One day we needed a clip of a lion and a cub,” she recalls. “For us, it was important that the shot not be in a zoo. We found footage of a lion on a hill, where a cub nudges him with his head. It was not only a great protect-the-wildlife shot, but it has also become a sort of ‘money shot’ for us. It does a variety of things, including introducing our promos.”
When searching for elements to support their segment on energy, the team easily found a low-angle of moving clouds with energy generating windmills. “Now, anytime we talk about green power, something that is ‘coming soon’, or to highlight alternative modes, Shutterstock images are prominent.”
When in need of images of people in a busy city, Shutterstock’s footage from London fits their needs. “The time-lapse selection we used denotes a crowd, and is often used to show people coming together to solve a problem.”
The Arinella’s mission is to present their material in a positive and non-threatening manner, even when talking about delicate issues. “Sometimes we run into problems with certain topics or content,” Alicia says. “It becomes a problem when someone is in the shot. When we talk about breast cancer, for example, we don’t want the person to appear to have breast cancer. In situations like this, we’ll often use something like people gathered around a microscope, working to find a cure.
“Sometimes we do go for the dramatic,” she adds. “When we want to make a statement, we find that Shutterstock has some pretty dramatic editorial-based and intense footage – from urban poverty to the slums of Brazil – and everything else. The images are always impactful.”
On the Leesh Productions even uses Shutterstock footage of a spinning globe to introduce every video in “What You Can Do”. “It is our opening, our closing, and in our promos,” Alicia Arinella says. “We’re so glad that we found Shutterstock, when we started doing this series. From now on, their footage will appear whenever we need stock to enhance any project we do.
“What You Can Do”, produced through On The Leesh Productions airs on the company website, YouTube, and is featured on several New York-based PBS affiliate WNET including WLIW, NJTV and THIRTEEN. The series received Outstanding Achievement honors for documentary/reality series and musical composition at the 2012 LA Web Series Festival (LAWebFest). It was also nominated for Best Educational Web Series at the inaugural IAWTV awards and received two Accolade Awards for use of film/video for social change as well as a Indie Fest Award of Excellence.
About Shutterstock
Shutterstock is a leading global provider of high-quality licensed photographs, vectors, illustrations and videos to business, marketing agencies and media organizations around the world.
Shutterstock works closely with its growing contributor community of photographers, videographers, illustrators and designers to curate a global marketplace for royalty-free imagery. Shutterstock adds tens of thousands of rights-cleared images each week, and with more than 20 million images currently available, the company recently surpassed 250-million image downloads.
Headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock also owns Bigstock, a value-oriented stock agency that offers both credit and simple Pay As You Go purchase options.
For more information please visit http://footage.shutterstock.com, and follow Shutterstock on Twitter or on Facebook.
