Posted by
Rich "Ace" Akullian on
Jan 11, 2024
Cool Kickoff & Premiere Videos: Highlight Reel from 10 Years of Akullian Creative
For professional storytellers, there’s nothing cooler than seeing a live audience engage with your work — and over the last decade our creative agency has used storytelling to “get the party started” on many great occasions. To celebrate 10 years of creativity we’re looking back on our favorite projects, productions, and people in our new monthly series, “The Highlight Reel”.
Here’s 10 of our coolest kickoff & premiere video projects we’ve been a part of since 2014.
Autotask | Saratoga Springs, NY | 2014 to 2017
Global Kickoff Videos
In my years as an Autotask employee, the Global Kickoff events were always my favorite projects. We had amazing teams, big dreams, and great themes. It was those projects that reignited my creative spark, and thankfully even after I left the company we were able to create many great kickoff moments together, as they were one of our first clients.
The CulDeSack Kids | Guilderland, NY | 2014 to 2015
Short Film Premiere
“The CulDeSack Kids” independent film project was the start of Akullian Creative’s journey. In 2014, I quit my job to bring this dream to life alongside my cousin (Thomas Murray) and with producer Eric Shovah (Performing Smarts). By January of 2015 we rolled out the red carpet for a local premiere at the Guilderland Public Library with hundreds gathering to see what we created. No matter what that cast & crew went through, we always “made it work.”
Where Smiles Grow | Troy, NY | 2016 to 2017
In-Stadium Video
Long before we reached the major leagues with Johnny 2 Phones, we created “Clyde’s Guide to Gameday” as part of a minor league sports marketing campaign. The in-stadium video was produced for Where Smiles Grow, a top pediatric dental practice with multiple locations in the Capital Region and played at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY. Fun fact: a foul ball hit me right in the chest while standing outside the “Where Smiles Grow FunZone”. It’s the same baseball that you can see me toss-up while discussing this memory in “The Highlight Reel” on Instagram.
Sir Clive Woodward | London, UK | 2017
Keynote Speaker Video
In 2003, Sir Clive Woodward led the England Rugby team to World Cup glory — and in 2017 we helped warm up the audience for his keynote speech in London with a documentary style video introduction produced from our offices in Albany, NY.
LogicMonitor | Santa Barbara, CA & Austin, TX | 2019 to 2020
Sales Kickoff Video
These global events with LogicMonitor (a leading infrastructure monitoring platform) allowed us to use all of our creativity. From documenting & recapping their event, to immersing their global teams in unifying illustrated & animated stories, these projects were some of our favorites. Fun Fact: While leaving their event in Santa Barbara our production team got snowed in, and with the extra day I got branded.
Center for Donation & Transplant | Saratoga Springs, NY | 2021
Event Opening Video
When CDT approached their 50th Anniversary we partnered with the non-profit organization to create a years worth of content to be shared on social media. As a part of that campaign, we developed a feature video which was shared at the opening of their Gala in Saratoga Springs.
1E | Global Event (Virtual) | 2021
Company Kickoff Video
This global company kickoff virtual event with 1E (a leading Digital Employee Experience company) allowed us to use parody to tell some very meaningful stories. Our custom parody of “Toy Story” came complete with two songs including an original melody & “You’ve got a friend at 1E” which was sung by a great vocalist in South Africa named Brandon Grant.
Acoustic | Boston, MA & Global Event (Virtual) | 2022
Sales Kickoff Video
Acoustic (an industry-leading Customer Engagement Platform) partnered with our Ace’s to fire up their global team. We created a custom Top Gun production, “Top Rep”, featuring a costume prop helmet that was airbrushed by a local artist in Schenectady, NY. After the event, this helmet was sent to Australia to the home of the actual sales leader for that year.
Ideagen | Nottingham, UK & Global Event (Virtual) | 2022
Company Kickoff Videos
Ideagen (a Regulated Industry Software Solutions leader) worked with our creative team to develop a sport themed production which included members of their global team. We created a variety of graphics to help make the virtual event a success for their great company headquartered in Nottingham, UK.
PEF | Albany, NY – Syracuse, NY – Niagara Falls, NY | 2018 to 2023
Convention Opening Videos
The Public Employees Federation of NYS represents 50,000 members who serve our home state. We’ve been lucky to partner with their team and CMI to produce video content for their annual conventions since 2018 which has featured major politicians and leaders of international unions.
Thank you to all of our clients, creative partners, cast, and crew over the last 10 years. Stay tuned for more highlights to be shared throughout 2024 as we celebrate this milestone in our company’s history, and to see what I had to say about some of the featured highlights check out The Highlight Reel: Episode 101 on Instagram. Stay cool!
Follow Akullian Creative on Instagram and Facebook for the latest on the creative projects in Studio A. Chat with us about your upcoming video, animation and design project!