Why one good film beats ten rushed ones
Most corporate video budgets get spread too thin. Kate Bennett on why volume is usually the wrong answer, and what happens when you put everything into one film worth making.
Kate Bennett
CEO of Disruptive Live
As the CEO of Disruptive Live, Kate has a demonstrated track record of driving business growth and innovation. With over 10 years of experience in the tech industry, she has honed her skills in marketing, customer experience, and operations management. As a forward-thinking leader, Kate is passionate about helping businesses leverage technology to stay ahead of the competition and exceed customer expectations.
30 articles by Kate Bennett
What we tell clients who are scared of being on camera
Most people who say they are bad on camera have never been properly directed. The fear is real, but the cause is almost always a production problem, not a personal one.
How to brief a video team so you get what you pictured
A vague brief produces a polished film nobody wanted. Kate Bennett on the exact questions that have to be answered before a camera moves.
The podcast set that made executives sound like themselves
We spent years filming executive interviews the wrong way. The fix was obvious once we stopped fighting what the camera was actually doing to people.
Why your webinar feels flat, and the staging change that fixes it
A client's product launch lost two-thirds of its audience before the Q&A opened. The content was strong. The staging told viewers to leave.
What good corporate video does that an internal team usually cannot
Kate Bennett on the capability gap that isn't about cameras, and what changes when a professional team takes over the interview and the edit.
What we cut from every corporate script now and why
For years I thought a longer script meant a more complete brief. It meant a more boring film.
The internal video that quietly cut onboarding time
I nearly axed our internal video budget. A team member stopped me with a spreadsheet. Looking at those numbers changed how I think about corporate video entirely.
The corporate video nobody watched, and the one fix that changed it
We spent three days on a film I was genuinely proud of. It got forty-two views in six months. The problem was not the production. It never is.
Why investors now expect a virtual studio backdrop, not a boardroom
I sent a client into a Series B round with boardroom footage that read immediately as a company that had not thought about how it looked. The feedback arrived six weeks later.
What a virtual studio actually costs versus a week of location hire
I put a location shoot in front of a client as the aspirational option. A week of watching the invoices arrive taught me what I had actually done to their budget.
Three video moves London competitors are using to take your market
I sat in on a pitch we lost. The winning firm was not better. They were on screen more often, in three specific ways, and the buyer never met us in person to compare.
The corporate documentary that travelled across the whole company
We set out to film one department's story. It ended up running in onboarding, in sales rooms and at the all-hands, because we filmed the truth instead of the brochure.
What actually goes wrong in a live virtual broadcast
A director's account of the small failures that sink live streams, and the unglamorous habits that keep a virtual studio show on air.
The jargon-free guide to hiring a film crew in London
I once approved a quote with a line item I didn't understand because asking felt unprofessional. It cost us. Here's how to hire a film crew in London without pretending you know the words.
Why booking a London crew last minute goes wrong
We booked a crew with four days' notice and got one. Everything that went wrong on that shoot traced back to those four days. This is what last-minute actually costs in London, and how to never need it.
Filming on the Southbank, why location is still a production decision
We lost a morning of filming on the Southbank because I treated the location as a backdrop instead of a decision. This is what the river actually costs you, and what it gives back when you plan for it.
Are your training videos costing you your best people
A new starter told me our onboarding video made her wonder if she'd joined the wrong company. She was one of the good ones. This is what bad training video actually costs, and what we did about it.
Stop filming corporate talking heads. Do this instead
We shot four executives against a grey wall, one after another. The film tested worse than the slide deck it replaced. The fix was not better executives. It was a different question.
Why your CEO's keynote looked amateur, and the fix you missed
The slides were fine. The content was fine. So why did the recording look like a webcam call from 2020? The problem was three things nobody put on the run sheet.
The real cost of a London corporate video, broken down honestly
A quote landed on my desk for nine grand. Another for twenty-six. Same brief. Here is where the money actually goes, and the line item nobody warns you about.
The five most expensive corporate video mistakes, and how to avoid them
A client showed me a £30,000 brand film his sales team had never once sent to a prospect. It was beautiful. It was useless. That video taught me the five mistakes that quietly waste most corporate video budgets in London, and how to spot them before you sign anything.
Building a broadcast-ready virtual set in central London, behind the scenes
I watched a client's CEO walk onto our set, look at the wall behind him, and ask where the green screen was. There wasn't one. Here is what actually goes into a broadcast-ready virtual set, and why the invisible parts are the ones that decide whether your video looks like television or like a webinar.
A year of video content shot in two studio days, and how that works
A head of marketing told me she was out of video budget by March. We did not give her more budget. We gave her two days in a London virtual studio and a plan, and her content lasted until the following January. Here is exactly how the maths works.
Why London brands are quietly moving keynotes into virtual studios
A FTSE comms lead told me she'd stopped booking ballrooms. Her keynotes now run from a virtual studio in central London, and her board never noticed the room had gone. Here is what changed her mind, and what it should change about yours.
What two years does to a video
We make AI people at Disruptive Live. So this is not an argument against AI video. It is an argument about what happens to content at 18 months old — and why the calculation most marketing teams are running is the wrong one.
We Can Tell When ChatGPT Wrote Your Video Script
AI is brilliant for getting a first draft down fast. The problem is that ChatGPT and Copilot have default habits that sound fine on paper and fall completely flat on camera. A few small tweaks make all the difference.
Why Most Business Video Fails (And It's Not Your Production Budget)
We spend thousands on video and wonder why nobody watches it. The problem isn't the camera. It's what we're pointing it at.
What Does Premium Actually Mean? (And How to Make Your Brand Feel Like It)
We use premium and luxury interchangeably, but they are completely different things. Here is what actually makes a brand feel considered — across your videos, socials, and everything in between.
The Podcast Hosting Formula: 7 Techniques That Make Episodes Unforgettable
Most podcast interviews are forgettable because the host is performing, not connecting. Here's what actually works.