Blue Chalk Offers a Solution to the Divide in Journalism and Branded Content.
Two thousand four hundred miles away, under the Brooklyn Bridge, #SuperJinNYC students found a little piece of home.
Blue Chalk Media isn’t claiming to have all the answers, but the work they’ve produced in the past five years is a testament to the future of visual storytelling.
The production company, based out of New York City and Portland, Oregon, is expanding rapidly with a wide clientele. By the end of the year, Blue Chalk is looking to increase its team from thirty to forty-five people. This is a direct result of their integration of journalism, branded and promotional content.
Approach: Keeping it real
Blue Chalk has been commissioned by companies such as Pearson, Nike, and TED to The New York Times, NPR, and The Weather Channel, to develop compelling content that is visual stunning. Yet, the team has one rule: the work produced is strictly nonfiction.
When CEO Greg Moyer spoke with a group of 16 journalism students from the University of Oregon, he proclaimed, “Blue Chalk has journalism at heart.”
The students are no stranger to this pressure to define who they are and what they stand for.
Inside the walls of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), there is a definite divide between journalism, public relations, and advertisement students. But with the shifting nature of our digital age, I’m skeptical if this divide is still for good cause.
The transparency of — motives and the ability to identify your ethical redlines - is critical. However, when we ensure that truth underpins the narrative of our work, the gap between all three professions can close.
Blue Chalk marked its red line when it was first established by Moyer and Chief Operating Officer, Pam Hulling. The company will not pay actors to tell fictional stories. Instead the team will work relentlessly to discover, develop, and produce a true visual story that resonates with the client and their audience.
Education Efforts
Blue Chalk is moving rapidly into the education world: so pick up your pencils. Moyer told journalism students that it is an area ripe for innovation.
This year alone, Blue Chalk produced 300 videos for Pearson’s higher-education online textbook initiative.
Moyer and Hulling gave us a little taste of these efforts, with an eye-opening short film, which took an authentic and unique approach to capturing why some coal miners in Illinois voted for Trump in the last presidential election.
Another video that Blue Chalk produced in partnership with Pearson acquired many acclamations for it’s social impact and cinematic production.
Ricardo’s Story is on “a young student activist who has been protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an executive order promulgated by President Obama in 2012.” The video accompanied a letter from Leaders of American Industry to President Donald Trump to preserve the program.
Connecting the Pieces: Pacific Northwest
The SOJC has a deep connection to Blue Chalk Media. Their Portland office is only a short drive on I-5, and a number of alum work for them.
In New York, we had the pleasure of meeting with many former SOJC students. However, only a few were as closely removed from the SOJC as Kylie Juggert. Kylie now works as an editor and producer for Blue Chalk.
She made the move to New York City just a week prior to our visit, and graduated a little under a year ago. She shared with us her transition to the “real world” and her experience within the company. It was encouraging, all the while humbling.
For future visual storytellers at the SOJC who may be interested in working for Blue Chalk Media, Hulling reassured that their work is not a result of a one-man-band. Instead, they’re looking for creative individuals to fill a specific role and make a great edition to their company.
“We believe the team makes the quality of our work better,” Hulling said.
Blue Chalk Media is truly an agent-of-change within the industry and visual journalist all over may jump on board soon.
