Feedback from people like Michael McCarthy is what gives great pride to the people behind Kamloops: A Story of Champions.
“Within 12 seconds I was already learning,” McCarthy wrote on Facebook below the video posted by Kamloops product Matt Human.
“I thought I would laugh throughout this video, but I finished it with tears of pride and joy. Amazing.”
The promotional video, commissioned by Venture Kamloops and produced by Mastermind Studios, “explains that champions are people who do things well, people who are committed to things, and that’s what the people of Kamloops are. We’re committed to our city and to making our city the best it can possibly be, nurturing growth and nurturing development,” said Jim Anderson, executive director with Venture Kamloops.
What makes the approval of McCarthy — and of Human, who refers to the Tournament Capital as Paradise City in the Facebook post — special to Venture Kamloops is it is unsolicited, unlike some of the praise Anderson expected to receive from local dignitaries who attended the premier of the film at Sagebrush Theatre last week.
“We’ve been inundated with positive feedback,” Anderson said. “After four days, we’re coming up on 8,000 views.
“It’s what comes to us from people who watch the video that we’ve never met before that’s really making us think that we got it right.”
There will be those who wish some things were done differently, but the film’s creators did everything they could to produce a video that pleases the River City masses.
“This took about 14 months to make,” Anderson said.
“It wasn’t the hardest video ever made, but there are a number of different user groups who we solicited input from. Everybody has different opinions.
“It’s a matter of corralling all those and getting a product that everybody is happy with.”
The video is posted above and it can be found online at venturekamloops.com.
“We’re relying heavily on social network for distribution, hoping to start conversation with people that we haven’t met yet,” Anderson said.
Featured in the film are lawyer Lesra Martin, provincial court judge Len Marchand and athletes Nancy Greene-Raine, Mark Recchi and Corryn Brown, among others.
“It’s a promotional video and it’s designed as an introductory piece for when we go out on sales missions, to trade shows and when we host people in Kamloops on familiarization tours,” Anderson said.
“We offer it to groups who view the lifestyle aspect and the advantages Kamloops has to offer as tools for their business.”
