I Wanna Bees , Interview Production
Seven more founders. Seven more stories. The September edition of a self-initiated series that keeps growing because the community does.
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Case Study
This is the September 2024 edition of the I Wanna Bees interview series , the second instalment of a self-initiated project documenting women entrepreneurs in London. Like the June edition, the format is short-form social video: one founder, one story, one vertical film. Seven new interviews, seven new perspectives, produced under the same visual framework but with a returning confidence that comes from having proven the format works.
The Brief
Return to the I Wanna Bees community for a second round of founder interviews , seven new subjects, each filmed as a standalone short-form social piece. The visual and editorial framework established in June needed to hold while allowing enough flexibility to accommodate different personalities, industries, and stories without every episode feeling identical.
The Challenge
- A returning series has to feel fresh without abandoning the visual identity that made the first edition work , evolution without reinvention.
- Seven interviews in a single event session again, which means the same time pressure and the same need to build trust with each subject quickly.
- Some subjects had seen the June edition and arrived with expectations , helpful for buy-in, but it also meant they might perform rather than speak naturally.
- Short-form social is ruthlessly competitive; each piece has roughly two seconds to earn attention before a viewer scrolls past.
- No gallery images this time , the entire project lives or dies on the strength of the filmed interviews alone.
- Maintaining editorial independence on a self-initiated project while the relationship with the community deepens and becomes more collaborative.
The Approach
- The June framework , single camera, consistent framing, natural light, direct address , was preserved as the series identity, with minor refinements to pacing and edit rhythm based on what performed best from the first edition.
- Pre-interviews were shorter this time; returning to the same community meant less cold introduction and more direct conversation from the first minute.
- Each subject was directed to open with the most specific, surprising detail of their story rather than a general introduction , optimising for the two-second hook that short-form demands.
- Sound was prioritised over image complexity; a clean lavalier recording in an event environment is harder to achieve than a good frame, and audio drops viewers faster than visual imperfection.
- Post-production applied the same edit structure , cold open, title card, interview body, close , to give the series its rhythm while allowing individual episodes to vary in tone.
- The seven Shorts were released as a batch to reinforce the series identity on the channel rather than spacing them out and losing the cumulative impact.
The Execution
The September session followed the same production model as June: arrive early, set up a consistent interview position with clean background and natural light, then film seven founders back-to-back as the event ran around them. Each interview lasted roughly ten minutes to produce a sixty-to-ninety-second Short. Direction stayed conversational , no scripted questions, no rehearsals , but each subject was guided to lead with the most concrete, personal detail of their entrepreneurial story. Sound was captured via lavalier microphone with a backup directional, prioritising voice clarity over ambient atmosphere. Post-production cut each interview to a standalone short-form piece following the series template: cold open with the strongest line, title card, body, and close. All seven were graded to match the June edition's tonal palette, ensuring the full series reads as one body of work across the channel.
The Outcome
Seven new Shorts joined the existing seven from June, doubling the I Wanna Bees interview library and reinforcing the series as a recurring editorial commitment rather than a one-off experiment. The batch release strategy gave the channel a visible content surge that performed across organic reach. For the community, the second edition confirmed that the series has staying power , founders now approach the project proactively rather than needing to be recruited. The self-initiated format continues to demonstrate the studio's capacity for editorial content production beyond client-commissioned work.
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