Franklinton Cycle Works Brand Video - Columbus, Ohio Video Production Case Study | Actuality Media
Some projects are fun because the work is creative. Others are meaningful because the organization behind them is doing something genuinely good. Franklinton Cycleworks is both. Our video production team at Actuality Media had the chance to produce a brand video for the Columbus nonprofit as part of the launch of their annual membership program.
Franklinton Cycleworks, located at 897 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43222, is a nonprofit bike shop rooted in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. They do a little bit of everything: they sell affordable used bikes that they’ve refurbished, offer low cost professional repair services, give members access to self-service repair stations to work on their own bikes and host community biking events throughout the year.
The common thread behind all of it is a simple mission: make biking as accessible as possible, for as many Columbus residents as possible. That especially includes neighbors who might not otherwise have reliable transportation. It’s an organization quietly closing a real transportation gap in the city.
This project started with our agency partners at Brave Little Beast, the brand and web design studio based in the heart of downtown Gahanna at 106 Short St #102, Gahanna, OH 43230. Brave Little Beast was already deep into a larger marketing campaign for Franklinton Cycleworks; a new website to debut the organization’s annual membership subscription, paired with email marketing, digital ads, and the rest of the rollout.
As the launch got closer, it became clear the campaign would benefit from a strong piece of video. A written description of a nonprofit’s mission can only go so far. To really understand what Franklinton Cycleworks means to the people who use it, you kind of have to see it. Brave Little Beast brought us in to help with that.
We worked closely with the former FCW Executive Director, Jonathan Young, to plan the video production. The goal was a single brand video that could work as an About Us piece on the new homepage while also promoting the launch of the annual membership.
We scoped a focused four hour shoot on-site at their organization’s location. That window gave us enough time to capture everything we needed without disrupting the flow of the shop.
- A series of interviews with Jonathan and other key staff members covering the origin of the organization, the journey from the early days to today, where things are headed next, and why the new annual membership matters for the Columbus community
- A wide net of b-roll capturing the shop as a living place. It showed customers trying bikes, members fixing their own, staff working on repairs, and the community atmosphere that makes the space more than just a bike shop.
Video production in a working bike shop means adapting to a space that isn’t built for cameras. Franklinton Cycleworks isn’t a place that stops moving. Customers were coming in and out for repairs, members were working on their own bikes at the repair stations, and conversations were happening everywhere you looked. Rather than trying to sanitize the space for camera, we leaned into it.
The interviews gave us the narrative backbone. Jonathan and the team spoke candidly about how the organization was founded, how it has grown, what the new membership program unlocks for the community, and what Franklinton Cycleworks hopes to become over the next few years. The energy in the room gave every answer weight. Around those interviews, we captured the kind of b-roll that only a real, functioning shop can give you. Hands on handlebars, grease on fingers, regulars catching up at the counter and a full wall of bikes waiting for a second life.
In post, the challenge was weaving the origin story, the community, and the membership launch together without any of it feeling forced. We built the narrative around Jonathan’s voice and the voices of the staff, letting the interviews set the emotional tone and letting the b-roll do the rest.
The final video runs two minutes and thirty seconds. Long enough to tell the whole story: Who Franklinton Cycleworks is, what they do and why the memberships matter. All while staying tight enough to work as a homepage video and an email marketing asset.
Brave Little Beast placed the final video on the Franklinton Cycleworks homepage as part of the new site launch. Franklinton Cycleworks then used it as the anchor asset for their email marketing to their subscriber list, kicking off the annual membership campaign.
The feedback from the team at Franklinton Cycleworks was everything we hoped for. The video captured both the mission and the everyday reality of what they do, and it gave them a piece of content strong enough to introduce the organization to every new visitor to the site.
It was a genuine privilege to work with an organization so deeply rooted in the Columbus community. One that’s giving back to that community in such a tangible way every day. If your nonprofit or business needs video production that captures what you actually do, we’d love to talk.
