Shannon Stilson
1. Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your background.
I have nearly two decades of sports business experience in both professional golf and professional polo. My core focus has been helping global brands to activate and bring awareness to their brand through activities at major sporting events and across syndicated television networks, like CBS and ESPN. Over the past eight years at U.S. Polo Assn., I
2. What led you to become a videography professional?
When I was hired in 2015, U.S. Polo Assn. had been broadcasting one of the major polo tournaments, the U.S. Open Polo Championship
3. What is your role in the agency, and what traits should a videography professional possess to be successful in their role?
A successful videographer should have the ability to understand the story that is being captured and the ability to make the athlete/subject feel comfortable and loosen up to get deeper behind the persona they have while competing. My role is an executive producer, so I lead by hiring the team, driving the vision for the stories, selecting the athletes we
4. Tell us more about your production/agency/company.
We launched Global Polo Productions in 2019 as we were launching a first-ever, over-the-top television network. We wanted one place for all polo content for both our polo audience and new non-polo fans. The decision to launch the production department was out of a necessity to tell our story the way we knew it should be told. We are not only a sport, and we are not only a lifestyle, so we seek to find a balance for the fans and the polo community. Starting from scratch meant we had to purchase all the equipment, hire editors, videographers, on-air talent, and develop processes to accomplish our goals of building creative and interesting content that consumers would engage with over the course of time.
5. What is your own definition of great videography?
I think a great videographer is someone who definitely understands the basics and can build upon it. Someone who understands lighting, audio, sound balancing, interview framing, set up, etc. This person must be equipped with the basics so they can really enhance the story we are capturing to make it compelling for our audience.
6. Describe your videography style/flair and its main characteristics.
We strive to remain as authentic as possible, so our style is to use the elements of polo that make it special. This includes the outdoor environment, polo horses, stables, athlete tours, and athletes riding when applicable to the story. An outside videographer is a more challenging role because of those elements, so we battle that often given the noises of outside products, planes, trackers, people, etc.
7. Tell us about your ideation process.
In 2022, I set up a weekly meeting with my Production Coordinator, Anna Doolittle, who is also our lead talent for our ESPN shows, to start building out each one of the four-show series that we
8. Congratulations! As the winner of the LIT Commercial Awards, what does it mean for you and your team to receive this distinction?
We are so proud and thankful for the 2023 LIT Commercial Awards for giving us the opportunity to submit our show Breakaway: Women In Polo. This award is significant to us because we
9. How has winning an international award help to promote your production and works?
Winning an international award helps to validate us as storytellers and moviemakers. It supports the Team
10. What are the challenges of your winning entry(s)?
I see no challenge. Challenges are good for us because it creates growth and innovation. This helps us to continue to strive for even better stories and better content.
11. How has the country you are based in helped during your ideation process?
We are headquartered in the United States and the sport of polo has its top events here in the spring, so that has helped us quite a bit to leverage key moments with athletes and build upon the story that is here and remain authentic.
12. What are the current trends in the videography industry that you are most excited about?
AI is driving interesting trends by building upon screen sets and making it easier to come up with ideas that might be interesting to new fans and content. The evolution of sports documentaries has also allowed our team to have an industry viewing experience for inspiration and trends. The current trends are to show the stories of athletes while competing at high levels and showing their struggles and triumphs.
13. What are the top three (3) favorite things about the videography industry?
1. Content is king, so the videography industry allows us to leverage the beauty of our sport and share it with millions of people.
2. With the growth of technology and cell phones, videography has become supported by better, faster, and less expensive equipment.
3. The ability to leverage a moment in time with a camera to capture someone
14. What resources would you recommend to someone who is searching to improve their videography ideas and skills?
I think it
15. Where do you see the evolution of the videography in the next 5-10 years?
Content is moving so fast, and the videography/movie industry has to move fast with it. I think you will continue to see smaller and smaller cameras that offer more clear pictures and better audio. Our cell phones already can do a full interview, capture a sporting event, and make it more appealing to consumers than a full-stage production.
16. Who has inspired you in your life, and why?
The last 8 years in polo have been a passion-filled journey of finding people in the sport that truly inspire me. The polo community is one that always has your back and always wants the best for people. I
17. What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
This year has been fun but also challenging, no one on our team was a professional in filmmaking or television. I pride myself and our team on working really hard and staying the course to develop great content that we can share with millions of people. Nothing is easy, but if you are willing to work hard for it, it
18. Which THREE (3) marketing communications professionals / peers would you nominate to participate in the LIT Commercial Awards?
1. Stacey Kovalsky
2. Kaela Drake
3. Barbara Karasek
19. Do you have anything else you would like to add for the interview?
I
