Litewave Media was hired by the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) to film two projects at the Republican National Convention, which recently took place in Tampa, Florida this August. “The RSLC found us online through our website,” Litewave founder Christian Schwier explains. “They had viewed some of our company’s previous work and thought we would be a good fit for their documentary video project.”

Christian working at the RNC.

Despite storms from Hurricane Isaac, gnarled traffic and huge crowds, our Tampa film crew had an exciting week filming for the documentary. Our onsite editor and Tampa post production crew also created short daily video updates that were uploaded online directly from the convention.

The Fox studio at the RNC in Tampa, Florida.

“Once we got past the security check points, bomb-sniffing dogs and car searches, the shoot was a breeze,” jokes Schwier. The documentary video project centered on five Latino Republicans from around the country who are all running for office, including House and Senate seats and a governorship. The film will tell the story of their candidacy and experiences at the RNC.

Christian and Taylor with their passes to the RNC.

The team also shot footage for five three-minute shorts, which allowed our Tampa video production company to get involved in several different aspects of the convention. Among the events filmed were an interview with Mike Huckabee, a tech panel with Joe Green, (Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard roommate) who developed applications for Facebook, and an educational summit featuring Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

Taylor using the MacBook Air mobile editing station.

Directory of Photography Christian Schwier, and the crew—Taylor Girard, Editor and 2nd Camera and Rachel Lappe, Camera Assistant—used both a Panasonic HPX-170 and a Panasonic HVX-200 to shoot the video segments. Litewave Media’s new ultra-mobile post production station includes Apple’s MacBook Air with Final Cut Studio and Adobe CS6, which allowed the footage for the video shorts to be edited onsite from almost anywhere. After they were finalized, the mini-movies were immediately uploaded to the RSLC’s YouTube channel, enabling Republican supporters to follow the activities at the convention in close to real time.

Although the Tampa video crew enjoyed many parts of the gig, Schwier says the highlight was meeting Dr. Condoleezza Rice. “We got to chat with her for a few minutes before she went on stage,” he shares. “She’s very eloquent and gave a fifteen-minute speech with no teleprompter. The room was really engaged when she spoke. You could feel the energy.”

Christian filming Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

The Republican National Convention is yet another major event to come to Tampa recently, bringing additional film and video business opportunities to the city. Schwier feels that’s good news for both the industry and Litewave Media. “Networking at the RNC will hopefully earn us future jobs when these companies and people come back to Tampa Bay for their next video project,” he says. “We’re working hard to establish ourselves as Tampa’s premier video production company—a one stop shop for crew, production, and post production needs.”

Rachel and her RNC pass.

If you have a video project you’d like to discuss with us, please contact us and to keep up with all of our adventures, like us on Facebook