Studios

Danzico has founded five groups to date: NBC Left Field, BBC Pop Up, BBC Trending, the BBC Video Innovation Lab, and most recently, Danzico Visual Studios.

NBC Left Field, A documentary lab

In 2017, Danzico founded NBC Left Field, a cinematic, experimental video unit that toyed with format and style.

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From designing the group’s style guide to shooting its first films to choosing the soundproofing materials that would ultimately be glued to the walls of their Manhattan studio, Matt directed every aspect of NBC Left Field’s editorial direction, formation, and design.

He spent two years at America’s biggest broadcaster, building out the studio and then forming a team that would go on to win two dozen awards in two years—thanks to the fantastic filmmakers and journalists who filled the seats and brought the unit to life.

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After handing the creation back to NBC so that it could be put into full editorial swing, Danzico then spent 2018 attempting to bridge the gap between NBC News and NBCUniversal, through companies like Focus Features and the Syfy Channel. During that time, Danzico also hit the road to film a few short documentaries for the unit.

Below are snaps of the fifteen-member team itself as well as some favorite documentaries, innovations, and short videos from the unit.

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SElect awards from the Left Field team

Front Page | Picture of the Year Int | PDN Storytellers | Human Rights Press | Peabody Awards | Overseas Press Club | Eppy Awards | National Press Photographers

 

BBC Pop Up, A crowdsourcing film unit

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BBC Pop Up was the British Broadcasting Corporation’s first “crowdsourcing bureau,” a roving studio which relocated to a new city or country each month to unearth local story ideas from area residents. The team then made short films based on the suggestions they received in each region and turned those into a half-hour documentary show for BBC World News.

The basic premise was simple: relocate to a new location for a month at a time, hold a town hall in a local auditorium, and ask residents what issues they wanted BBC journalists to film in their region.

Some of the story ideas were turned into short films and ran on BBC World News television as well as the website. The half-hour show, BBC Pop Up, aired on the BBC World News for two years and was also broken down into chunks for digital use as well.

The crowdsourcing studio often incorporated the individual who originally suggested the story idea suggestion into the filming itself.

Danzico created the unit and ran as the head for two years, employing other BBC video journalists to help make the segments and larger show. Together, the group relocated to six states in the US and then to India, Russia and Kenya. The program was later brought to Beirut by a journalist who joined the team during the first six months of the project. (That segment below.)

BBC Pop Up officially ran between 2014-2016. And though its social offerings are now defunct, it is still occasionally carried out as one-offs by BBC bureaus around the world.

Other media outfits have since adopted the model and executed exciting crowdsourcing projects based on this BBC unit.