Our process

Welcome to the team! Whether we’re creating a short film, commercial, or full impact campaign, it all starts with your story. Our kickoff is about laying a strong creative foundation to tell it. Together we’ll:

1. Dive into your story, goals, and vision.
2. Introduce you to your creative leadership team: the director, producer, impact producer.
3. Walk through the production plan, timeline, and set expectations for the creative process.

At Neon Zoo®, we believe in the power of making films about the people “behind the statistics”. That philosophy anchors not only our approach to storytelling but also how we collaborate: with openness, empathy, and care. The kickoff is our chance to start our partnership off right.

The most important step of documentary storytelling is finding its voice (literally). The right voice not only builds a connection between your message and the audience, but also grounds the story in authenticity. To do this, we tap into your network, as well as our own partners on the ground, to conduct pre-interviews, identify the right participants, and ensure every story we tell truly resonates.

Once we find that perfect voice, Neon Zoo® will travel to meet and interview the participant. This could mean going anywhere: from the U.S.-Mexico border to the forests of Norway, or simply to the participant’s home. Regardless of location, we focus on intimate conversations that foster safety and respect, always leading with the participant’s agency.

After the interview, we move into the heart of the story work: editing it down to the radio cut, or script. This stage is crucial for locking in the story’s structure before we bring the visuals to life.

With the story locked in audio form, it’s time to establish the visual storytelling of the piece.

Working in sync with the radio cut, we craft storyboards that map out every beat of the narrative. Pacing, rhythm, and flow are carefully tested and refined here to ensure the story resonates visually as much as it does in audio.

While storyboards establish the story’s structure through camera angles, transitions, and timing, art direction runs in parallel, shaping the visual world. This includes defining color palettes, textures, character design, environments, and overall visual style. Art direction ensures that every frame not only supports the narrative but also evokes the right tone, emotion, and impact.

Potential output during this stage includes color scripts, storyboards, style frames, and timed-animatics.

Because this stage locks down structure, visual style, and timing, it’s the most critical milestone for feedback and approval. This is the last chance to adjust story, pacing, or design choices before moving into the more labor-intensive stages of animation. Getting this right ensures the rest of the pipeline can run smoothly and confidently.

Every stage of pre-production has led up to this glorious phase: actual animating! It’s during production where we finally bring the storyboards and design work to life in motion. Whether it be 2D or stop-motion, our animators dig into character performance, timing, movement, and all the intricacies of animation. 

At this stage, you’ll see a range of completion—from rough linework and cleanup to color, blocking, and polished frames.

Once animation is complete, we move into the final stage: post-production. Here, our team composites the visuals and fine-tunes the edit to ensure every frame is seamless and cohesive.

Just as important as the visuals, sound design and music play a huge role in shaping the final experience. Whether it’s a subtle atmospheric layer or a bold score driving the action, audio is what breathes life into the imagery and deepens the audience’s connection to the story.

In post-production, Neon Zoo® brings all elements together and delivers the finished piece in final full-resolution renders and the formats you need for distribution, ensuring it’s ready to reach your audience.

Partnership with Neon Zoo® doesn’t end at the final product. Our impact producer has been following the project every step of the way, building a strategy alongside the production process. At this stage, we finalize that strategy, providing expert guidance and support on community engagement and sparking conversation. From publications to screenings, we ensure your story reaches the right audiences and your voice is heard.