Luma Creative — Local services in San Francisco

We are small non-profit that needed a video with heart to motivate donors to give. I searched far and wide (across the bay area) and it was hard to find any shop that had a portfolio of non-profit work.

Luma Creative is a rare find and they had several pieces of non-profit work with rich storytelling and heart. We hired them and they produced the most powerful piece of film that had our donors in tears and much more eager to open their wallets.

Research and preparation are two of Luma's hallmarks. In order to find the right story (one with a powerful story arc, the right personalities, etc. ) they interviewed 12 sets of mentors with their college students. It was hours and hours of work, probing for those emotional highlights and weighing which story would have the most impact.

I am new to film and Will (the owner) has a documentary background. He kept reassuring me that if you spend the time in the beginning (interviewing, researching, determining where the story is going, what elements to focus on, etc.) you end up spending less money in the end. He was so right!

With the research done, we moved onto getting the right talent. He knew he wanted a documentary feel and so he hired a specific Director of Photography (Christian) who specialized in a specific look and feel that Will wanted. Christian’s personality was also a bonus when you are working with a low-income student who is baring his soul in front of a camera. You could tell that behind the camera, Christian was connecting with the student emotionally and had a tremendous amount of compassion. His small comments or sensitivities with the shots, all spoke volumes about his respect and admiration for our student’s journeys.

Will included me in all the shoots and was open to all comments, suggestions and where the story was going. Will has a gift for connecting with people and getting them to trust him. He filmed our 3 low-income students and was able to coax out emotions, truths and even tears–simply because the students trusted him.

One of Will’s power alleys is that he works well with all personalities. He is able to listen to what I’m saying, but also read everything that I’m not saying. He has a very high emotional EQ and read me well. He knew when I wasn’t happy with something before I ever had to say it–and jumped to fix the problem. He doesn’t let his ego get in the way and I felt like a partner in the process rather than just “the client”.

And then onto post. I learned that editing is an art. With hours and hours of raw footage, Ernesto (editor) watched it all and pieced together the most salient footage to create a masterful story with a purpose–to inspire a donor to give.

I have never been involved with filming or the editing process, but Ernesto made it easy to make edits and to send suggestions back to him. He is a gifted editor, juggles many hats effortlessly and is highly reliable. When he says you will have revisions in 24 hours, you have the revisions in 23 hours. There were only about 3 revisions needed and we received the final product. I would want Ernesto on my team anytime I was doing a film!

Our project came in exactly on budget. The process was effortless and I wasn’t mired in scheduling, permits, or hours of time sitting around. A very nice touch was that Will allowed two of our scholarship students (students majoring in film/theatre) to participate as production assistants on the shoot.

My first experience with shooting a film was so positive and I now have several films from Luma that will help take our foundation to the next level funding wise. I am very grateful to Will and his team and would recommend them...

I work for a nonprofit and had the pleasure of hiring Luma Creative to help us film and edit a success story about one of our program participants. From onboarding to the final delivery, Will and his team were an absolute joy to work with.

During the storyboarding process, the Luma team listened carefully to our goals and objectives, making thoughtful recommendations to ensure the video would have the greatest impact. They also did a wonderful job building rapport with our interviewees, making everyone feel comfortable and at ease on camera.

Filming went smoothly, with Will and his team helping us identify additional filming locations beyond the primary site we had booked. They also helped us create—and stick to—a schedule that accommodated the needs of all the participants.

The editing process was seamless. Their team provided excellent project management to keep us on track with our deadlines, responded quickly to revision requests, and offered helpful guidance throughout.

I would absolutely work with them again and wholeheartedly recommend Luma Creative to anyone looking to produce a powerful,...

Video Production Excellence! A GREAT Team to Work With! Luma Creative delivered exceptional results for our team at Google! When we approached Will and the team to create a high-impact internal video with a very short lead time, they didn't flinch. They quickly understood our challenge and developed a fantastic video that blew us away and raised the bar for our future internal comms!

Beyond their technical expertise and talent, Luma brought great energy and a real "can-do" mentality to the project. Their team was a pleasure to collaborate with – professional, responsive, and genuinely invested in our success. I highly recommend Luma Creative to anyone seeking a top-tier video production partner. They're true professionals who deliver outstanding results. In fact, we're already lining up our next...