Laws of Ace Films  /  Prepared for TECA

Forty educators.
One semester.
One visual identity.

A single production day that gives every cohort member a professional portrait, gives each program its own film, and gives TECA a recap it can put in front of a funder the same week.

Prepared for Dr. Lequite Manning Fall Cohort Semester 2026 Scope Photography + Film

The ask, made visible

Every seat filled, every face lit the same way

40Portraits, one sitting
AscendersFellowsCharter FellowsCoachED UpOne lighting setup, one look

What TECA asked for

Three deliverables, one day on site

Everything below is captured in a single scheduled block so cohort members are pulled away from programming once, not three times.

01 / Photography

Cohort headshots

Up to 40 seated portraits in a controlled studio setup, shot on location. Consistent background, consistent light, so a cohort page or a board slide reads as one class rather than a collage of phone photos. Color corrected and retouched, delivered in web and print sizes plus a square crop sized for LinkedIn and member directories.

02 / Film

Cohort verticals

Short vertical films, one per program, built the way the graduation reels were built. Cohort members name the work they are doing and why it matters, cut tight for Instagram and LinkedIn. Captions burned in, since most of this gets watched without sound.

03 / Film

Day overview recap

A 90 second recap of the day itself, opening with Dr. Manning on the importance of the cohort model and carrying through the room, the training, and the educators in it. Horizontal master plus a vertical cutdown, with space left for her voice to lead rather than a music-only cut.

The closest thing to what you asked for

This is the deliverable, already built

A short vertical testimonial from the Pinnacle Financial Partners series. One person, on camera, saying in their own words why the work matters. Swap the setting for a TECA cohort session and this is the exact piece under discussion.

  • What this isWhat TECA gets
  • One participant, seated interviewOne cohort member per vertical
  • Vertical, captioned, under a minuteSame format, one per program
  • Cut for feed and storiesPlus a horizontal master for the recap
  • Shot in a single scheduled blockCaptured on the same headshot day

Proof of concept

The rest of the range

Four more from the same playbook: leadership on camera, vertical reels, and events cut to length for the audience that needs to see them.

Repped in Tech Mission Video

A mission film built from interview and on-site footage, cut to state what an organization does and why it matters.

RePublic High School CMA Fest Vertical Reel

The vertical format, shot and cut for feed and stories. This is the same build as the cohort verticals in Tier 2.

NBIC Fundraiser

An event film shaped for a fundraising audience, built to carry the room and the message to people who were not there.

MNPS Elementary Music Festival Recap

A full day condensed into a recap, delivered in time to be posted while the event is still current.

Institutional and nonprofit partners

Creative Girls RockCreative Girls Rock Nashville Public Education FoundationNashville Public Education Foundation Republic SchoolsRepublic Schools FiftyForwardFiftyForward North Nashville Arts CoalitionNorth Nashville Arts Coalition Church of the MessiahChurch of the Messiah Mount Zion Baptist ChurchMount Zion Baptist Church Fairfield Missionary Baptist ChurchFairfield Missionary Baptist Church Pinnacle Financial PartnersPinnacle Financial Partners Sony MusicSony Music Cryo & ContourCryo & Contour

Where the money comes back

These are not social posts. They are fundraising assets.

Every deliverable here has a second life inside a grant application, a funder report, or a donor conversation. Priced once, used all year.

Grant applications

Reviewers respond to evidence of program delivery. A cohort film shows the work happening, in the participants' own words, in the reporting period you are claiming.

Funder stewardship

Existing funders get a finished piece attached to the impact report instead of a paragraph. Renewal conversations start warmer when the funder has already watched the outcome.

Donor and board decks

Portraits of all four cohorts in one consistent look make an annual report, a board deck, and a website refresh read as an organization with scale.

Member recruitment

Cohort members become the recruiters. Educators considering TECA hear it from someone who looks like them and teaches where they teach.

Statewide positioning

The vision of programming reaching every part of the state needs footage from the state. This builds that library one semester at a time.

Owned archive

TECA keeps the files. Portraits and B-roll get reused across ten years of collateral without another shoot day.

Investment

Three levels, same production day

Pick the level that fits the budget line this comes out of. The scope can be scaled down further if needed, see the note below.

Semester Essentials
$4,200
One production day
  • Headshots for up to 40 cohort members, retouched and delivered in web, print, and square crops
  • 90 second day overview recap, horizontal master plus vertical cutdown
  • Dr. Manning plus two cohort soundbites woven into the recap
  • Delivery within 10 business days
Recommended
Cohort Spotlight
$6,800
One production day
  • Everything in Semester Essentials
  • Four cohort verticals, 45 to 60 seconds each, one per program
  • Standalone Dr. Manning film, 60 to 90 seconds, on the importance of the work
  • Captions burned in on all vertical deliverables
  • Up to 8 interviews captured on the day
Full Semester Kit
$9,800
One production day
  • Everything in Cohort Spotlight
  • Eight verticals featuring individual cohort members rather than one per program
  • Three pull-quote cuts sized for feed and stories
  • Full photo and B-roll library licensed to TECA for internal and fundraising use
  • Priority delivery within 7 business days

Or build it a la carte

DeliverableRate
Headshot session, up to 40 people$2,500
Day overview recap, 90 seconds$2,200
Dr. Manning standalone film$1,800
Additional cohort vertical, each$700

A 50% deposit reserves the production date. Balance due on delivery. Invoicing can be split across two payments if the semester budget opens in stages.

A note on scope and rate

This can be built to fit the budget

If the number above is more than this semester's line allows, the answer is not a discount, it is a smaller scope. Headshots plus a single day recap can be delivered at $3,400, with verticals added later in the year as budget becomes available. Nothing in this proposal has to happen all at once.

On rate structure: under the previous retainer, TECA had a guaranteed monthly commitment, which allowed a lower rate per deliverable and a higher volume of work than any single project can carry. That security is what made the math work. Project by project engagements are priced per production day, so the per deliverable cost naturally sits higher. If a retainer makes sense again for the coming year, that conversation is open and the rate structure comes back with it.

Next steps

What it takes to lock the date

  1. Confirm the level, or tell me the budget figure and I will build the scope to it.
  2. Confirm headcount, date, and location for the production day.
  3. Identify which program budget this comes from and whether it carries a reporting requirement, so the deliverables can be shaped to satisfy it.
  4. 50% deposit reserves the date on the calendar.
Bryan Williams
Laws of Ace Films LLC
Nashville, Tennessee
lawsofacefilms.com