Helping real people shine in video storytelling

I wanted to pass along my appreciation again to you and your team for making ENSC look like super stars at our conference. The sizzler and the award videos were the highlight of the conference! 

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I wanted to pass along my appreciation again to you and your team for making ENSC look like super stars at our conference. The sizzler and the award videos were the highlight of the conference! Your team’s efforts to get seven award videos turned around so quickly and their willingness to make any last minute tweaks we had did not go unnoticed. I appreciate working with such a professional team and look forward to working with you again soon on the CKF film, which I know will be another successful video.

—Natalie Irwin

Marketing Specialist, Efficiency Nova Scotia

If you have a serious goal and a need for a strong narrative, there is no better company to partner with. I can't wait for our next project. Mathew and his team take care of everything and instill the confidence that the final project will exceed expectations. Every. Single. Time. 

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There are many agencies who can put words and images together to make an impressive visual product. I can't think of any one other who spends so much time doing a strategic deep dive into your project to find the narrative that accomplishes your objective. Mathew and his team take care of everything and instill the confidence that the final project will exceed expectations. Every. Single. Time. I always want to work with Journeyman when I have a story to tell. 

Did you ever start a project knowing that you just wanted it to be exceptional, stand out, interrupter, a story so profound that would cut straight through the noise of our multi-segmented reality? Did you dream of having that compelling narrative and a stunning visual that came about with minimal effort and work on your part? Look no further...that's the Journeyman experience. With Journeyman, we had a lengthy and detailed discovery meeting and then placed our full trust in Mathew and his team to get it done. They returned with a product that helps make the world a little bit better one story at a time.

The thing I seek Journeyman out for is to help me find the compelling story to tell. Then, I let go and trust them to work their process and return with the story in the can. I can relax and know that our subjects and locations are in the hands of consummate professionals who will champion them as much as the final product. They are creative with making the project work within the parameters set. They are innovative and brilliant. And, just so enjoyable through every step of the process...even when you hit a bump or two.

I truly believe that if you have a serious goal and a need for a strong narrative, there is no better company to partner with. I can't wait for our next project.

—Wendy Walters

Director of Medical Affairs, Nova Scotia Health

Beyond technical skills, Journeyman is able to serve as true thought partner, helping identify powerful storytelling opportunities and drawing out human elements for more engaging and relatable content. 

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In our experience, from the start of a project, Journeyman is quick and responsive, always ensuring open and timely communication. Beyond technical skills, Journeyman is able to serve as true thought partner, helping identify powerful storytelling opportunities and drawing out human elements for more engaging and relatable content. 

With regards to a recent project, Journeyman has demonstrated sensitivity and respect for Indigenous culture and history, ensuring that all content was handled with care and authenticity. They have been equally committed to preserving our brand’s visual identity and message alignment. 
Journeyman’s ability to repurpose footage into additional content is invaluable, extending the life and impact of a project. Final products have garnered significant positive social media engagement, a testament to the quality of their work.

—Nancy Contrada

Corporate and Internal Communications Advisor, Corporate Relations, Shell Canada Ltd.

Journeyman Film Company has been my go-to video storyteller on work in both community development and clean energy. Professional, creative, thorough — they won’t let you do the hackneyed and over-done. They respectfully push you to tell the most impactful story you can. 

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It may be a cliché, but it’s true — people are hardwired to understand our world through emotions and stories, not just facts. Rational, scientific data often loses against a compelling, emotional story that speaks to people’s core values.

But that story needs to be well crafted, well told, and get into the hearts, minds, and if need be, wallets, of your core audiences.

Journeyman Film Company has been my go-to video storyteller on work in both community development and clean energy. Professional, creative, thorough — they won’t let you do the hackneyed and over-done. They respectfully push you to tell the most impactful story you can. And I believe asking the right questions is as important as the answers, so I appreciate Journeyman’s process and approach.

—Sean Kelly

Lead Consultant, SKC (Sean Kelly Communications)

... a thoughtful, creative process that balanced care, sensitivity, and trust with exceptional storytelling skill. They took a complex, layered subject — proximal health — and gave it meaning... The reaction was immediate: surprise, emotion, and connection. 

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We had the pleasure of collaborating with Mathew and Journeyman Film Company on a deeply meaningful update to a story we had followed for over a decade. The original film about Donna had become an important teaching tool in our work around social determinants of health, and we were eager to explore what had happened in her life 13 years later.

Mathew invited us into a thoughtful, creative process that balanced care, sensitivity, and trust with exceptional storytelling skill. He took a complex, layered subject — proximal health — and gave it meaning through the story of Donna, bringing nuance, emotion, and clarity to something that can often be explored in ways that are abstract or academic. The result is a film that resonates powerfully with our students and colleagues, and continues to spark reflection and dialogue.

The story of Donna is not a simple one. It involves trauma and real resilience — and a life shaped by the kinds of social and structural challenges that too often remain invisible in health care education. From the very beginning, Mathew approached this update with patience, integrity, and deep respect for Donna as a person. He built a foundation of trust with her and with us over many months, which allowed the story to unfold honestly and powerfully.

Even across significant distance — our university is in Kansas, Mathew is in Halifax, and others in our group joined from across the US — the collaboration felt close and cohesive. We weren’t just partners; Mathew invited us to be part of a shared creative effort, participating together in detailed conversations about content, story structure, tone, and ethical responsibility. 

When we first showed the finished film to our students, the reaction was immediate: surprise, emotion, and connection. We knew it must be rare to follow up on a story like this with such continuity. And we felt privileged to experience such connection and care in the work process itself, the very things we were hoping to illuminate. The new film not only satisfied our long-held curiosity — it deepened our understanding and humanized themes we care most about.

Mathew and Journeyman have created something lasting, something that communicates at the highest levels of human connection. Their work shows that when a story is told with authenticity and courage, it is more than just a message — it can become a shared, indelible experience.

We are incredibly grateful.

—Dr. Paul Uhlig

Proximal Health Innovation & Research Group, Department of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita

The quality of work of the final product is more than we could have asked for and will be an asset as we work to promote future developments with outside partners. We would like to thank all of the staff at Journeyman Film... and we look forward to future collaborations.

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Pictou Landing First Nation had the pleasure to work with Journeyman Film Company on development of a community promotional video. The quality of work of the final product is more than we could have asked for and will be an asset as we work to promote future developments with outside partners. We would like to thank all of the staff at Journeyman Film... and we look forward to future collaborations.

—Chief and Council

First Nation leadership, Pictou Landing First Nation

I've had some videos that I've been happy with when I've worked with other companies, but they're just..."meh, they're okay." Whereas working with Journeyman, everything's just, "wow, wow, goosebumps, I just can't wait to show that, I can't wait to share it!"

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Journeyman's creativity has shown through incredibly. Every time we see a draft of something that they're working on, we are just wowed. And every time we see one of their videos that Journeyman has produced for us, we don't change a thing. We don't need to, it's just ready to go. And to have that confidence in an organization like Journeyman to do that makes my life a lot easier because I don't have to worry about what political sensitivities might there be around this, because they understand what we're trying to get at.

Far exceeded our expectations. So from a creativity perspective, it's been awesome working with Journeyman. As I said, they're very, very good at what they do and just getting at that nugget. And I know it's not easy, because sometimes they've spent many, many long hours out on that bridge in cold and trying to get people to talk to them who probably -- they're iron-workers, they don't necessarily want to talk to someone with a camera -- but they get what they need and we are all the better for it because we've gotten so many accolades about the videos that have been produced by Journeyman on our behalf. It's been great. 

The way we've approached communications and with these videos, it has allowed us to step out of our normal conservative box. They must work really hard to get some of the footage because it's very unique what we've done together. It's their approach in terms of their storytelling. The end product is very engaging. I've had some videos that I've been happy with when I've worked with other companies, but they're just... I've been happy, but "meh, they're okay." Whereas working with Journeyman, everything's just, wow, wow, goosebumps, I just can't wait to show that, I can't wait to share it.

I've worked with some other companies and they were less expensive than Journeyman, but I think the difference was obvious in the finished product that we got. I do believe there's a bit of "you get what you pay for" and it depends what you're looking for. This is a special project and we wanted to work with a company, an organization that really was going to let the project shine and through the proposal process, that was obvious that that was going to be Journeyman.

—Alison MacDonald

Communications Manager, Halifax Harbour Bridges

Many corporate videos are beautiful and well crafted but too nice to be real; this one however was certainly perceived as authentic. We had talked about all the positive elements of the project on different occasions but showing the video helped shift the point of view.

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I retired from Shell in 2016 after 31 years in R&D, process development, trouble shooting, start-up, operations, LNG plant site management, project management and project governance in both oil and gas (LNG). My final assignment in Shell was as Front End Project Manager of a new LNG opportunity that has become the LNG Canada LNG export project and my role morphed into that of Operations Director and Pipeline Governance Manager after DG/3.  

One of this project’s characteristics is that it had to find solutions to many complex challenges and to gain support from many and varied stakeholders for these. Important external stakeholders are the people living in the town of Kitimat and the many First Nations in the region and management internal to Shell and its 3 other partners (Kogas/Mitsubishi/CNPC) in the project.

LNG Canada engaged Journeyman to produce a number of short videos to help document the project’s approach and considerations and present a story to the stakeholders. I had the pleasure of participating directly in the video that explained how we searched and found the site for the plant in the remote town of Kitimat. 

Journeyman, some time after the video was released, asked for my feedback on the experience of participating and on the video itself. 

Key points for me are:

During the day of shooting, and being unfamiliar with the “Journeyman approach“, I couldn't see at all how we were going to piece things together to make something worth watching. But when I saw the finished video I was pleasantly surprised and thought it was better than I could have hoped for.

I showed a combination of the cut down versions of Perfect Spot and Safe Shipping to a forum of Front End Project Managers and to other Senior Executives at Shell. Their response was that the video is the thing that made them realize, "oh, this is why you really do believe this is a strong project that will go forward". Many in Shell were assuming it was a project that was too problematic because of the extremely complex geographical, regulatory and external stakeholder issues. We had talked about all the positive elements of the project on different occasions but showing the video helped shift the point of view.

Part of the video's success in persuading others is due to the "unique Journeyman style" that communicated with the actual people, coming from their "hearts and mouths", people who were knowledgeable about the area and the project. It was not a piece with messages delivered by the communications team or by the CEO, or with slick corporate speak and a voice actor VO. Many such corporate videos usually are beautiful and well crafted but too nice to be real; this one however was certainly perceived as authentic. Journeyman introduced elements that made it seem more credible.

—Joost van Tilburg

Front End Project Manager (former), LNG Canada

If you are looking to tell a human story that will captivate and motivate your audience, look no further than Mathew and Journeyman. I got comments like: “This felt like something I would see on Netflix or CBS. It didn’t feel corporate.”

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As a communications professional at a large corporation, you are often asked to help solve problems in the business through creative communications and content.  I was approached about a particular problem, and I was convinced that a film had the ability to help fix the issue.  Many looked at me with skepticism and other communications professionals were not convinced.  But, I just knew that the right storyteller would understand my vision and be able to bring to bring it to life.  

Mathew was like a gift from the heavens.  He was the storyteller I needed, and he absolutely knocked it out of the park.  If you are looking to tell a human story that will captivate and motivate your audience, look no further than Mathew and Journeyman.  

Here are just a few quotes from people who watched the film: 

“This is the single, best piece of content/storytelling that I have seen since I’ve been at this company.” 

“This felt like something I would see on Netflix or CBS. It didn’t feel corporate.”

“I can’t believe I watched every minute of it and wanted more.”

“Love the honesty of your story.  Sometimes these videos have a tendency to gloss over the hard parts/difficult times and make it seem like it all came together seamlessly.” 

We turned to Journeyman when we had a difficult ask. I couldn't be more impressed with the work we did together. 

—A.M

Communications Adviser, Shell USA, Inc.