Commentary track — 00:00

Pull up a chair. We’ll show you the desk.

Ganderloom’s a small studio on Wescott Way in Midlothian, VA. We write Kickstarter and Indiegogo launch videos, write the campaign page around them, and direct your shoot over a video call while you film in your own garage, kitchen, or workshop.

Think of this page as the commentary track — the stuff that didn’t fit in the 2:30.

Say hi on a 20-minute call See what it costs
Desk
Midlothian, VA
Shoots
Wherever your thing lives
Writes
Script · page · every tier
Picks up
Mon–Fri 8:30–6
A walnut writing desk under a tall window with a laptop on a paused video call, index cards of script beats, and an oxblood notebook
Still 01 · where the scripts get writtenWescott Way
00:08 — Why this exists

Three voices, one product. Backers noticed.

Here’s the thing we kept seeing. A campaign would open with a slick video — music swelling, a voiceover straight out of a truck ad — and then you’d scroll down and the page read like it was typed at 1am by someone very tired. Which, honestly, it usually was.

Then the reward tiers would say something else again, usually borrowed from whoever launched last month. Backers can’t always put a finger on it, but they feel it: the video promised one thing, the page explained another, and the $59 tier mentioned neither. So they close the tab.

That’s the whole idea behind Ganderloom. One studio writes the script, the page, and every tier, all off the same kickoff call, in the words you actually used on it. The video and the page come off the same thread. (Yep, that’s the loom part. The name gets its own section in a sec.)

We direct remotely because that’s where your product lives — on your bench, next to the window you already know. We’d much rather see it there, in your real light, than have you mail a one-off prototype across the country in a shoebox and hope.

And we keep it small on purpose. The voice on your kickoff call is the same one reading your script back to you a couple weeks later, and the same one fussing over tier number six. Nothing gets lost in a handoff, because there isn’t one.

00:35 — The name, explained

ganderloom

/ˈgan-dər-ˌlüm/ · noun · said exactly how it looks

  1. gander n., informal

    A look — usually a quick one. For us, it’s step one: we take a long, nosy look at the thing you built before writing a single word about it.

    “Take a gander at this prototype real quick?”

  2. loom n.

    A frame for weaving separate threads into one piece of cloth. Your video, your page, and your reward tiers are three threads. They should come off the frame as one piece.

  3. Ganderloom n.

    A small studio in Midlothian, VA that does both — the looking and the weaving. Also, admittedly, kind of fun to say out loud on a sales call.

01:20 — You, briefly (well, us)

What we’ll do, and what we flat-out won’t.

Easier to show you the rules than to describe our “values.” This list is what we actually say on the first call.

If something on the right is exactly what you’re after, no hard feelings — we’re just not the right studio for it.
Yes, we’ll…Nope, we won’t…
We’llWatch every minute of your raw footage before telling you what to reshoot. We won’tPromise you a funding number. Nobody honest can.
We’llWrite your “risks & challenges” section like it’s real, because the careful backers read it first. We won’tCall anything “game-changing,” “revolutionary,” or “the last kettle you’ll ever need.”
We’llTell you on the first call if your current video is fine as-is and only the page needs work. We won’tPad a package with cutdowns or extras you’re never going to post.
We’llRead the script out loud with you until it sounds like your mouth, not ours. We won’tDrop in stock footage of strangers high-fiving in an open-plan office.
We’llWrite tiers that give someone a reason to back on day one, not just a smaller number. We won’tRun your ads or “guarantee backers.” Different job, and usually a sketchy one.
We’llAnswer your email within a business day, even mid-edit. We won’tGo quiet between the deposit and script draft one.
Overhead view of a phone on a small tripod, a clip-on microphone, a tablet, white foam board and a handwritten shot list laid out on an oak bench
Still 02 · the entire “crew,” more or less
01:00 — Your side of the call

Your shoot kit runs about $63. You probably own half of it.

Remote directing only works if your setup is boring and reliable. Here’s everything we ask for — no camera rental, no lighting truck.

WhatRoughly
Your phoneAnything from the last few years shoots plenty sharp for Kickstarter. It’s the camera.$0
A second screenLaptop or tablet, so we can sit on the call and watch the frame while you hit record.$0
Your biggest windowThe best key light you’ll ever get for free. We’ll help you pick which one.$0
Phone tripod + clampKeeps the frame locked so take four matches take one.~$25
Clip-on lav micThe single biggest upgrade. People forgive soft video; they bail on echoey audio.~$30
White foam boardFrom any craft store. Bounces window light back into the shadow side of your face.~$8
If you buy all of it~$63

We send exact product links after kickoff. Already own a mirrorless camera? Great, use it — we’ll just say so in the shot list. Nothing on this list is something we sell or get a cut of.

A laptop on a walnut desk showing a live video call of a maker’s workbench, with a pencil-ticked shot list beside it
Still 03 · their garage, our screen, one shot list
01:50 — Shoot day

What a remote session sounds like from our end.

You film. We sit on the call on your second screen, watch the frame, and call the takes. A pretty typical stretch of the session clock:

  1. Can you kill the overhead light? Window only, please.Mixed light makes skin go green. Every time.
  2. Phone sideways. No — the other sideways.Horizontal for the main video. Vertical comes later, for the cutdowns.
  3. Hands only on this one. Your face isn’t invited yet.
  4. That was great. Again, slower — like it’s heavier than it is.Slow hands read as confident on camera.
  5. Say the line to me first. Okay — now say it to the lens.
  6. Is that a fridge? I can hear the fridge.Unplug it. Set a phone reminder to plug it back in.

Most sessions wrap with a couple of “one more, just in case” takes. Then you upload the files and we disappear into the edit.

The studio
12337 Wescott Way
Midlothian, VA 23112

Point my phone at Wescott Way

02:15 — Home base

Midlothian on the letterhead. Your kitchen on the call sheet.

The studio’s a quiet room on Wescott Way in Midlothian, VA. That’s where scripts get drafted, tiers get rewritten for the fourth time, and cuts get color-passed.

Shoots happen wherever your product is — another state, another coast, a basement with one good window. We just book your session inside our hours or grab an evening slot if your time zone needs it. Local and want to drop by? Totally fine, just call first.

Mon–Fri8:30am–6pm
EveningsBy appointment
Phone(978) 785-8195
Emailinfo@ganderloom.com
Send us your launch month
Call us Book a call