You have a mission, and you have a message. What you might not have is someone who knows how to find the story within that message, and can tell it in a way that gets your donors and supporters to act. That’s how I can help.

I'm an Emmy-nominated, award-winning producer with deep, hands-on experience leading every phase of production, story development, production management, field production, editing, and post. I’ve spent my career making documentaries alongside the world’s best visual storytellers at National Geographic, and creating impact stories for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. I’ve made viral social-first stories, educational stories that improve learning outcomes, and informational content that inspires viewers to act. I build a whole story, start to finish, which means every choice, what to shoot, what to cut, what to lead with, serves one story and its underlying message instead of several competing ones.

Understorey grew out of the need organizations like yours have. I start by spending real time with the people and organizations whose stories we're telling, long enough to know what actually matters to them and what they're trying to convey, not just what sounds good in an official press release. It's more than a shot list and a set of instructions. It's the difference between a video that gets watched halfway through once and forgotten, and one that propels action.

I started Understorey for organizations with a real story to tell and no one dedicated to finding the best way to tell it. The ones caught between a generic template video and a full production budget that's out of reach.

Head over to my Case Studies tab to see what I’m talking about, or check out my full portfolio at https://www.behance.net/NancyAnneD.

When I’m not telling stories I spend time outdoors, with my daughter and friends, writing and performing spoof political parody songs in my neighborhood musical theatre, and planning my next travel destination.