The Metropolitan Vacuum Cleaner Company, Inc. or MetroVac for short, a third-generation family-owned business out of Oakland, New Jersey is celebrating 75 years of business. Together, Focus Media and Ellenbogen Group helped them commemorate this milestone by creating a long form documentary reflecting the history of this successful business!  Our crew, working with Focus Media’s Bridget Clark and Lisa Kelly visited the factory to get a sneak peak behind the action at MetroVac.

Alex Pearson, videographer and editor explored the factory with lighting and sound technician Brian Dyke and production assistant Samantha Noldy. The team first had a hands on look at the products including vacuums made for both carpet and wood floors, handheld vacuums for messes around the house, an air compressor for cleaning delicate spaces, and they also saw a demonstration of the sucking power of the vacuum by simply attaching the vacuum to a blank wall.

For the documentary, Focus Media and Ellenbogen Creative Media wanted to portray the dedication and family aspect of the business. The team interviewed several family members as well as employees of MetroVac about what it is like working for a company that has been in business for 75 years. “It is really great to see such dedication and love within the company” said Lisa Kelly. “Plus, we got to see some really cool products!” Videographer, Alex Pearson, was also impressed with the factory, “There is a lot going on at MetroVac! Seeing the production line, filled with employees working on products made and sold here in the United States is a great thing to see!”

“75 years and three generations is a huge milestone because most companies don’t make it past the second generation,” said Vice President of Marketing, David Stern. “Working with Focus Media and Ellenbogen Group was a great experience because they are excellent at what they do!” Focus Media’s Bridget Clark says she always loves working with Ellenbogen Group, “They capture our vision perfectly, offer ideas to take things to the next level and always come out with a great final product for the client.” Focus Media has the vision, Ellenbogen helps brings it to life!

President and CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen loves working with family businesses, especially those celebrating milestones because Ellenbogen Group is also a family business. “It’s so important for the employees to be happy in any business and it is clear that the employees at MetroVac are proud and happy to be part of the company.”

Tech talk: The crew came across minor challenges shooting this video, such as, fluorescent lighting in the factory coupled with a noisy environment; but they were able to find a solution by using soft lights and a boom mic to produce a great looking HD video and audio. As always, Ellenbogen Group went to any length to get the shots that Focus Media needed and completed editing in just a few days of post-production. A Canon DSLR camera was used to shoot and the video was edited using FinalCut Pro X.