National Disaster Search Foundation | Bobcat

Products can do more than help individual people, they can make entire businesses and practices possible. For this project, we wanted to show how Bobcat equipment supports work in high-stakes environments, like disaster relief. This led us to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF), and Bobcat’s involvement with them. Founded in 1996, SDF is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Santa Paula, CA that trains dogs for deployment in disaster zones.

Centering the film around SDF allowed us to create a story piece that shows Bobcat equipment’s real-world impact. SDF uses Bobcat equipment to build and maintain the realistic training environments that prepare its dogs for real-world disaster response. Our creative vision was to show how important Bobcat’s industrial equipment is in the day-to-day operations of the facility, making possible the training that ultimately supports life-saving disaster response efforts.

SDF recruits dogs across the country that are rescued from abuse and/or abandonment. These dogs receive professional training (8-10 months) to harness their high energy, drive and tenacity into life-saving, rescue skills. After their training, the dogs are teamed up with a handler, and are sent out in the world to help out in real life disaster situations. SDF’s pre-screening of canine candidates and rigorous training have produced a winning combination. Before SDF introduced its program, only 15% of the dogs that were trained to be search dogs became certified. Today, SDF helped to boost this number to 85%.

Our creative vision for this project was to convey the importance of Bobcat’s industrial equipment in the day-to-day functioning of the training of these dogs. We knew going into the shoot that the final product was going to be  short-form format, providing us with helpful parameters which guided us in our filming process. Knowing this ahed of time proved incredibly helpful in determining what type of shots we were looking for, as well as how many people to interview versus live-action footage to capture. Most importantly, it helped us know at the start  we needed to include Bobcat and their product right away, alongside the training facility. This shoot was set at the SDF’s training facility. Denise Sanders, the SDF Sr. Director of Communications and Handler, is interviewed in the video. She states that the facility is “125 acres of disaster training props designed specifically for search dogs, and we like to call it doggy Disneyland.” The voiceover that one hears throughout majority of this video is a continuation of this interview with her. The visuals we chose to included under Denise’s voice both bolster her claims as well as demonstrate what SDF does and showcase how Bobcat is necessary to their foundation. We also brought in additional voices to reinforce the film’s message and amplify its impact.

The video itself intentionally presents Bobcat equipment as an essential and integral part of the training facility’s landscape. Shot atop and through the rubble the Bobcat machinery lifts and moves, the piece shows how the dogs’ training (and day-to-day operations of SDF) depends upon the reliability and efficiency of Bobcat’s equipment. The film shows how the facility’s mission is connected to SDF’s origin story just as much as it is to the people and products that continue to make its work possible today.

• Story development and creative planning
• Filming at the SDF training facility
• Captured Bobcat equipment in action
• Conducted interviews with key stakeholders
• Edited a documentary-style brand film