Served as the sole producer on this Knott’s Boysenberry Festival sizzle video and B roll shoot. I hired the cast, crew and coordinated with all of the departments at the park to ensure a smooth shoot day. I also worked as an Assistant Editor on the piece and saw the project through to completion. The final video was published on the Knott’s website, social media channels and was used by the PR team in local broadcasts on KTLA and ABC7.
Concepted, filmed and edited this short social video to promote the Ghost Town Alive! event in a unique way. I used a 1970s Super 8 film camera and real Kodak Super 8 film. The film was developed and scanned by a lab in Burbank. I then edited the final video using Adobe Premiere Pro.
What’s it like working at Knott’s Berry Farm in Marketing? I was recently asked that question and more during an interview for the Berry Vine, Knott’s Berry Farm’s newsletter for associates. As the Digital Marketing Manager for the Knott’s Berry Farm Resort, I have the great opportunity to oversee a number of exciting new areas for the company. I am responsible for leading the creation and execution of the digital strategy for the entire Knott’s Berry Farm Resort including the Knott’s Berry Farm theme park, Knott’s Soak City Water Park and Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel. My responsibilities include overseeing digital content creation, digital PR, social media, website content creation, mobile app content, digital ad buys and digital analytics. Many of the areas that I work on didn’t even exist a few years ago. The everchanging landscape of digital marketing is both exciting and challenging at the same time.
In today’s post, I take a closer look at how the different parks in the Cedar Fair chain contribute to the company’s overall revenue and EBITDA. As both a fan and member of the amusement park/theme park industry, I am always searching for ways to learn more about the many incredible companies that operate parks all over the world. Although I enjoy putting on my “fan hat” from time-to-time to read speculation and theories about new rides, I find the most interesting insights come from looking at each business holistically. At the end of the day every park is a business, a fun business, but still a business that is best understood by analyzing it through such a lenses.
There are very few resources to turn to for coverage and data about the inner workings of the industry. The Global Attractions and Attendance Report compiled by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM is one of the best resources available. Unfortunately, even that report relies on unofficial guesstimates and is considered by many in the industry, including myself, to be directionally, but not completely accurate. The most accurate sources of information are the earnings calls, SEC filings and investor presentations that the major public companies in the amusement park industry release on a quarterly basis. Unfortunately, public companies only release tidbits of financial information that typically focus on the overall company and not specific parks or areas of the business. Large conglomerates such as Disney and Comcast provide less data as the theme park business only accounts for one part of their overall companies. On rare occasions, companies will provide more insightful and complete information about how their business operates at the park level.
One of my favorite theme park industry events is the annual Themed Entertainment Association’s Summit (AKA TEA Summit). The TEA celebrates the themed entertainment industry’s greatest achievements from the past year by bestowing THEA awards to the most prestigious new projects and attractions from all over the world. The award recipients are invited to share the story of the development and construction of each project. This year, Shanghai Disneyland received numerous awards, including best attraction for the jaw-dropping new Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure. The Disney Imagineering team that worked on the attraction shared behind-the-scenes information and fun facts about the project’s development and construction:
In November, Knott’s Berry Farm teamed up with BuzzFeed to film the first-ever professionally produced 360 degree POV video of Xcelerator. We had collaborated a number of times before with the great folks at BuzzFeed. Our first collaboration was in 2015 when they covered their favorite food dishes from the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. The relationship with BuzzFeed began with a pitch to them from our publicist in 2015 and has continued since then. The Xcelerator 360 degree project began with an email pitch from a BuzzFeed Video producer. Sometimes stories are pitched by us to them such as the recent Try Guys Knott’s Scary Farm Monster Makeover video and like in this instance, sometimes BuzzFeed pitches us a story idea. Through a partnership with YouTube, BuzzFeed Video was provided use of the exclusive GoPro Odyssey 360 degree camera rig. The BuzzFeed team was tasked with brainstorming different ways to best utilize the $10,000+ camera. One of their producers suggested filming members of their team riding a thrilling roller coaster for the first. The GoPro Odyssey packs 16 synchronized HERO4 Black cameras into an all-in-one rig that’s capable of capturing content in stunning 8K 30 FPS video. The footage from every GoPro is then uploaded to the Jump assembler program to create the final video.
I knew from the start that my engagement was going to be some sort of Disney proposal. My girlfriend, now fiancé (spoiler alert :)), Meghan, was born to two Disneyland obsessed parents that took her to Walt Disney’s park more than the actual city park. She spent three years during college as a Disneyland Cast Member operating attractions including Autopia and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Disney runs through her veins.
Theme parks were a big part of our relationship from the very beginning. We met while working at Knott’s Berry Farm in the Marketing department. She was known as the “Disney” girl since her office was jam packed with as much Disney artwork and memorabilia as physics would allow. Our friendship slowly formed into a relationship and naturally our first date was at Disneyland.
My first idea was for the classic Disney proposal in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. As fate would have it, on our first date, a man asked me to take a photo of him and his girlfriend in front of the castle while he then surprisingly proposed to her. It was a beautiful moment, but … Meghan would later tell me during that same first date that her dream engagement would be Disney related, but that she dreamed of more than the common Disney proposal in front of the castle.
I remembered that nearly a year later when I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and started coming up with Disneyland proposal ideas. Thanks to a lot of planning, pixie dust, Jennifer from MEI Mouse Fan Travel and an awesome friend I was able to create an amazing plan. Continue reading
It’s December 17, 2015, about 66 degrees, on a beautiful fall morning in Southern California, and the Christmas season is in full swing around Knott’s Merry Farm. There are gorgeous decorations carefully placed about the park, over a dozen live shows being performed throughout and dozens of festive treats just tempting me to break my New Year’s Resolution before I even have a chance to make it. Despite the fun in the park, I am huddled backstage in a most peculiar place, the Paranormal Inc. maze where it’s “snowing” inside, working on next year’s Knott’s Merry Farm ad campaign.
The saying “You have to spend money to make money” has been shown to be true over and over again in the amusement park industry. A common question that is posed by both analysts, fans, financial advisors and shareholders is what new ride is coming next to the parks. Fans are excited to experience brand new rides and attractions while analysts, financial advisors and shareholders are worried about how much companies are spending on capital expenditures (capex) every year. Unlike companies in some industries, it’s impossible for an amusement park or theme park to be able to thrive without continued reinvestment. Some companies in other industries, for example In-N-Out, can continue to grow for years without changing their offerings, but that strategy simply doesn’t work in the amusement industry where guests need new motivations to turn off Netflix and head to the park. Let’s take a look at how much the two leading regional amusement park chains, Cedar Fair and Six Flags, have been spending annually.
