Background
Quimera helps clients develop dynamic and insightful video for learning and change. As a workshop focused on “video as tool” in applied qualitative research, strategic design, evaluation, knowledge management and dissemination Quimera is different from traditional media houses. Years in international management research and case writing, international development, and organizational change led to the emergence of Quimera and its focus on video. Approaches are informed by documentary, film studies, and media arts while driven by ethnography, storytelling, participatory video and qualitative inquiry. The essence of Quimera is innovation fueled by the power of audiovisual arts and the rigors of applied social science.
Services
Based on a client’s needs, experience and budget Quimera assumes a specific combination of responsibilities to co-design and create video product. During production Quimera can travel to the field to undertake interviewing and filming on its own, embed with a client project and/or evaluation team out in the field, or remotely develop content from Washington, DC through collaboration on the ground. From concept development, story research and pre-production through production, analysis, editing, and dissemination Quimera can manage the client through all phases of video creation while implementing all or selected phases of video development.
In most projects Quimera is instrumental in helping to conceptualize and frame the story, identifying narrative and visual content while leading production planning. Director/ producer responsibilities typically fall to Quimera as well. Quimera serves as editor in the vast majority of its projects.
On more research or evaluation-focused projects Quimera has been included as part of the research/ evaluation team, capturing findings on video and documenting process. Given its research background, at times Quimera actually participates in and contributes to the investigation, most often through its video based participatory and action-research approaches, feeding into data collection, analysis and development of findings through the audio and visual components of research data.