Matt Shapiro And keef Chat 'Made By Hand' - Video Interview

Matt Shapiro And keef Chat 'Made By Hand'

Passion projects often bring out the best in creative types. As much as the budget and scope of agency/brand-led projects can allow greatness to be realised, it seems that when an artist is left to pursue his or her own interests some truly magical content can be created. Such is the case with 'Made By Hand' – an episodic documentary web-series charting the proliferation of small-scale businesses in the Brooklyn area, all of which produce and sell handmade products.
 
The brainchild of Director Keith "keef" Ehrlich (along with friend and Crew Cuts editor Matt Shapiro), the project was created out of the ethos 'that the things we collect, consume, use, and share are part of who we are as individuals.' Specifically promoting companies and individuals that create locally, sustainably, and with a love for craft, the film series harnesses the directorial eye of keef alongside an insightful by the subject, creating compelling, fascinating and gorgeously put-together slices of lives spent crafting.

The project has certainly been a success, with each film achieveing 150K+ Vimeo views, as well as coverage in print and online – having featured in Gizmodo, Core77, Vogue, Swissmiss, Kottke.org, Dwell, GQ, Creative Review, Hypebeast, New York Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and plenty more! The team have also been tasked to do similarly focussed brand-led work, applying the viewability and sensitivity for covering the subjects to the 'branded content' banner.
 
We were lucky enough to grab some time with keef and Matt in the Crew Cuts office during our New York visit, during which time we chatted about the project, how the guys find their subjects and the success of something they decided to Make By Hand.

You can check out the full 'Made By Hand' films on the site here.