By Ingrid Koss
The cast and crew of Ella's Backyard Vlog at a filming session. Front row, from left: Cast Member "Smart Assistant Phil", Production Assistant and Puppeteer Ana Lavrukhina, Cast Member "Fish of Justice", Voice Actor Alex Tsoy, Cast Member "Ella", Voice Actor and Puppeteer Karolina Nikitina, Cast Member "Milana", Russian Media Producer Albina Nikitina. Back row: Production Technician Eli Melsness, Cast Member "Grandpa", Production Assistant Timothy Nikitina. Missing, Filming Assistant Daniel Taylor (shown in slide-show, below).
Producing a program with a weekly release schedule means there are always multiple episodes in various stages of production: dreaming, writing, planning, filming, post-production, release, promotion, and audience response. To give an idea of the tasks and deadlines that come around over and over again, we thought we’d look at a typical week for Albina Nikitina (Russian Media Producer) and Ana Lavrukhina (Production and Marketing Assistant).
Monday
The work week begins with Albina checking all the stats and comments on the Ella’s Backyard YouTube channel. Knowing which topics are popular helps Albina and Ana plan for next episodes. Tracking the likes, dislikes, shares, number of subscribers, and comments helps them know what’s important to their audience. Even the negative responses are valuable; they show that kids are thinking about what they’ve seen, and that they’re interested enough to keep watching. Answering questions and responding to comments lets Albina interact personally with viewers. Sometimes the conversations become bigger as other followers chime in.
Albina meets with Ana to plan the workflow for the coming week. They talk about what they will write, record, and post. Then it’s time to write the script. Albina and Ana want everything they release to be trustworthy, relevant, and interesting. Every script-writing session starts with researching the topic. Then that topic is used to address a question or comment viewers have raised. Once the script is done, Albina takes it home so Karolina – Albina’s daughter and the voice of Ella on Ella’s Backyard Vlog – can practice her lines at home.
"Writing scripts is always fun and inspiring. We get to speak about music videos, games, movies, archaeology, science, and other fun things,” says Albina. “And in all of it, of course, we speak about Jesus.”
Tuesday
Albina does video editing on a previously recorded program that will be released later in the week. Meanwhile, Ana gets the puppets ready for the next filming session when they will record the newest script. All the details for the next episode – such as props, set, special effects, and music – must be carefully thought through and put in place. As the star of the show, Ella gets a wardrobe change and has her hair done.
Wednesday
Staff meetings happen on Wednesday mornings when all Square One pray for each other and are inspired by the Word of God. Then Albina starts the audio editing, preparing the storyboard for the upcoming recording session. Once the audio editing is finished, puppeteers Ana, Timothy, and Karolina start getting ready to film.
Thursday
Albina makes sure that the next video to be released is ready by mid-afternoon so it can be posted online in the evening, just as people in Russia are waking up and starting their day. Meanwhile, by 4 pm, the teenage volunteers are dismissed from school and arrive at the film studio to record the newest episode.
Friday
The last day of the work week is a busy one. Last week’s video has been released. It’s time to promote the episode, post it on different platforms, and interact with the audience. At the same time, Albina stars editing the video that was just filmed so it will be ready to release when it’s time comes.
Monday
The work week begins again. Albina checks all the stats and comments on the Ella’s Backyard YouTube page…
“I think it’s a fun and creative way of telling the story of Jesus. And we hope that the seeds we sow now will grow in our viewers’ hearts so that they can have a relationship with Jesus, or be ready to trust him one day,” says Albina.