In year 2, Reel Talk grows local portfolio of student-led branded content
Joy Mao and Maeve Kenny had the idea for Reel Talk Agency when they were sophomores. The two continued to develop their interest in filmmaking when they studied abroad in London as juniors. Collin Snyder | Staff Photographer
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When Syracuse University seniors Joy Mao and Maeve Kenny first met in 2023 in a television, radio and film class, they realized how well they worked together, sharing a passion for storytelling. By their sophomore spring semester, the duo had planted the seeds for a new idea to create Reel Talk Agency.
“Sometimes for class projects, it can feel limiting because there’s a prompt or requirement to fulfill,” Kenny said. “But when it’s something that you made from scratch, I think it’s more of a testament to your creativity, your imagination, your skill.”
Reel Talk Agency, which began in 2024, focuses on creating short-form promotional content for local clients on campus and in the community. Since then, they’ve worked with eight businesses, nonprofits and student organizations.
After studying and experimenting with various content creation methods, the pair found themselves gravitating toward branded content. Kenny said the night they had the idea, they immediately started brainstorming.
“I remember writing up the Constitution for the club, just being so excited and being on the ‘Cuse Activities website, figuring out what we would need to do to be real about it,” Kenny said.
Reel Talk was approved as a registered student organization at the start of their junior year. Even before the agency officially started, they enlisted the help of peers and friends to start shooting content and organizing the club.
Now in its second official year, Reel Talk has grown, with a general crew of videographers, editors and graphic designers and an executive board that manages operations and fiscal relations.
Once they secure a client, the agency meets to discuss their plans then consults with their customer. Roles are interchangeable on a project-to-project basis, with all members contributing in shooting, directing, producing or editing, senior Nora Kapp, the club’s secretary said. Mao and Kenny draw from their personal interests, including their social media feeds, when pulling inspiration for their projects and finding clients to work with.
Mao said the agency has grown from a passion project to something that impacts her connection to the SU community. It’s helped make the campus smaller, she said. The founders get an insight into their peers’ work outside of school and see different aspects of people they wouldn’t normally see.
Their first project was for ‘Cuse Baja, a student organization that builds and designs off-road vehicles. The agency worked to create a video highlighting the process of getting the cars ready for competition.
“I’m really glad that Newhouse students can come together with other schools and people,” Kapp said. “They get a cool video that they get to use, and we get to make videos, which is what we love to do.”
Last year, Reel Talk shot a video for Awkward Fish, showcasing senior Holly Anderson’s clothing line. The dance-oriented video was heavily inspired by Gap’s campaigns. By modeling after an established company and tying in student designers like Anderson who add their own flair, the project was a collaboration between different sides of campus.
She’s run Awkward Fish on campus since the end of her freshman year, and said shooting the project with Reel Talk was the best artistic collaboration experience she’s had.
“It definitely brought people to me who were interested in all aspects of art, because we had set design in there, we had dance in there, and fashion,” Anderson said. “It brought a whole new audience to me.”
Mao and Kenny’s interest for documentary-style storytelling piqued when they studied abroad in London last spring. The two learned more about how storylines develop when they’re centered around real people, and brought these lessons back to campus.
Taking the insights they learn in the classroom is one thing, but actually applying that groundwork and implementing it into a client-based project has been 10 times more helpful and rewarding, Kapp said.
Seth Gitner, Mao’s former COM 117: Multimedia Storytelling professor and the club’s faculty advisor, was an influential mentor in the process. After shooting their first video, they enlisted him to watch it for feedback. Having a professor be committed to critiquing a project outside of class was valuable assistance, Mao said.
“When I’m an advisor for a group, I try not to be just a name on a piece of paper,” Gitner said. “I try to be actively involved and try to advise and help wherever I can.”
When Mao first pitched the idea of Reel Talk to Gitner, he suggested they broaden their mission by making videos for nonprofits. In September 2024, the agency worked with Wayward Paws, a rescue cat shelter in Onondaga County.
As a nonprofit, they have “bigger fish to fry” than their social media presence, Kenny said. The students in Reel Talk helped fill this gap, she said. Connecting with organizations in the city also allows the students to get out of the bubble of the university, Mao said.
Beyond the goal of just enhancing clients’ digital presences, Reel Talk aims to find the best way to represent their clients’ missions.
“Reel Talk itself is very much a change catalyst for learning about different people, different stories,” Mao said. “I think that’s more important than ever now in media, for people to have empathy.”
