Testimonials

Skoll Foundation

“Time and time again, Kikim Media knocks it out of the park when it comes to crafting a succinct, impactful film for recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. From story crafting to budget planning and execution, they are thoughtful and thorough with an exceptional eye to keeping a story engaging whilst covering a broad range of issues. Simply put, no matter how challenging the topic or film shoot, Kikim has always delivered.”

Phil Collis

Creative Manager, Skoll Foundation

Legacy Venture

“Kikim Media is nothing short of a national treasure. We have worked with them for over half a decade, and have found them gifted and phenomenal. They listened very well, and understood exactly what we were seeking to achieve. They have a terrific crew that works seamlessly with our activities. They are true masters at filming, assembling, cutting, and polishing a product, often under the most urgent of timeframes. And their creative genius transforms the final product so that it far exceeds what we envisioned going in to every project we have worked on with them. I could not recommend them more highly.”

Russ Hall

Partner & Co-Founder, Legacy Venture

Prakash Laboratory, Stanford University

“Working with Kikim Media to document our global community effort with the Foldscope was a remarkable experience. The team brought so many innovative ideas to the table about how to truly tell the story that captures our community and the work we do. It’s so much fun to work with a creative team that gets the story from day one.”

Manu Prakash

Principal Investigator, Foldscope

Visayan Forum

“The Uncommon Heroes Documentary created by Kikim Media for Visayan Forum had an unprecedented impact on the organization. When it first premiered at the Skoll World Forum, it was met with a five-minute standing ovation. It perfectly captured the essence and spirit of the organization’s dangerous work against human trafficking in the Philippines. However, instead of portraying the misery and suffering of the victims, it was able to highlight the hope in the girl’s lives and how they were healed and reintegrated.

Since then, the documentary has been used on multiple occasions to raise resources and galvanize support for the organization. The stakeholders in our field draw inspiration from it. The girls felt they were well-represented and were proud of the finished product.  We thank Mike and the rest of Kikim media for providing us with a wonderful material that we still use until this day to shed light on the reality of the issue but at the same time, provide hope and inspiration for a future free from slavery and exploitation.”

Ma. Cecilia Oebanda

President & CEO, Visayan Forum

UC Santa Cruz

We thoroughly enjoyed our experience working with the team at Kikim Media. With too little guidance from us, they managed to take a jumble of complex scientific terms and weave them into a stunning and effective product that tells the story of our scientific research. Michael’s approach is both personal and creative; he has both a passion for storytelling and a keen eye for the perfect combination of narration and imagery to convey even complex ideas with clarity. I look forward to our next opportunity to work with Kikim Media!

Beth Shapiro, PhD

Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz

Crisis Action

“Kikim undertook a tough assignment―to make a film about an organization which prefers not to draw any attention to itself―and created a short video for us which compellingly tells our story while still respecting our sensitivities about avoiding anything which might feel self-promotional. Their video continues to be useful to this day in attracting new partners and providing a quick introduction to anyone with whom we interact to the complicated work we do.”

Andrew Hudson

Executive Director, Crisis Action

Nobel Media

“We have been extremely satisfied with Kikim Media as producers of the Astra Zeneca Nobel Medicine Initiative documentaries. Through all the stages of the production, from the formation of programme ideas to the final edits and animations, the team at Kikim have shown great diligence and care and have been excellent partners to work with. We greatly appreciate their talents as producers of high quality science programming.”

Tamzen Isacsson

Head of Broadcast Media, Nobel Media

The Gorilla Foundation

“Kiki, Michael and the entire team at Kikim Media were a joy to work with. Their professionalism, reassuring manner and attention to detail was outstanding and they took all the time needed to enable us to feel comfortable. The final result was an extraordinarily compelling and polished piece which way exceeded our expectations. We are immensely grateful to you all.”

Jane Narich

Development Director, The Gorilla Foundation

Basic Needs

“The team from Kikim Media was highly professional, generous with their time, creative and resourceful. Their film has become an important part of our online and in-person presentations and has created strong interest in our work and the cause that we champion. A joy to work with!”

Chris Underhill

Founder President, Basic Needs

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich

“Working with the team at Kikim Media has been a true pleasure – the video they did for us brought to light our research in unique ways, and making it has been an inspiring experience in its own right!”

Roman Stocker

Principal Investigator, Stocker Lab, ETH Zürich

Riders for Health

“Kikim Media made a short film about our work in Africa. We were surprised just how powerfully they were able to tell the story in a brief amount of time. They described the ‘what we do and how we do it’ very quickly and clearly but surrounded that with evidence of our impact on the lives of individuals, larger communities, and global health. The film had humour, pathos and straight talking all in just eight minutes.”

Andrea Coleman

Chief Executive Officer, Riders for Health

Ceres

“Kikim Media has been a remarkable partner in boldly telling Ceres’ story of integrating sustainability into the economy. From a complex message, Michael and his team crafted an extraordinarily compelling illustration of how Ceres goes about changing the world.”

Mindy Lubber

President, Ceres

UCSF Diabetes Center

“I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with Michael and Kiki several times as part of different projects related to making our work available to the public.  The members of the Kikim Media team are professionals to the core and will strive to produce the perfect story.  Their preparations and reflections on our work were insightful and thought provoking.  They not only helped us communicate the ongoing work at our Center in the most engaging manner, but working with them was also inspiring and fun!”

Matthias Hebrok

Director, UCSF Diabetes Center

Root Capital

“Kikim Media captured our story accurately and expertly. Their video became an invaluable tool for us, bolstering our outreach efforts and enabling us to promote our work in a compelling and honest way. Almost two years later, we still show the video proudly and receive compliments from supporters and clients.”

Willy Foote

Founder & CEO, Root Capital

A Foundation Building Strength

“Our foundation is a small organization attempting to help a rare disease. We were looking for a way to communicate our message in a professional and meaningful way. Kikim Media went beyond our expectations in bringing the highest level of legitimacy to our charity. They pulled together a heartfelt message that helped connect our community at a very affordable cost.”

Marc Guillet

Executive Director / President, A Foundation Building Strength

HBO

“You introduced a new level of thinking, creativity and intelligence to the way we had been thinking about DVD features. The Deadwood pieces quickly became the reference point within the company – the whole company – for creating content about content that isn’t promotional, self-serving, superficial, and insulting to the average viewer. The experience of working with you has been one of the proudest and most fulfilling of my recent years at HBO.”

Cynthia Rhea

Senior Vice President, Marketing, HBO Video

Chronicle Books

“The book trailer that Kikim Media created for From Seed to Skillet was by far one of the best produced and most beautiful trailers I have ever received from a production company. Kikim went above and beyond and really worked with me to get the right messaging and story across in the video. The trailer was also incredibly well received by viewers and did an amazing job of getting the word out about the book. I would hire Kikim again in a heart beat!”

Christina Loff

Lifestyle Publicist, Chronicle Books

Diabetes, Youth, Families

“The video Kikim Media produced for us has been invaluable as a tool to raise awareness of our programs, to get people to attend our camps and to raise funds to support us. We have been overjoyed with its success. The staff at Kikim was wonderful to work with and they were incredibly sensitive to our community, while still conveying a powerful message about the life-changing services we offer at all our programs, not just our Family Camp program. From the early brainstorming about ideas and approaches, all the way to the end product, Kikim made sure we got what we needed and wanted.”

Matts Wallin

Executive Director, Diabetic Youth Foundation

Susan Heeger, Author

“My co-author, Jimmy Williams, and I were impressed and gratified by the level of professionalism Kikim brought to our project. The producers came to the shoot with a comprehensive knowledge of our book, and an organized, intelligent plan for how to communicate its substance, look, tone and scope, all in the course of a 3-minute video. They were very clear in explaining what they wanted from us, and their focused interview questions brought out the best in us. Under rather difficult urban conditions (particularly, lots of ambient noise in a densely populated outdoor location), they captured our book’s “story” in all its dimensions, in a short amount of time and in a way that made the process fun for all of us. But perhaps the most amazing part for Jimmy and me was to see the final product and to perceive how precisely it conveyed the flavor of our book and all its parts. We had been very nervous about the whole idea of this kind of video, especially since our book is an amalgam of different things–part garden book, part food book, part personal story. Kikim managed to convey all of this, and to do it in a way that made it feel immediate and alive. Quite a number of people have told us that after seeing the video, they just had to buy our book!”

Susan Heeger

Author, From Seed to Skillet

Gram Vikas

“I was surprised that so much could be said and shown in such a short time with so much clarity. Kikim Media did a really fantastic professional job.”

Joe Madiath

Founder & Executive Director, Gram Vikas

Saude Crianca Renascer

“Thank you again for this wonderful film. It is the best way to explain our work and to fundraise. You have captured the soul of Renascer!”

Vera Cordeiro

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Saude Crianca Renascer

YouthBuild USA

“Working with Michael Schwarz to produce a film that is powerful and deep about the transformation process for students in YouthBuild was a wonderful experience in itself, and showing the film to people in every possible venue communicates the essence of what we do so much faster and better than I could in a much shorter time, leaving beautiful visual images. We have ordered 1,000 copies.”

Dorothy Stoneman

Chief Executive Officer, YouthBuild USA

Marine Stewardship Council

“It has been a real pleasure working with Michael Schwarz and his team at Kikim during the production of a short, Skoll Foundation funded seven minute film to promote the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the world’s leading marine eco-labelling and certification for sustainable wild capture fisheries. Over a shot but intensive on-location filming trip in the UK and USA Michael and his team managed to capture the essence of the MSC and to tell ‘our story’ in a very professional, compelling and accessible way. We are delighted with the result and have already used the film extensively around the world. The film has been met with tremendous enthusiasm and interest and I have no doubt, has already contributed to increasing understanding and support for the work we do. What amazed all of us was Kikim Media’s ability to capture our story so clearly and so quickly.”

Rupert Howes

Chief Executive, Marine Stewardship Council

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

“Your combination of creativity and responsiveness to our special needs exceeded our expectations in every respect.”

Mike Goldrich

Chief Operating Officer, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

“Kikim Media’s video is a very effective education tool for health care providers. Their professionalism and expertise has resulted in a video with high prodution values that’s a pleasure to watch–an important, and often overlooked, aspect of a training video. It has also been a pleasure to work with them and I would highly recommend them as a partner.”

Karen Wayman, PhD

Director, Family Centered Care, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford

Menlo Park-Atherton Educational Foundation

“Kikim Media was great to work with and delivered high quality, compelling work on time. As important, their creative work and messaging helped us increase our fund raising by 20% over the previous year.”

Joe Fantuzzi

Communications Committee, Menlo Park-Atherton Educational Foundation

Critchlow & Diskint, LLP

“Kikim did an exceptional job telling the story of my client’s relationship to his daughter. Any video that actually bring tears to the eyes of the opposing counsel, as theirs did, is worth its weight in gold.”

Richard Critchlow

Attorney at Law, Critchlow & Diskint, LLP

Helen Palmer, Author

“The Enneagram is a complicated system that normally takes years to learn. Kikim not only mastered its basic framework in very short order, but managed to produce an engaging and reasonably priced program that is unsurpassed as an introduction to the Enneagram. I can’t think of a better way for a new student to get started.”

Helen Palmer

Author, The Enneagram