Our agency booklet (Vol. I) showcases some of our audio-visual work. You can flip through the HD images in the portfolio section. For a closer look, you can also read the booklet’s text in this section.
OK George! Studio
Give Your Brand A Voice. Photography & Videography. Agency Booklet – Volume 1 – 2016
Table Of Contents
OK George! Studio. Our Mission. About George. Begin By Visiting. Visit Montreal Through The Lens. Ask The W Insider To Show You Around. If You Like What You See, Settle In. Listen To The Music. And Enjoy The Show. Explore The Culinary Scene. Have A Beer. Get Hungry. Bon Appétit! Make Yourself At Home. Be Taken Care Of. Consult A Professional Dietician. Smile. Meet People. Dress To Impress. Have A Good Laugh. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Parade. And All Of Montreal’s Cultural Festivities. Know Your Way Around. Meet Our Mascot. Contact Us.
Our Mission
OK George! Studio is a Montreal-based in-house media production facility for all your photography and videography needs. A go-to agency as you develop your next inspirational idea, we’re a team you can trust and rely on. Here you’ll find videographers, post-production specialists, website builders, social media managers, graphic designers and musicians. We’ll help you with the storyboarding, the casting and any other creative services you might require.
Our studio philosophy is to focus on your brand personality and to communicate it through beautiful audio-visual images and other creative marketing material.
Our slogan is: All Your Media In One Hand.
About George
George Karkour is a Canadian film director and producer. He speaks English, French, Arabic and Spanish.
As a Communications graduate, he started out as a documentary filmmaker and eventually delved into the world of multimedia production. He began his journey by borrowing his university’s camera equipment and collaborating with volunteers. He eventually worked his way towards establishing an agency that provides studio photography, promotional videography and documentary filmmaking services.
George’s conceptualization of the Monopoly CV is an endeavour reflective of his personality: playful, diverse and ambitious.
Begin By Visiting
Visit Montreal Through The Lens
Montreal is well-known for its diverse neighbourhoods. The Old Port of Montreal is a beautiful area where a lot of filming takes place, especially during the summer. In this booklet, we invite you to visit the city through the images of the wonderful brands we’ve had the pleasure of working with. This is not a city tour, but rather a creative way to share our portfolio and tell our studio’s story.
Ask The W Insider To Show You Around
We filmed our very first promotional video with Caroline Khangi, W Montreal Hotel’s W Insider. In the video, Caroline takes us on a personalized visit through the city. To produce the ad’s beautiful sequences, we collaborated with Galerie Le Royer, Espace Pépin, ICar, C2MTL, the Laurea restaurant and Espace Go.
The W Montréal Hotel is located in the heart of Montreal at Victoria Square, in the vicinity of the Old Port.
If You Like What You See, Settle In
To capture the beauty of the YUL Condominiums, we used carefully selected wide-angle lenses and the Ronin technology, a motor-based camera stabilizer, to emphasize the sleek, modern and industrial architecture of the condos.
Pictured above is a camera connected to a Ronin mount.
We illuminated the Armani and Scavolini furniture with soft lighting, which helped each piece reflect the glamorous and ergonomic design of YUL Condominiums.
YUL Condominiums is a residential skyscraper complex located on René Lévesque Street in downtown Montreal.
Listen To The Music
Suad Bushnaq (www.suadbushnaq.com) is a Canadian film and concert composer of Palestinian, Syrian and Bosnian descent. She is one of a handful of Arab women composers in the world.
House Made Of Glass is just one of the many soundtracks she has composed for George’s documentaries. This charming musical piece expresses a nostalgic flair and reflects her musical style, a mixture of classical oriental rhythms with a western touch — the art imitates the artist.
You can listen to Suad’s music on her official website.
And Enjoy The Show
Oliver Charles (http://www.olivercharlesmusic.com) is a pop-folk singer, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter. We first discovered his candid and cheerful personality when we sat down in his living room and recorded a jam session with him, which was later put on his YouTube channel.
As a recipient of this booklet, you’ll receive one free song download! When contacting Oliver, name the title of your favourite song and mention “OK George! Studio”.
Explore The Culinary Scene
Have A Beer
OK George! Studio’s official launch was held on the terrace of the Irish Embassy Pub & Grill,
located on Bishop Street in downtown, Montreal.
Paul Quinn, the owner of the pub, was appointed the honorary role of Grand Marshall of Montreal’s 193rd St. Patrick’s Parade by the United Irish Societies Of Montreal.
We interviewed Paul while filming their official promotional video. As one of the organization’s official spokespeople, he naturally had a lot to say about the Irish culture.
Get Hungry
A Good Image Should Make You Hungry
Our productions aim to reflect the beauty of a restaurant’s dishes and drinks in two possible styles:
– A seamless white background;
– A natural environment.
These pictures might play on television screens in the restaurant, which can enrich the menu card with corresponding food visuals. Our photography and videography services can be produced at the restaurant or within the space of our studio.
Food photography is a wonderful art — one that requires proper lighting and decor.
We photographed the images below at Au Pied De Cochon on Avenue Duluth, one of our favourite restaurants in the city. Also pictured is a delicious pizza baked by Deli Planet.
Bon Appétit!
Copper Branch is a growing franchise focused on vegan meals. Their purpose is “to serve the world real food as fast-food for a change.”
Our productions reflect the freshness of their ingredients and the deliciousness of their salads in particular.
Copper Branch restaurants have several locations in various parts in Montreal.
Pictured are their zucchini-based brownies, Mediterranean salad, Aztec salad, and baked potatoes with vegan mayo, pesto sauce and house ketchup.
Make Yourself At Home
Be Taken Care Of
We were commissioned by the Montreal Chinese Hospital Foundation to create a three minute documentary video about the hospital, whose residents are mostly Chinese and only speak Cantonese or Mandarin.
We overcame this language barrier by working with a camera-friendly interpreter and board member. For privacy concerns, we cannot share the patients’ photos in this booklet, but we invite you to watch the video on our website.
Consult A Professional Dietician
Meet Racha Najmeh, professional dietitian with a Master’s certificate in Food Service Management.
In collaboration with Racha and to complement our photography services, we offer our clients the option of adding a Nutrition Facts Tables to their menus.
Should restaurants and cafés wish to make this information available to their customers, or if they would like to meet with a dietitian to design a healthy menu, she’s our go-to person.
Smile
Dr. Rosalinda Go has been practicing orthodontics since 1973.She operates the Go Orthodontists clinic with her son, Dr. Nicholas Thorpe. Together, they provide the most advanced orthodontic treatments available, such as the Invisalign aligners. Dr. Thorpe is also an Invisalign lecturer at McGill University.
Our agency regularly photographs the clinic’s staff and films their videos. As a matter of fact, George is one of their patients. Who says we don’t practice what we preach?
Go Orthodontists is located in the Drummond Medical Building in downtown Montreal. Pictured are Dr. Go (left), Dr. Go and Dr. Thorpe (upper right) and an Invisalign prototype.
Meet People
Ortho Cité, led by Dr. Serge Yacoub, provides orthodontic care treatments in a friendly and welcoming environment. Our agency photographed the staff inside the clinic and at a nearby park.
Pictured below is the entire staff of the clinic. Ortho Cité is located on Cadillac Street in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.
Dress To Impress
Our product photography services are exceptional in both form and content. First and foremost, our image quality meets the industry’s highest standards. The aesthetics we create for each shot are meant to tell a story about the product. We emphasize efficiency by delivering the highest number of shots in the shortest amount of time. We place a similar emphasis on efficacy by conveying product attributes that align with your brand personality. Efficiency can be learned and replicated easily; efficacy, on the other hand, requires exquisite storytelling skills, which are our stock-in-trade.
Pictured below is a pair of Aldo shoes (CAEFCA model, Cognac Colour). To establish this model’s masculine features, we wanted to convey dominance, so we superimposed one shoe over the over and dramatized the depth of field. Had they been positioned in parallel, they would have conveyed a neutral look and lacked the sense of virility shown here.
Our portrait photography services are unique in that we try to communicate a specific set of emotions though precise and premeditated decisions about the subject’s gaze, the props, the lighting and the camera framing. Pictured above is Mark Arsan.
To create this depressed look, we used a black backdrop, which suits the mood, and positioned him on the edge of the frame looking down and holding a glass of whiskey, which signals a moment of despair (it was just apple juice, but it did the trick).
Have A Good Laugh
A studio photoshoot might be daunting, we know… That’s why we fill our relaxed atmosphere with positive vibes. We offer our clients coffee, tea and biscuits, arrange their make-up sessions, tutor them before performing on camera, and direct them on set.
Pictured is Dona Absi. George made her laugh at one point during the photoshoot, and we caught it on camera at just the right time.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Parade
“Just for those who like statistics, there’s about 2,500 participants in the Parade. And on a great warm weather day, we’re looking at a quarter million people who actually come down on St. Catherine Street to celebrate with us.”
– Patty McCann, Vice-President of the United Irish Societies Of Montreal.
Happy St. Patrick’s! An Official Message From the United Irish Societies Of Montreal is a promotional documentary that explores the vibrancy of the Irish community in Montreal. We captured numerous beautiful moments at Place Ville-Marie, where the Flag Hoisting ceremony takes place every year as per Irish tradition, and at St. Patrick’s Basilica, which was officially opened in 1847.
Pictured from top to bottom are (1) members of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) Of Canada , (2) Patty McCann and (3) Paul Quinn, who hoisted the flag a few weeks before Parade Day.
And All Of Montreal’s Cultural Festivities
OK George! Studio embraces Montreal’s diversity and multiculturalism.
We have filmed St. Patrick’s Parade on Saint Catherine Street, Gay Pride Parade on René Lévesque Street as well as the Just For Laughs comedy festival and International Jazz Festival, both hosted at the Place Des Festivals. We have sat down with Syrian refugees and talked about their hopes and concerns. We have filmed inside a Sikh Gurdwara in LaSalle, where we got to know the local Sikh community.
We have talked with practitioners of the Muslim faith at the World Religion Museum in Nicolet and with members of the Jewish faith at the Shaare Zedek Congregation Synagogue.
We have explored the reality of LGBT families and captured beautiful moments of parentswith their children. We have interviewed neuroscientists, doctors, CEOs and politicians.
OK George! Studio is a studio for everyone. We welcome people of every faith, every philosophy, every profession and every industry. You could be anything and everything, and there will be a story to tell and something to film.
We will give you a voice.
Pictured from top to bottom are (1) Norman Simon, (2) Jasbir Kaur & Ajaypal Singh, (3) Melissa David & Geneviève Lanctot and (4) Si Chen interviewing Mr, Denis Coderre, Montreal’s 44th Mayor.
Know Your Way Around
Meet Our Mascot
We adopted Golden, this adorable golden retriever, when he was just an 8 week-old puppy. His hobbies include eating and fetching. Do you want to meet Golden? He’s always running around our agency office looking for someone to play with.
Our Services
We offer the market’s highest price/quality ratio and the industry’s best image resolution (4K). We are your personal media production facility for all of your photography, videography and other creative project needs. You’re more than welcome to pass by our office in downtown, Montreal.
Feel free to give us a call to schedule a visit, we’d love to show you around! We operate the Canon C300 Mark II, a cutting-edge camera with a 4K resolution capacity. Our services include:
– Staff & portrait photography
– Food & product photography
– Promotional videos
– Corporate Interviews
Thank You Note
The creation of our agency portfolio was made possible thanks to the contribution of Raghida Kazah, Isa Karkour, Rona Kabawat, Mark Arsan, Omar Karkour, Sarah Cachecho, Ramy Megarbané, Dider Klein, Rami Absi, David Amodio, Marion Petitbout, Anne Hill, Amy Krosch, Leor Hackel, David Kalkstein, Mays Chami, Marie Houzeau, David Platz, Mona Greenbaum, Monica Bastien, Geneviève Lanctot, Mélissa David, Zoé David Lanctot, Armand Aalamian, Andre Langlois, Nour & Ella-Joy Langlois Aalamian, Danielle Julien, Alex Bastien, Danielle Bastien, Lise Mathieu, Stephen Guy Sévigny, Jessica Attar, Karim Kardouss, David Corriveau, Grace Chaoui, Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins, Dona Absi,Philippe Beauregard, Jasbir Kaur, Ajaypal Singh, Amrit Kaur, Hargundip Kaur, Harman Singh, Komal Kaur, Yamneh Roncero, Merry Wafwana, Samuel Miriello, Roderick Thorpe, Rosalinda Go, Hargun Kaur, Mano Singh, Alan Shepard, James Alexander Dunphy, Nicolas Félix, Jon Bale, Alaa Antoine, Suad Bushnaq, Andréanne Pâquet, Lamia Faida, Jean-François Royal, Meriem Amarouche, Meriem El Hasna Abida, Shaheen Ashraf, Salam El-Majzoub, Anissa Addioui, Ilham Acherqui, Shahbaz Ashraf, Sajida Hussain, Sarah Abou Bakr, Geneviève Pinard-Prévost, Yolande Tétrault, Norman Simon, Dona Achkar, Marlène Figueroa, Manoharsing Seyan, Hardip Singh Dhillon, Carlos Trentadue, Aref Ochaji, Hounada Ochaji, Suhad Abdelky, Abdo Kabawat, Hala Farhat, Dalia Shanshal, Bilal Shanshal, Danny Sacy, Raghda Nehlawi, Joel Ghazi, Suhad Abdelki, Nelly Arsan, Robert Leriche, Samar Amer, Colette Nafache, Angele Kabawat, Christian K. Ziadeh, Youssef Kozah, Mery Doummar, Carol Kozah, Lynn Megarbané, Lara Abousamra, Anthony Housefather, Darryl Gregory Grat, Thomas Dowd, Zijad Delic, Balbahadur, Grant Balkar Singh, Jaiseema Kaur, Azeddine Hmimssa, John Walsh, Alan Bright, Lisa Grushcow, François Thauvette & Imprimerie Copyco.
Our Portfolio
OK George! Studio is a Montreal-based in-house media production facility for all of your photography, videography and other creative marketing needs. We have worked with the following brands: YUL Condominiums, the Montreal Chinese Hospital Foundations, the W Hotels, the United Irish Societies of Montreal, Copper Branch and the Irish Embassy Pub & Grill.
Preface:
All images in this booklet are photographed and copyrighted by OK George! Studio ® ©2016 . The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.