As an Entertainment Designer and Cinematographer at Knott’s Berry Farm, I’m at the forefront of bringing our theme park’s content to life. My projects range from creating videos that are permanently installed into attractions, to video treasure-hunt activations that supplement the guest’s visit, to social media content for our official channels that promotes our entertainment offerings, and beyond!
Below is a small sample of these projects.
Moments in Time: Discover Knott’s History.
To celebrate Knott’s Berry Farm’s 100th Anniversary, my team captured and edited 30 videos that were accessible by scanning QR codes scattered throughout the park. When scanned, each QR code gave a quick re-enacted story or history quip behind the location that the guest was standing in front of. This activation helped strengthen guest’s knowledge about the park’s history, and offered supplementary entertainment as they wandered throughout the day.
“Whittles Returns!” - Social Media Campaign
Known for his tall tales, Whittles was first seen at Knott's Berry Farm in 1973. The legend returns home for the 100th Anniversary Celebration in a character meet & greet. If he's not panning for gold nearby, the jolly prospector looks forward to meeting new friends in Ghost Town!
For this campaign, my team was responsible for filming and editing social media content to tease and announce the return of the beloved “Whittles” character to our theme park. Since the costume had been drastically redesigned from it’s original form, we used the teaser to effectively highlight elements of the reimagined character’s costume. In the official announcement video, I had the fun opportunity of filming the character with one of the donkeys from the Knott’s stable, which was a treat in itself!
Peanut’s Celebration:
Seasons of Fun kickoff!
Every year, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the PEANUTS gang kick off the new year by taking over the entire park during the Knott’s Berry Farm PEANUTS Celebration! The event runs from January to March, and features live music, character entertainment, exciting food offerings, and much more!
To promote the event, we filmed a series of social content with one of the featured band’s for Peanut’s Celebration: “Jelly of the Month Club”. These vignettes hosted hilarious moments between the band and the Peanut’s gang, involved in friendly competitions such as a staring contest, a trust fall, and more. This content cross promoted the live entertainment that could be expected at the celebration, as well as reinforced the Peanut’s brand and presence at the event.
HangTime:
Attraction Queue
HangTime, the first dive coaster in California, is now at Knott's Berry Farm! HangTime towers 150 feet over the Boardwalk area showcasing a beyond vertical drop that is the steepest in California, gravity-defying inversions, and mid-air suspensions.
Prior to it’s opening, my team was asked to film the pre-load video that plays on repeat throughout the attraction’s queue line. This video highlights the protocols before entering the ride including securing your personal items, fastening your seatbelts, and so forth. The exciting part about filming this particular project, was getting to be one of the first in the world to ride HangTime prior to it’s opening. I mean, SOMEONE has to be the test subject, right?
Calico River Rapids:
Grand Opening
A new expedition in an uncharted territory awaits eager explorers with Calico River Rapids, now open at Knott's Berry Farm. Knott’s white water raft ride, formerly known as BigFoot Rapids, has undergone a major renovation with the addition of new features to the attraction including new animatronics, themed show scenes, a new story overlay and plenty of dynamic water effects.
My team was asked to capture Calico River Rapids’ grand opening media event the week of it’s completion. It featured characters from the popular summer offering “Ghost Town Alive” who rode the ride with guests throughout the evening. As we did with HangTime, we also tested this ride prior to the public to make EXTRA sure it was ready for a hoot and hollerin’ good time. Turns out: it sure was!
Knott’s Summer Nights:
Promo Sizzle
The summer adventure continues long after the sun goes down, with a nighttime summer party that will liven up the evening. Knott's Summer Nights offers exciting ways to enjoy the nighttime festivities that fill Knott’s midway from Calico Square to Charleston Circle with live music and DJs. With a hub of live music, unique summer food offerings, Instagram-able photo opportunities, interactive experiences and family-friendly games, Knott’s Summer Nights will be an event to remember. To promote the event, my team attended Summer Nights with cameras in hand, and simply observed the exciting summertime fun happening all around us. The outcome was a social media sizzle that gives guests a glimpse of what to expect throughout evening
The Iconic “K” Returns:
Drone Filming
The park’s new redesigned Sky Tower "K" will lights up the Buena Park skyline with over 6,000 individual LEDs that can create over 16 million color combinations. Guests had the opportunity to enjoy a special nightly ceremony featuring our brand new "K" tower each evening during Knott's 100th Anniversary Celebration beginning May 21.The original “K” stood atop Sky Tower and Sky Jump Parachute ride for 44 years. For the 100th anniversary, the park commissioned an entirely new 20-foot tall “K” to be built to replace the historical neon “K”.The original fixture was then donated to the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale. I had the pleasure of being asked to film the removal of the original “K” from a bird’s eye perspective with my drone. While in the air, I also captured footage of the flag atop of Supreme Scream that was used for 4th of July content at a later date.