THE EXPANDED BOOKS STORY
In 2004, as popular NBC sitcom, Friends was coming to a close, MSN contacted Todd Stevens, Co-Executive Producer of Friends and Co-Founder of Expanded Books, for exclusive video content. They wanted to broadcast video tied in with the Friends finale on MSN Video. Naturally, the cast of Friends was already committed to an endless line of TV interviews. In search of an alternative, Todd had an idea about creating a video around a newly released Friends tie-in book entitled, Friends ‘til the End. This book happened to be packaged and edited by Skye Van Raalte-Herzog who worked at Warner Bros. Worldwide Publishing at the time. The idea of creating a video based on book content proved to be a groundbreaking concept. The video was aired in conjunction with the finale of Friends and was extremely successful. Todd and Skye immediately discussed the possibility of developing further videos. Expanded Books was formed.
Videos for the Publishing Industry
Few publishers had thought of using videos to promote books back in 2004 when Expanded Books was formed. In fact at the time there was no identifiable production company dedicated to providing TV-quality video production to publishers. Expanded Books was a pioneering company, promoting the idea of marketing books by merging two forms of media. In those days, the publishing world thought in terms of “words on paper” when marketing books. The video produced by Todd and Skye for the finale of NBC’s, Friends became the first in a line of celebrity book promotions developed by Expanded Books in the early days. There was also: Carson Kressley’s, Off the Cuff, and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. More than a decade later, it is standard practice for publishers to promote books using video. Expanded Books remains at the forefront of their production.
Expanded Books Today
Expanded Books is unique in that they are able to produce any type of book-based video content: trailers, commercials and TV series. They develop videos for any author, in any genre. The goal at Expanded Books is to work closely with authors (or their reps: publishers, publicists, agents, etc) to conceptualize and adapt ideas from books to the video screen. Expanded Books has a broad, engaging approach that often includes live-action, author interviews, dramatizations, animation, stills, and even long-form programming, ranging in length from 8 – 30 minutes. Expanded Books has also expanded to provide the same expert services to other industries–to promote mobile apps, products, and services.
Full-Service Production
Expanded Books is the only company that offers publishers and authors the ease of one-stop production. No matter how ambitious your ideas, Expanded Books has the background and experience to make them happen.