Agronomy Farm Vineyard: Winery Marketing Video
The Client
Agronomy Farm Vineyard is a small-batch winery and hard cider producer in Oakham, Massachusetts, operated by Corey and Marissa O’Connor out of a property they’ve called home since 2013. The name “Agronomy” means the science and technology of making food from plants, which is fitting since both owners come from a science and engineering background.
Corey spent roughly 20 years as a research scientist. Marissa spent 15 as an engineer. They combined the analytical rigor they’d spent their careers developing, and the creative satisfaction of making a product from start to finish to build a life that let them be present for their kids growing up on the property.
The result is a working farm and vineyard producing cold-hardy hybrid varietals true to the Central Massachusetts climate — Seyval, Cayuga White, Noiret, Marquette — alongside unique hard cider flavors (Pineapple Ginger, Blood Orange, Blueberry Pancake, and more) sourced from local Massachusetts apples, and maple syrup tapped from their very own sugar shack. The seasons complement each other: winemaking in the fall, maple syrup in the spring. They’ve even started blending the two, using their own maple syrup as the sweetener in a port wine and as the sugar source in Cay-Pop, their champagne-style sparkling wine. Small batch, under 200 cases a year, bottled assembly-line style with friends and family. Everything made on site, start to finish.
How It Started
This project began with a cold email. Agronomy wasn’t a referral or an existing contact, just a place I had enjoyed visiting and their products. I reached out because I recognized the kind of business they were building: a local small business run by people genuinely passionate about what they make, and I was trying to do the same.
The pitch was simple and peer-to-peer: local business owner to local business owner. We had one conversation and decided to move forward. Corey and Marissa are very passionate about what they do, and it comes across in how they talk about their business. The goal for this project was a brand and promotional video that would live on their website and could do the talking about the business when they couldn’t be in the room.
The Challenge
The initial conversation started in 2020, roughly 2 weeks before the start of the COVID pandemic. What would normally be a straightforward production timeline stretched across three years as pandemic conditions made scheduling, gathering, and on-location shooting unpredictable. Planning had to flex around availability, comfort levels, and the realities of running a working farm during a public health crisis.
Rather than treat that constraint as a problem, we worked around it. Some of the visual material, drone footage and wedding photography, came from another creator who had captured Agronomy separately. Integrating outside assets into a cohesive final product required a clear editorial vision and willingness to work with what existed rather than starting from scratch and I think the result was stronger for it.
What Was Produced
The core deliverable was a brand and promotional video built around sit-down interviews with both owners, woven together with footage of the vineyard, the winemaking process, the sugar shack, and community harvest day — when Agronomy sets up a breakfast spread, and invites the community to help bring in the grapes.
My role covered the full production arc: developing the interview questions, conducting the interviews on camera, directing both owners through their first real on-camera experience, assembling multiple rough cut versions for review, and delivering a final edit. I also produced a logo opener and closer in After Effects for use on social media and any future video content the client creates — giving them a reusable branded asset beyond the video itself.
The interviews surface the story behind the business in a way that no product shot or highlight reel could. Marissa talking about what drew her to winemaking: “It’s not all about science. A lot of it has to do with how things taste and how they look and how you feel about something.” Corey describing why the hybrid varietals matter: “They’re very true to the climate that we live in.” Two scientists who left the corporate world because they wanted to make something real, with their hands, in the community where they grew up. That’s the story the video tells.
The Response
When the video was released on Facebook, the response from the Agronomy community was immediate. The post received 91 reactions, 20 comments, and 13 shares — numbers that reflect genuine engagement from people who know and love the business, not just passive scrolling.
The comments tell the story more directly than any metric: “What a fantastic video!!” “You bring so much good to our area.” “Wonderful place, delicious wines and good-salt-of-the-earth owners.” One viewer noted they’d love to come help harvest the grapes — the community harvest day, mentioned in the video, had landed exactly as intended.
Why It Matters
This project demonstrates what a full-service local video production engagement looks like from the inside. Cold outreach to a finished brand asset: interview development, on-camera direction, editorial, motion graphics, and a final video that functions as both a marketing piece and a genuine portrait of the business.
It also demonstrates something less obvious: the ability to work within real-world constraints. COVID timelines. Outside creator assets to integrate. A two-subject interview with business owners who had never done this before. None of that is unusual for local production work, something always complicates the plan. The question is whether the end result shows it. This one doesn’t.
For a small business trying to get product on shelves, break into a new market, or simply give potential customers a reason to make the drive out to Oakham on a beautiful weekend day, a video like this is the difference between explaining what you do and showing who you are.
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