The History of Charles River Media Group 

In the beginning…

In 2003, Charles River Media Group (CRMG) was conceived of by Don Schechter as an organization that would foster the independent film and video community of Boston and bring top-level talent together in order to attract more work to the community as well as increase the overall quality of productions in the area.

CRMG’s first multi-year endeavor was the creation of hundreds of short informational videos for About.com on topics ranging from computer software to cooking. These videos have garnered millions of worldwide views and took place during the infancy of digital video on the web. It was this early contract that allowed Charles River Media Group to quickly grow. CRMG’s offices were first located in Revere, MA and later Brookline, MA. A studio was built in place of an old boxing gym in Newton Center where CRMG maintained an office, editor and colorist workstations, along with a black-box production studio. Quality of production significantly improved when the Red family of cameras was adopted by the organization.

In 2019, CRMG moved to 73 TV Place in Needham Heights, MA. The move provided a large studio with lighting grid, tons of offices and edit suites, and – lots of free parking. CRMG at 73 TV Place will enable Boston Video Production and Post Production to thrive. Stay tuned for more information about opportunities at TV Place.

Timing is everything…

We had the good fortune to be able to provide the 2nd Unit Director and the 2nd Unit Crew for the documentary Transcendent Man. Produced by Ptolemaic and Therapy, Director Barry Ptolemy’s film about inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil went on to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival before it’s release. CRMG also provided the photography that was used for the movie poster and DVD release.

Over time, CRMG’s network matured to include a wide variety of producers, directors of photography, editors, colorists, gaffers, grips, audio engineers, makeup artists, animators, photographers, and voice artists. Charles River Media Group has worked in all aspects of production, post-production, and distribution. Clients have ranged from large corporate entities such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Adobe, New Balance, and Pearson to small businesses who require the production and nationwide distribution of television commercials or company profiles.

With clients like these…

CRMG has worked with agencies such as Weber Shandwick, Mullen & Co., Dixon Davis Media, and CTP Boston, as well as for political campaigns and governmental organizations including Menino for Mayor, Khazei for Senate, Congressman Delahunt’s Office, The Massachusetts School Building Authority, and Congressman Barney Frank. CRMG’s work has been seen on many television programs including those on ESPN, NHK, NBC, and The Oprah Winfrey Network.

Ongoing…

CRMG has an ongoing and mulit-year relationship with ACP Decisions, a non-profit foundation assisting families and patients with video support tools. CRMG has filmed hundreds of videos in dozens of languages and twice traveled to Hawaii.

Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding is one of CRMG’s favorite and most high profile yearly projects. Hasty contacted us after hearing about our multi-year filming of the shows of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Since 2009, Charles River Media Group has worked with Hasty Pudding to film the roasts of the Man of the Year and the Woman of the Year (along with the Hasty Pudding Theatrical Performances).

Celebrities we have filmed include Renée Zellweger, Justin Timberlake, Anne Hathaway, Kiefer Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Jay Leno, Claire Danes,  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Helen Mirren, Chris Pratt, Kerry Washington, Neil Patrick Harris, Marion Cotilard, and Amy Poehler. For 2017’s events with Octavia Spencer and Ryan Reynolds, we added a webcast with our live streaming services to our production work.

Case Studies…

To read more about our work with the celebrities of the Hasty Pudding, the production of television commercials, coverage in the Associate Press, or a behind the scenes look with our crew, check out our case studies.

What we can do for you…

Whether it’s a corporate or non-profit profile or communication, television commercial production or placement on a network, live-streaming event, performance, music video, documentary, photography,  studio rental, or crew assistance that you are looking for, please get in touch.