What People Say About Present Tense

I can't say enough wonderful things about Present Tense! Nancy and Karen are thoughtful, sensitive artists who have tackled extremely complex projects and have crafted videos that were powerful beyond our expectations. They're fearless about our complicated installations, enthusiastic about learning every new topic, incredibly insightful about how to use the media to communicate to our audience, and tireless about attending to the endless details necessary to make sure the story and the message shine through. They work equally well with our creative content specialists, our project managers, and our techno-geeks, finding any way possible to work within our budget and schedules and not compromise the final exhibit experience. Now that we've found them, we won't let them go.

Peggy Monahan
Interim Director of Exhibits, Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose

Present Tense Productions produced 12 short documentary videos for our museum exhibit, and each one turned out fabulously. The quality of their work is excellent and we were especially impressed at how well their editing brought the videos to life. On the film shoots, they did a wonderful job of making everyone we interviewed feel comfortable on camera. They are very organized and professional. Everything was delivered on time, and they were always open to making changes based on our feedback. They really contributed their own ideas and expertise to produce videos that exceeded our expectations. And on top of all that, they are incredibly nice people. It was a pleasure to work with Nancy and karen, and we definitely plan to work with them again in the future.

Michelle Woods
Exhibit Developer, The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose

Present Tense Productions does a superb job of telling an accessible and scientifically accurate story while at the same time putting a human face on the process of scientific discovery.

Dr. Sarah M. Assmann
Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University

Filmmaking that goes to the heart of the matter. Whether behind the camera, creating the message, or in the delicate act of editing raw material, Present Tense shows the sensitive wisdom and craftsmanship that not only make them a pleasure to work with, but gave us a turning point communication for our nonprofit organization.

Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founder, Interplay and Body Wisdom, Inc.

Present Tense has an incredible sensitivity to their subjects. Raptor banding is an inherently delicate process, and they were able to be unobtrusive and yet still drew natural reactions and interviews from our volunteers. Part of their skill is that they understand both the beauty of the detail and grandeur of the big picture, and both scales are evident in their films.

Allen Fish, Executive Director, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory

Present Tense was a joy to work with. They came to The Milo Foundation on numerous occasions to film a promotional piece for the sanctuary and the animals. They clearly were comfortable in the hectic, rustic, funky country atmosphere, which helped make me comfortable, and they had great patience working with the many (often unpredictable) animals. They really captured the essence of the place – particularly the cats, which in the final version were set to perfect music – great fun.

 Lynne Tingle, Director/Founder, The Milo Foundation

I’ve worked with Present Tense and Nancy on four projects, and it’s hard to imagine making a film without them. Nancy did a remarkable job as writer and editor on Dreams of a City. She took a long, complex historical subject scattered over more than 150 production tapes and created a film that tells the whole story of a community in transition. Nancy has a broad command of both the art and craft of filmmaking and is fun to work with, too.

Michael Levin, Producer, Dreams of a City