About

Authentic Video co-creates high-quality, low-cost documentary video projects for a wide variety of applications: Social Impact, Human Insight, Ethnographic, Memorial, Educational, Training, Marketing and Audience Attraction.

  • Real Storytelling

    Authenticity is at the heart of everything we do. Whether documenting real-life stories and everyday lives, or recording oral histories with community elders, we believe in capturing the substance of each moment with honesty, integrity, curiosity, dignity and insight.

  • Co-creation

    We believe in the power of collaboration and work closely with our clients to ensure that their voices are heard throughout the filmmaking and editing process. We make videos with people, not for people.

  • Human Connection

    With a background in qualitative insights, we understand audiences and how to connect with them on a human and cultural level. This includes creating tailored video content for digital content campaigns.
Nick Agafonoff, Director of Authentic Video
In a world where people are increasingly skeptical of traditional advertising and marketing, Authentic Video helps businesses, NGOs, consultants, communities and individuals to tell real stories and co-create authentic, insight-rich content that resonates with target audiences, builds empathy and establishes credibility.
  • 25+ years as a commercial video ethnographer + qualitative researcher
  • Trained in observational and ethnographic filmmaking techniques
  • Over 4000 hours of real world videography experience
  • Researched, produced and edited 100s of video documentary programs
Facts that show consumers are seeking authenticity from brands and media.

Is it Authentic?

86% of people say authenticity is important when choosing which brands they like and support. Social Media Today
90% of consumers say authenticity is a key factor in deciding what brands they support. Social Media Today
63% of consumers prefer brands that use relatable or authentic video content over highly polished, high‑production content. Forbes
58% of consumers say user‑generated content (UGC) is more authentic than brand‑created content. Social Media Today
51% of consumers feel that less than half of the content brands produce is authentic. Social Media Today
57% of consumers report having made purchase decisions based on UGC or real user visuals. Social Media Today

Our Promise

  • Documentary video projects tailored to your specific needs.
  • Real storytelling that builds empathy and credibility through authenticity.
  • High quality videos that are supported by AI tools but not created by them.
  • Low-cost productions compared to larger production houses.
  • Value-added video content (segments, reels, explainers, quotes, podcast content, teasers, promos) from one documentary project.
  • Co-creation to reduce costs, build efficiencies and control deliverables.
EXPERIENCE
High Quality
Creativity
Planning

Service Areas

Authentic Video is located in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia. We service the following areas: > Blue Mountains & Regional NSW > East Coast (Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne) > *Overseas customers (budget dependent)

Contact Us

Most Popular Projects

Bring-to-Life Target Markets & Personas

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*For Marketers, Designers & Innovators.
Discover the Humans Behind the Data. We offer a video ethnography service that goes beyond surface-level insights and data to uncover the real stories, behaviours, rituals, practices and motivations of your Target Markets, Personas, Users, Customers, and Consumers. Through immersive observational-style videography and co-creative auto-ethnographic techniques, we deliver empathy-rich short documentary portraits that bring clarity to complexity. Whether you're launching a new product, refining a customer journey, or repositioning your brand, our deep-dive ethnographic videos inform human-centred decisions. See your audience. Understand their world. Act with empathy.

Produce your own Ted Talk with... The Executive Documentary

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*For researchers, agencies and insight departments
The Executive Documentary is a dynamic, engaging, and visually-rich way to present research findings and insights, beyond the traditional written report. Rather than simply summarizing data, the documentary tells a compelling story about the market landscape, the people behind the data, and the real-world implications of the research.
  • More engaging than written reports
  • Broader audience reach across platforms
  • Enhanced clarity and simplicity
  • Humanizes the research
  • Stronger emotional impact
  • Fosters trust and authority
  • Time efficiency for decision-makers
  • Perfect for presentations

Explore the Human side of Business

BRAND STORY
Captures the uniqueness of your brand, products, services, people, values, history and philosophy.
Create a deeper connection with your clients & STAKEHOLDERS
Communicate the true value of your business, product or service!

Tell your business story

  • Give your customers and investors a glimpse into the everyday life of your business.
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Introducing the Life Legacy Bundle

A wonderful tribute to a wonderful life.
Authentic Video offers a gentle, thoughtful service to help capture the life stories of the elderly and infirm—preserving their memories, values, and voice on video. Through intimate interviews and personal imagery, we craft a short documentary-style video biography that becomes a lasting legacy for family and future generations. When the time comes, we can also create a beautiful video tribute—a heartfelt slideshow honouring their life and saying goodbye with grace and love. Because every life has a story worth remembering.
Video Bio | End-of-life Slideshow | Memoirs Interview
Authentic Video carefully crafts a 10-15 minute biographical documentary using voice over narration, archival materials and interview quotes with family and friends, capturing the arc of a person's life and their contributions.
Using 80 to 100 photos accompanied by an evocative musical score, Authentic Video creates a deeply moving visual representation of someone's life in several chapters. We also offer photo restoration. Ideal for funeral services.*
Filmed over several sessions, Authentic Video sensitively and professionally records the memoirs of an individual. The memoirs are permanently accessible to family and friends via an online link.

CASE STUDY - Judith

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In 2014, before she passed, Judith recorded her memoirs with Authentic Video. The series of interviews covered her experience as a young girl surviving the Holocaust. The recording was later donated to the Sydney Holocaust Museum. The Memoirs have since been distributed globally to other museums and historical societies, and presented in educational contexts.

Event Coverage - Intimate & People-focused

Authentic Video captures events (weddings, birthdays, community, musical, cultural) with a light, unobtrusive approach - using iPhones and natural conversations to blend in, not take over. This agile style lets us move freely, keep interviews personal, and film moments as they unfold - without lights, booms or big crews. The result? A warm, authentic record of your event, which is also affordable.
Book Event Video

Other Project Examples

Video Ethnography
If you are social or market researcher, Authentic Video offers a range of video insight and storytelling services that explore and bring-to-life the lived experiences of target markets and groups.
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Social Impact Documentary
A social impact documentary offers a powerful lens through which an organisation’s deep connection with people and community is brought to life. Through authentic storytelling, real voices, and lived experiences, it highlights the human side of the organisation’s work—showing not just what they do, but why it matters.
learn more
Artist Portrait
We help artists to promote themselves and their work by producing intimate video portraits that explore their personal background and interests, their creative process, and, their impact and legacy.
book now

TESTIMONIALS

  • Video Ethnography

    I consider Nick at Authentic Video to be one of the most experienced video ethnographers in the area of commercial market and social research in the world. He understands customers and how to capture and communicate their real worlds, frustrations and delights with insight and empathy. He is also a skilled videographer and editor in combination with being an outstanding qualitative researcher.
    Rigas Harbilas, The Practice Insights

  • Persona Portraits

    I used Authentic Video for a market research study, and I couldn’t be more impressed with their work. They employed video ethnography techniques to bring to life key segments of our research in the form of a series of short, impactful video portraits. What really stood out was their innovative approach to co-create footage with respondents. By involving them in the process, they were able to capture authentic, personal stories that resonated deeply with our target audience. In addition, Nick was incredibly flexible and responsive to the needs of our clients and the results were exactly what we needed. Cannot recommend Nick highly enough!!!!
    Robin, The Practice Insights

  • Not-For-Profit Documentary

    Working with Authentic Video on the documentary "Life, the Universe and Stories" was an incredibly positive experience for Shared Reading NSW. The film has helped to raise awareness about the program, allowing us to reach new audiences and effectively communicate the power of shared reading in fostering connection and emotional well-being. More importantly, the film played a key role in helping us secure funding and gain visibility, both within our local community and beyond.
    Christopher Smith, Shared Reading NSW

  • Personal Brand Story

    Authentic Video co-created a video package for my personal brand. Nick was incredibly collaborative, guiding me through the process and helping bring my vision to life. The package included several key videos: a short documentary about my inspirational journey to creating the “delicious skinfood” product, a show-and-tell video that highlighted the unique aspects of my product range, and a customer testimonial video. Together they provided a foundation for me to engage my target audience in a very authentic way. The result is a series of powerful, high-quality videos that truly reflect my passion and the essence of my products.
    Ilana Paull, Delicious SkinFood

  • Documentary Storyteller

    Making a documentary film with Nick Agafonoff about the role of music in the Bougainville Peace Process in Papua New Guinea was a wonderful collaboration. He has a gift for opening people up and letting them tell their stories. He possesses the full suite of documentary skills from conceptualising to camerawork and editing. The film made a real difference to the people on Bougainville Island reinforcing all they achieved in emerging from a bitter civil war.
    Iain 'Fred' Smith, Diplomat, Author, Musician

  • Community Storyteller

    Nick came to our 30 year School Reunion and recorded some great interviews and anecdotes that brought our whole year together. In addition, he produced a series of short documentary portraits about different people from our year to capture where they are in life, using video diary footage and photos. I'd recommend him as a someone who can not only document an event in a professional way, but build community around content.
    Jeremy Capes-Baldwin, CGS School Captain (1994)

  • Memorial Video Slideshow

    After my wife passed, I found the video memorial prepared by Authentic Video to be an enormous help. We had so many photos but Nick provided us with a methodology that enabled us to compile the perfect representation of her life. The overall effect turned out to be exactly what I had been looking for. It worked beautifully in the final ceremony and I would recommend Nick to anyone seeking a memorial video.
    Lloyd Fell, Customer

  • Memoirs Interview

    I asked Authentic Video to record an oral history with my Aunt who survived the holocaust. She was so very anxious, but Nick made her feel quite at ease and she was able to share her story in a clear and powerful way. The interview has travelled across the world and is available in various Jewish museums in Australia and beyond. Ultimately the interview gave validation to my Aunt's life.
    Peter Kaldor, Customer

Applications

Social Impact

We work with not-for-profits and volunteer organisations to create documentary outputs to influence social and political change at the local and global level.

Human Insight

We work with social and cultural researchers who need to create an expository documentary film or video program to communicate findings in an accessible way to non-research audiences.

Historical Archives

We work with social and cultural institutions to build oral history archives and carefully document the memories of people who lived important historical events and periods.

Digital Marketing

We work with businesses to produce insight-rich video content that explores consumer cultures for use in digital marketing campaigns - social media, email marketing, websites & YouTube.

We do REAL

Real People
Real Worlds
Real Experiences

Make an Authentic Video

  • Start
    Brief Nick
    1hr Zoom interview to understand the needs of the video project.
  • ACCEPT Proposal
    Commission Project
    Agree on video objectives and final outputs. Detail methodology/approach. Provide estimated costs and timeline for completion.
  • Pre-Production
    Project Development
    Generate documentary script, treatment, shot list and interview guides. Create detailed schedule for filming and editing.
  • PRODUCTION
    Capturing Real
    Videography. Collect additional content, such as video diaries, stills and archival footage.
  • post-production
    Create Authentic Video
    Rough edit. Fine edit. Final Cut. *Includes shared edit sessions.
  • Delivery
    Format Creation
    Export video into required format e.g. High Quality Video, Online viewing formats, Vimeo portfolio, Social media compatible (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)

Co-Creation

Co-creation is a powerful, collaborative approach that enriches storytelling by incorporating diverse perspectives. By involving subjects, communities, and multiple voices throughout the creative process, we can capture a more authentic, nuanced narrative. This fosters deeper connections and understanding, allowing for stories to be told with greater empathy and integrity. Co-creation not only strengthens a film’s impact, but also empowers those involved, giving them a stake in how their stories are shared with the world.
  • Involve clients in all aspects of production, including the editing process.
  • Engage documentary participants to co-create footage.
  • Use video diaries to capture important moments in peoples' lives, as well as personal reflections.
  • Integrate video diaries with professional footage to create textured videos with multiple perspectives.
Client footage
40%
Authentic Video footage
60%

Video diaries are a great way to involve documentary participants in co-creating an Authentic Video

Resources for Self-Documentation

To help with the co-creation process Authentic Video creates how-to videos that clients can use as a guide for creating documentary content for a video project.

Recording a Memory For a Special Tribute

Recording a Testimonial For an Endorsement

NEWSLETTER!

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Let's tell your story!

Ready to embark on a documentary journey project together? Whether you have a specific project in mind or need help bringing your vision to life, Authentic Video is here to help. Let's co-create something truly unforgettable! Contact Authentic Video today to discuss your videography and filmmaking needs, and let's start crafting your next Authentic Video.