We bottle reactions.
The street-interview studio DTC brands hire for reactions they can't fake. Shot on LA sidewalks, cut for the feed.
How Net Hydrate 4X'd their ROAS.
12 hooks. 3 weeks. One shoot day at a Calabasas pickleball club.
Net Hydrate came to us for one thing: proof that real people react to the taste, not another polished studio spot. So we set up at their booth at a Calabasas pickleball club and handed the drink to players walking off the court. Hot, thirsty, and completely unfiltered. No pitch, no script. We just rolled while they tasted it.
"The reactions did what our polished ads never could. People believed it."
We don't make ads. We bottle reactions.
Real people. No scripts. No actors.
- 01INTRO CALL
A 30-minute call to pressure-test your offer and see if it is built for the street. No slides, no pitch.
- 02PROPOSAL
A clear, fixed-scope proposal. Package, deliverables, and price locked up front. No retainers, no surprises.
- 03PRE-PRODUCTION CALL
We align on concept, questions, locations, and messaging so the shoot is dialed in before we roll.
- 04SCRIPT APPROVAL
You review and approve the shoot script. Nothing gets filmed until you sign off.
- 05SHOOT BOOKED
We lock the date and hit the sidewalk. Real people, real reactions, on tape.
- 06DELIVERY
Final ads delivered 2 to 3 weeks from the shoot date.
Heroes and cutdowns. Every shoot.
One shoot, two formats. The long hero that tells the story, the cutdowns that feed the algorithm.
Pick your scope. We quote the number.
Three per-project scopes. Fixed quote on the intro call. No retainers, no usage fees, no scope creep mid-edit.
- 3 hero videos · 1:20–2:00 each
- 25 short-form cutdowns
- 1 sidewalk location
- 5 hero videos · 1:20–2:00 each
- 40 short-form cutdowns
- 2 sidewalk locations
- Hook + caption variants for A/B testing
- 7 hero videos · 1:20–2:00 each
- 60 short-form cutdowns
- Multi-location shoot day
- Priority scheduling
"The Sidewlk team shipped 12 hooks in 3 weeks and 4×'d our ROAS. The cost per acquisition dropped in half within the first week of running the creative on Meta."
The Studio.
Sidewlk is a Los Angeles production studio. A tight crew of interviewers, producers, camera, and editors who live for the honest reaction.
Years cutting performance creative for DTC brands taught us the same lesson over and over. The ad that works is the one nobody could fake. So we built a studio around catching it: real people on the sidewalk, real reactions to your product, cut for the feed. Founder-led. You work directly with Aaron, start to finish.
Why this format works.
Three reasons street interviews outperform polished ads on Meta and TikTok. Straight from Aaron, 34 seconds.
Straight answers.
How much does a street-interview ad campaign cost?
Every shoot is priced per project — no retainers, no usage fees, no scope creep mid-edit. Scope, deliverables, and price are locked in a fixed proposal before anything gets booked, so the number you approve is the number you pay. You get that quote on the 30-minute intro call. Custom scopes available for multi-day or multi-brand shoots.
Do you cast actors or interview real strangers?
Real strangers. We set up on the corner, ask a real question, and let the answer do the convincing. The people you see are not paid talent. They're paid intercepts who sign a standard release. That's the entire point. This format is sometimes called man-on-the-street ads, vox pop advertising, or reaction videos — same thing, different names.
How fast is turnaround?
Final ads land 2 to 3 weeks from the shoot date. We lock the delivery window before we roll and we hit it — the schedule is agreed in pre-production, not improvised after the shoot.
Do I own the footage?
Yes. Full usage rights on every project. Paid, organic, no time limits. Every deliverable is yours to run wherever you run creative. Raw selects available as an add-on if you want them.
Where do you shoot?
LA sidewalks. Santa Monica to Venice, Abbott Kinney, Muscle Beach, Rodeo Dr. We pick the corner where your buyers actually walk. Location is part of the brief. Tell us who you're trying to reach and we tell you the corner.
What DTC categories do you work with?
Brands with a visceral product moment — first sip, first bite, first wear, first reaction. Beverage, food, wellness, apparel, beauty, supplements. Less of a fit: anything where the proof is a spreadsheet rather than a face.
What platforms do the videos run on?
Everything is cut 9:16 and built for paid social — Meta, TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. Sound-off captions burned in, hook in the opening second, and variant sets for testing. 1:1 and 16:9 available on request.
Your brand. On the sidewalk.
One 30-minute call. We'll tell you if your product is built for the street, and exactly what we'd shoot.
Prefer to text? Reach us at (424) 394-5320