I am so grateful that I met Saya Hillman to assist me in putting a promotional video together. Her patience and expertise made the entire process a good experience. She is a true professional and goes to the heart of the matter for the clientÕs needs and creates a solution. I loved working with her and feel fortunate to have met her.

Vince Kueffner, Wintrust Mortgage

 

Saya is an earth angel!  She not only instructs a class on video editing at our high school, she also works with the students to produce videos for our hallway monitors.  In addition to this, she produced an EXCELLENT promotional video for our school - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEXBsv1-m8E.  Saya is professional, reliable, efficient, creative, innovative and just an overall lovely person.  We love Saya and hope to get her even more involved in our school.  She very important member of our school community, as she helps us illustrate our schoolÕs mission, vision and achievements of the world.

LaShaun Jackson, CEO/ Executive Director, CIRCLE Foundation/Innovations High School

 

Saya was a joy to work with.  We were in a predicament because our film editor got sick.  Saya understood what we needed and produced two terrific videos that were on time and within my nonprofit budget.

Karen A. Sims, Director of Resource Development and External Affairs, Institute of Cultural Affairs-USA

 

I would definitely recommend Saya and Mac 'n Cheese Productions! Saya created a long and short promotional video for our non-profit organization, Common Threads, which brings kids into the kitchen to discover the world. From Day 1, she seemed to innately understand the work we are doing in the community and how to communicate our mission to a varied audience in a matter of minutes. Her work is perfectly polished and yet, somehow, the video allows the viewer to connect to our organization on a personal level. My co-workers and I even got teary-eyed when we watched the video!

Kristin Weiss, Director of Development, Common Threads

 

Saya worked with my sophomore English class to create a documentary about gentrification in our community.  She did amazing work in so many ways.  She is not only a remarkably talented videographer, but she is highly skilled at working with young people.  Saya did a truly astounding job of editing our final documentary.  With an enormous amount of footage to work with, she managed to edit it all perfectly into a final piece.  She completely understood our vision for the documentary and her work stayed true to what we were trying to accomplish.  WeÕve gotten so much positive feedback from the community about the documentary.  In addition, Saya was a joy to work with – highly professional, yet easy going.  We are deeply grateful for the work she did with us.

Maura Nugent, Kelvyn Park High School, Chicago Public Schools

 

One of my favorite things about Mac 'n Cheese is their ability to scale a project up or down depending on your needs. Whether it is a small private gathering that needs to be documented or a complex multi-media production, the Mac 'n Cheese gang have the ability to meet my needs. Their turn around time is one of the best in the biz as well. My highest professional compliment is repeat business, and I've used them for 3 video projects (and counting).

Jacob Sweet, Musician and Old Town School of Folk Music Instructor

 

Saya produced a high quality, engaging video with a quick turn-around timeÉ we would definitely work with her again!

Jim Kales, President and CEO, Aspire of Illinois

 

I cannot say enough about the work that Saya did with my 6th/7th grade classroom movie on media stereotypes. Saya went above and beyond what was required, not just working with the video aspect of the project, but helping to facilitate the perfect relationship with a teacher from another school that became my partner in making this movie. I had a difficult class, and she worked extremely well with my students, all of whom loved having her in the classroom. The way that she facilitated my students during the project and her editing afterwards proved that she understood exactly what I wanted to teach my students and communicate through this project.

Matthew Dimos, Teacher, Carver Middle School, Chicago Public Schools

 

Exposing our young people to the myriad of opportunities is vital to not only them, but society.  This is one of the reasons I jumped at the opportunity to expose my students to the film-making project.  The second and probably the most important, in terms of success, was the creator of this venture - Saya Hillman.  Saya's expertise and compassion for our youth made this an experience our students will never forget. She brought out attributes I'm sure they weren't aware they possessed and for that I'm grateful.

Melody Seaton, Principal, Gompers Fine Arts Option School, Chicago Public Schools

 

Saya produced a fantastic video slide show for our wedding rehearsal dinner.  It was a huge hit!  One of the highlights of the weekend was watching our friends and family watch the DVD.  I know the slide show will be a prized possession in our family for many years to come.  We were amazed at Saya's ability to take such an assortment of photo sizes, colors, varying degrees of quality and formats, and produce such a professional video.  Working with Saya made the project a pleasure.  She has an artistic eye and interpreted our requests well.  We would recommend using Mac n' Cheese Productions to document any event or family.

Abigail & Kevin Furey

 

Saya has an uncanny ability to create a trusting environment around herself.  Everyone that works with her comes to recognize not only their own capacities, but also the capacities of the other students, teachers, and artists around them. She is a gift to the field.

Arnold Aprill, Executive Director, Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education

 

Saya's work ethic is excellent. I have used Mac 'n Cheese Productions on various projects and Saya has leveraged her creativity, professionalism and interpersonal skills to produce top quality projects. She has a client for life.

Bryan Younge

 

Saya's enthusiasm is boundless! She has creative vision, insight, and a keen sense of communication through media. We were impressed with not only her personal approach to our documentary, but her genuine warmth, listening skills, and professionalism. It is rare to find such a wonderful blend of creativity and technical sophistication in a person who cares so much about the projects she undertakes.

Mary Jo & Lauren Basler

 

I got in a bind with a project I was doing and was put in touch with Mac Õn Cheese Productions through one of their former clients.  Needless to say, Saya totally came to the rescue and saved the day.  My project turned out better than I had ever imagined.  I will never use anyone else for any of my video production needs, and will refer Mac Õn Cheese to everyone I know.

Dayna Malow, Singer/Songwriter

 

We worked with Saya on a documentary project about survivors of the Holocaust.   She guided us through doing the filming of the interviews ourselves, and then took over 15 hours of interviews and edited them into a comprehensive story just over an hour long in only a few weeks time.   She was easy to work with, and did an amazing job selecting clips and editing them together.   Saya was able to take a sensitive subject and turn it into a film that impressed our organization, the community that came to view it, and most importantly, the survivors themselves.

Sara Hamilton, Program Coordinator, Chicago Cares

 

Saya took a family event and made it a truly special occasion by piecing together 70 years of photos into a 15-minute video that the whole family can enjoy forever.   Her use of music and timing was masterful. Her patience and creativity were key to the quality of the end product.   Most importantly, Saya made the project fun.   I can't wait to work with her again!

Jeffrey Harvey, Vice President, BlueFin Partners

 

Very refreshing to have someone to trust and make me look good to my clients.  SayaÕs creative intuition is always on target.

Richard Shay, Richard Shay Photography

 

Saya was absolutely wonderful to work with!  She took the time to understand my needs with this project and that was clearly evident when I received a perfect product back.  IÕm recommending her to everyone (with the exception of our competition).

Jim DiDomencio, Underwater People band

 

When it comes to tight deadlines, outlandish requests, and strict professionalism, Saya delivers.   Her consummate professionalism, quality, and ability to provide Ôjust what the client orderedÕ is unsurpassed.   I would utilize her services time and time again.

Yvonne Orr-Richardson, Coordinator of Special Projects, Chicago Police Department

 

Saya shot and edited The Red Shoe Rendezvous Bachelor/ette Charity Auction for Ta-Da! International.   Her production was wonderful. We loved the pace, the music, and the variety of images and interviews she selected.   Saya made sure our event really popped out as a fun, dynamic, enthusiastic time for all.   It was great fun watching the final product.   Saya is a master!

Velva Lee Heraty, President, Ta-Da! International

 

With very little notice and already many other projects on her plate, Saya was able to create a wonderful tribute to our corporate and private sponsors for our holiday fundraiser.   Her sensitivity to our tight schedule, professionalism, and pleasant demeanor made working with her a true pleasure.

Rebecca Spence, Acting Director of Special Events, Metropolitan Family Services

 

I was referred to Saya for help in creating a special gift for my sister's 60th birthday.  While I had some ideas about what I hoped to create, Saya's creativity and experience generated a memorable tribute that far exceeded my expectations.  She has given me ideas of how to bring old photo albums alive again and preserve the images for future generations.

Judith Blank, Director of Development, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School